A New Epoch – Anthropocene

Posted on February 7, 2008  Comments (0)

Has Earth entered a new epoch?

Geologists wonder if they should add a new epoch to the geological time scale. They call it the Anthropocene – the epoch when, for the first time in Earth’s history, humans have become a predominant geophysical force. Naming such a new epoch would also recognize that humans now share responsibility with natural forces for the state of our planet’s ecological environment.

Geologists have been using the term informally for at least half a decade. Now members of the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London have laid out the case for giving the term official scientific status.

They make a good point I think.

Related: Well Preserved Baby Mammoth from the Pliocene EpochHimalayan GeologyPeak Soil

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