-- In what is now being heralded as the Second Copernican Revolution, Earth scientists have discovered that our self-regulating planetary life support system is a single, dynamic integrated system, and not a collection of ecosystems as we once thought. The view that the planet needs to be understood as a unified, complex, evolving system that is more than the sum of its parts has led in turn to three linked breakthroughs in Earth system science: the first is the concept of the Anthropocene, which suggests we have entered a new geological epoch defined by human influence on Earth system function; the second is the concept of The Great Acceleration, the extraordinary increase in human impacts on Earth system function since the end of the Second World War; and finally the concept of Planetary Boundaries, limits within which we need to stay if we are to create a safe and viable planet for humanity to survive.This latest RMB Manifesto addresses some of the most challenging questions of our time as humanity continues to march past the dawn of a new, human-influenced epoch.