We Aren’t Living in a New ‘Human’ Age, Geologists Say

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According to geologists, the planet’s geologic timeline will not include a new chapter called the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is generally understood to be the age of irreversible human impacts on the planet

According to geologists, the current epoch is called the Holocene, which began 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age. Human societies began influencing Earth’s biodiversity and climate through agriculture thousands of years ago. 

The Anthropocene is characterized by:

  • The burning of coal, oil, and gas that’s changing Earth’s climate and atmosphere 
  • Nuclear bomb detonations spotted in soil around the globe 
  • Plastics and nitrogen from fertilizers added on land 
  • Dramatic changes to species that make up the rest of the Earth

Scientists say the Earth has entered a new age because of the dramatic increase in human influence. These changes include: 

  • Climate change 
  • Species loss 
  • Pollution 
  • Burning fossil fuels 
  • Detonating nuclear weapons 
  • Dumping fertilizers and plastics on land and in waterways 
  • Microplastic pollution 
  • Invasive species 
  • Radioactive traces from atomic bomb testing 

The Anthropocene is a proposed geological epoch that refers to the time when humans permanently changed the planet. The term comes from the Greek words for “human” and “new

The Anthropocene is an unofficial unit of geologic time that describes the most recent period when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. 

The New Age is a way of thinking that emerged in Western society in the late 20th century. It emphasizes beliefs outside the mainstream and promotes alternative approaches to spirituality, right living, and health. 

The New Age is also a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs that grew rapidly in Western society in the early 1970s. It includes a broad range of philosophies and practices traditionally viewed as occult, metaphysical, or paranormal. 

The original idea of the Anthropocene

In the years since the term Anthropocene was coined by Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen in 2000, it has increasingly defined our times as an age of human-caused planetary transformation, from climate change to biodiversity loss, plastic pollution, megafires and much more

Crutzen originally proposed that the Anthropocene began in the latter part of the 18th century, as a product of the Industrial age. He also noted that setting a more precise start date would be “arbitrary.”

According to geologists, we humans have been living in the Holocene Epoch for about 11,700 years, since the end of the last ice age

The proposal to add an Anthropocene Epoch to the geological time scale was rejected for a variety of reasons, none of them related to the fact that human societies are changing this planet. In fact, the opposite is true.

If there is one main reason why geologists rejected this proposal, it is because its recent date and shallow depth are too narrow to encompass the deeper evidence of human-caused planetary change. As geologist Bill Ruddiman and others wrote in Science Magazine in 2015, “Does it really make sense to define the start of a human-dominated era millennia after most forests in arable regions had been cut for agriculture?”

In March 2024, a committee of researchers rejected a proposal to ratify the Anthropocene as an official epoch in Earth’s geologic timeline. The proposal was voted down by a wide margin after over 15 years of deliberation. The main reason for the rejection was a dispute over the proposed start time in the mid-20th century

The Anthropocene is a newly created epoch of geologic time that would represent an acknowledgment that human-induced changes to the planet have been profound enough to bring the Holocene to a close. The Anthropocene is generally understood to be the age of irreversible human impacts on the planet. 

Some reasons for the rejection include:

  • Human impacts on the planet started before the mid-20th century. 
  • Human impacts extend far back beyond the proposed start data of the Anthropocene, including the colonization of the Americas and Australia. 
  • Some experts thought the proposed definition of the epoch was too limited. 

The term “Anthropocene” has been criticized for a number of reasons, including:

  • Overemphasizing human mastery Some critics say the term overemphasizes human mastery and erases human responsibilities, such as imperialism, capitalism, and racism. 
  • Treating humanity as a single entity Some scholars argue that the term treats humanity as a single entity that dominates the planet. 
  • Universalizing the roots of the eco-crisis Some say the term universalizes the roots of the eco-crisis by placing it among humanity in general, when it is actually the result of specific actions taken by specific individuals. 
  • Hubris Some say the term suggests a certain awe at our own magnificence. 
  • Suggesting that all humans are responsible Some say the term elevates all of humanity into a position of responsibility, suggesting that all humans are responsible, which is not the case

Some scientists argue that the Anthropocene hasn’t started yet because the next few decades could be more significant than the past few centuries

Some other reasons why the Anthropocene doesn’t exist include:

  • The strata don’t exist yet Some say the strata that would define the Anthropocene don’t exist because the proposed epoch is so young. 
  • Human civilization is an event, not an epoch Some say that human civilization is an event, not an epoch, on geological timescales. 
  • Geologists recognize changes after the fact Some say that the idea of naming a geologic epoch after our own species deserves more scrutiny. Geologists normally recognize geological changes after the fact, rather than in advance. 

Some scholars argue that the Holocene should be renamed the Anthropocene because it was during the Holocene that humans became the dominant species and human behaviors began to affect the environment

Others argue that the Anthropocene should be considered an “event” caused by different human practices in different places, rather than an epoch with a specific start date. 

Scientists argue that humans have had such an impact on the earth that we need a new epoch after the Holocene. This would be the first new epoch boundary to occur while humans have been on planet earth. 

The Anthropocene debate is one of the most ambitious scientific programs of the past 15 or 20 years. Its main argument is that, from a geological point of view, humans are considered a major force of nature

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