Humans have really made their impact on Earth.
Welcome to the Anthropocene Epoch!
Scientists representing the Working Group
on the Anthropocene announced at the 35th
International Geological Congress that we’ve
entered a new epoch in
Earth’s geological time scale!
And this one is all about you!
Okay, not you specifically, but all you humans
out there.
And the ones in here too.
Essentially, the Anthropocene is an epoch
in which human influences are shaping the
Earth in a geologically significant way.
So let’s back up and brush up on our geology.
The geological time scale consists of eons,
eras, periods, epochs and ages.
Geologists define these chunks of time by
looking at layers of rock.
Changes in the strata mark transitions from
one chunk of time to another.
So these chunks aren’t defined by a specific
number of years but instead by changes to
the Earth itself.
Eons are the largest time chunks and ages
are the smallest.
The Anthropocene is an epoch and a subdivision
of the Quaternary Period.
We map these chunks of time on the Geological
Time Scale, more officially known as the International
Chronostratigraphic Chart.
That's hard to say.
According to the Working Group, we were in
the post Ice Age Holocene Epoch from about
11,500 years ago until 1950...
on a Tuesday.
So what happened in 1950 to justify updating
all our geology textbooks?
Actually, a lot of stuff happened.
The human population was booming.
We began consuming more fossil fuels, producing
tons of plastic, increasing our use of fertilizers,
and testing nuclear weapons.
You can see this activity recorded in transitions
to the rock strata themselves.
Those changes are also global in scale.
And yeah they don’t necessarily fit into
the “yay, us” category.
Changes in the carbon cycle, areas of mass
erosion, increases in nitrogen and phosphorous
levels from fertilizers, and radioactive deposits
are all markers of the Anthropocene Epoch.
While the Working Group recommends we acknowledge
that we’re in the Anthropocene,
it’s not yet official.
Some geologists might argue that we should
bump down Anthropocene to the status of an
Age rather than an Epoch.
Other might say that’s thinking too small
and that we’ve entered
a new geological Period.
The decision will move to an international
committee of scientists, who will consider
the Working Group’s proposal.
If approved, bang, we boldly enter a new Epoch
we’ve been in since 1950.
And outside of geology, maybe we can take
time to consider
we’re the major influence on this epoch.
Our choices are the ones recorded in Earth
itself.
So maybe this will help guide us into making
good decisions.
That’s all for today!
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