The Anthropocene: Humans as a Geologic Agent leaving an everlasting stratigraphic record
**This is just a skeletal shell of this post [3/21/2017], I will work on this slowly to fill out.
Introduction:
Contents:
I. What is the Anthropocene? A concept of definition of the current geologic time
II. Is there data that support a Geologic case for the Anthropocene?
III. The Social Science and Environmental Perspective on the Anthropocene
IV. Some thoughts on the 'beginning' of the Anthropocene
A. The Great Acceleration
B. Agricultural Revolution
V. Some additional resources on the Anthropocene
A. Subcomission on Quaternary Stratigraphy -
Working group on the 'Anthropocene'
B.
Generation Anthropocene Podcast out of Stanford
C.
9 Big Ideas of Earth Sciences from American Geologic Institute [a Video Playlist]. Can also visit the
website.
VI. My Parody on the Anthropocene: A Fungi view from the Future
VII. My Personal Thoughts on the Anthropocene
I. What is the Anthropocene? A concept definition of the current geologic time.
Simply put, the 'Anthropocene' is a geologic time [age, epoch, period; yet to be decided] during which Humans have acted as a geologic force, which will be visible in the stratigraphic record. The concept is old, but the discussion and data are new. Various geoscientists have attempted to define a geologic time to set
now apart from
then, in context of globalization. My first geology instructor once called it the 'Xenocene', calling attention to the 'foreign' nature of the objects that will be found in rocks. One of my favorites is coined by
Charles Schuchert in his book [cant remember the name, but hope to remember someday...] from 1929 in which he gives a geologic timescale chart (this is before radiometric dating) labeling the most recent time as the "Psyhococene: Age of Mental Dominance".
This is a really good and digestible article from The Guardian on the current progress on defining the Anthropocene.
This is an article from Geologic Society of America discussing the merit of the Anthropocene discussion.
The
Future Earth Blog is a great internet-place to stay current on the Anthropocene discussion.
The group of scientists (
Anthropocene Working Group) working on defining the Anthropocene (stratigraphically) gives this definition:
- The 'Anthropocene' is a term widely used since its coining by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to denote the present time interval, in which many geologically significant conditions and processes are profoundly altered by human activities. These include changes in: erosion and sediment transport associated with a variety of anthropogenic processes, including colonisation, agriculture, urbanisation and global warming. the chemical composition of the atmosphere, oceans and soils, with significant anthropogenic perturbations of the cycles of elements such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and various metals. environmental conditions generated by these perturbations; these include global warming, ocean acidification and spreading oceanic 'dead zones'. the biosphere both on land and in the sea, as a result of habitat loss, predation, species invasions and the physical and chemical changes noted above.
II. Is there data that support a Geologic case for the Anthropocene?
Yes. The data are overwhelmingly clear that the geologic record of anthropogenic-geologic forces dominate this time.
This is my favorite paper demonstrating the stratigraphic distinction between the Anthropocene and Holocene.
This paper is a bit more recent (in relation to this blog; January 2017).
III. The Social Science and Environmental Perspective on the Anthropocene
Clearly, the
idea that humans significantly alter the earth to the detriment of the global ecology has roots in the Environmental Movement of the 1960's (I wasn't there, but understand this to be true). Similarly, the scientific discussion of the Anthropocene has given the Environmentalist community a new buzzword to discuss, so we see this work being thrown around as
concept rather than a time.
Here is one good article, shared with me by a
Friend of Ishmael, discussing the Anthropocene in context of Psychology.
A
great, short paper on the role of Social Sciences in defining the Anthropocene.
Published paper from
Environmental Humanities discussing the trend and need for interdisciplinary discussion.
IV.
