Leveraging the anthropause

Weathers et al explains that disruptions like the lockdown implementation in response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic have catapulted us into the "anthropause", providing a glimpse of how the Earth system rapidly adjusts to dramatic reductions in human activity. This anthropause is both a cultural and ecological inflection point. We now have a choice, which is to return to our pre-pandemic lives and livelihoods, or to leverage the anthropause to address ecological imbalances and injustices to change how, when, where, and with whom we create ecological knowledge. Meanwhile, three actions for bolstering social and ecological resilience, inspired by this unique moment in time, are suggested. These include bringing ecological knowledge to bear on complex problems, expanding and refocusing the lenses through which we view and practice ecology, and focusing on feedbacks within and among social and ecological systems.