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This paper explores how communication and media studies have engaged with the concept of the Anthropocene in recent years. The purpose of this study is to outline the most relevant theoretical and conceptual contributions from communication science and media studies to issues related to climate change, global sustainability and the Anthropocene. A literature review on the matter shows that the field of communication research is diverse and heterogeneous, and that it puts forward different concepts and theories that deal with media as the environment or the environment as media. Environmental communication and environmental humanities frame approaches to media representations of environmental issues, whereas elemental analysis focuses on the essence of media, its material dimensions and its entanglements with social practices. From the dialogue and interdisciplinary debates among these disciplines, new approaches such as environmental media studies arise. Differences among theories have to do with the definition of media or the consideration of humanity in relation to nature or technology. In sum, communication and media studies offer interdisciplinary approaches and a nuanced understanding of our socio-natural relations, which will become more and more mediated in the years to come.

This short article focuses on the interrelation of two seemingly invisible phenomena that have a growing influence on our daily lives: on the one hand, our intimate relationship with devices and practices mediated by technology, which make up our media life, and on the other, the great impact that our way of life has on the planet that we inhabit, which invites us to think about our role in the Anthropocene, a new geological era in which human activity is the main agent of change in the Earth's ecosystems. Regarding these key trends as closely connected gives us the opportunity to find accessible solutions to our daily concerns on environmental issues. In other words, considering our media life in the Anthropocene means to be aware of the challenges that we face while asking ourselves how to claim a responsible use of technology that – in line with our humanity – will help us to confront them.