Earth Has Entered a New Man-Made Epoch, says Experts

                Planet Earth has entered a new epoch dubbed the Anthropocene because of the extent of humanity’s impact on the planet. An international working group set up to consider the question voted by 34 to zero, with one abstention, that the Anthropocene was real in a geological sense. The warming temperature, higher sea levels, as from fossil fuels, plastic waste, a dramatic increase in erosion, the spread of animal species around the world and radioactive particles left around the world from nuclear bomb tests would all contribute to permanent changes in the Earth’s rocks.

                The Anthropocene concept is geologically real. The idea that the world had entered an epoch defined by humans was first suggested in 2000 by scientists. Human impact has left discernible traces on the strati-graphic record for thousands of years – indeed, since before the beginning of the Holocene. However, substantial and approximately globally synchronous changes to the Earth system most clearly intensified in the ‘Great Acceleration’ of the mid 20^th century. The mid 20^th century also coincides with clearest and most distinctive array of signals imprinted upon recently deposited strata.

                Changes to the Earth System that characterize the potential Anthropocene Epoch include marked acceleration to rates of erosion and sedimentation, large-scale chemical perturbations to the cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements, the inception of significant change to global climate and sea level, and biotic changes such as unprecedented levels of species invasion across the Earth. Many of these changes are geologically long lasting and some are effectively irreversible.