Ethics for the anthropocene epoch

The Anthropocene environmental crisis calls for a comprehensive, global bioethics. This ethics emerged during the Industrial Age. We trace the contributions of conservationism, environmentalism, and apocalypticism to Anthropocene ethics. We build from preanthropocenic values of prudentialism, an esthetic appreciation of the natural world, and a responsible scientific response to threats to the ecosphere. We propose a biome ethics to address the Anthropocene threat by internalizing values that reflect a deep appreciation of the interconnectivity of all communities, the continuum of human and nonhuman life forms and biomes, and the shared suffering of all life on the Earth.