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    anthropocene

    Smoke From Canadian Wildfires Blows South Creating Hazy Conditions On Large Swath Of Eastern U.S

    No, It’s Not the Anthropocene; Try ‘The Great Burning’

    It’s probably better to think of the geological moment of human techno-transformation and population explosion as an event—like a global conflagration—rather than a durable new regime.

    Richard Heinberg
    Mar 13, 2024

    Early this month it was reported that members of the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (which is part of the International Union of Geological Sciences), who had been tasked with adopting or rejecting a proposal to declare that we are in a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene, declined the motion. This comes after years of lobbying by many Earth scientists to formally acknowledge that humanity is in the process of changing the planet in ways that any future geologist would find obvious and undeniable.

    My first reaction to the news was disappointment. I’ve been using the term “Anthropocene” for years, and had the impression that the main opposition to its formal adoption came from those who believe that humanity is incapable of changing Earth systems in ways that will make a difference for thousands or millions of years to come. Assuming that humans are too puny to alter the planet significantly is a mental pathway habitually trodden by climate change deniers, and it’s an excuse for doing nothing to avert a hellish future.

    Keep ReadingShow Less
    Opinion
    anthropocene
    Fossil fuel pollution

    Scientists Won't Classify Anthropocene as 'Epoch' Yet, But Say Human Impact Undeniable

    The Anthropocene is classified as a geological "event" at this point—as are mass extinctions and rapid expansions of biodiversity.

    Julia Conley
    Mar 05, 2024

    The idea underpinning scientists' push to recognize the current time period as a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene dates back more than 100 years, but on Tuesday, a committee of experts voted down the proposal to officially declare a new age defined by human beings' impact on the Earth.

    The panel, organized by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), was tasked with weighing whether the Holocene—the epoch that began at the close of the last ice age, more than 11,000 years ago—has ended, and if so, when precisely the Anthropocene began.

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    News
    anthropocene
    An aerial view of Lake Crawford surrounded by trees.

    This Canadian Lake Will Help Mark a New Epoch Defined by Human Activity

    Lake Crawford in Ontario, Canada, has been chosen as the site with the sedimentary record that will be used as the dividing line between the Holocene and the Anthropocene.

    Alejandro Cearreta
    Jul 13, 2023

    Are we really living in the Anthropocene, the geological time marked by the global impact of human activity? And if so, when did it begin?

    These are questions that the Anthropocene Working Group—established in 2009 by the International Commission on Stratigraphy to propose a definition of the concept and to estimate its potential as a unit of geologic time—is hoping to answer.

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    Opinion
    anthropocene

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