The Beginning of the Anthropocene

[ysabetwordsmith]

... may be measured in Crawford Lake, Canada.

The main reason  the Anthropocene is not "official" is because it makes people uncomfortable.  The secondary reason is people argue over when to start it, because the more unequivocal markers (e.g. the first atomic explosion) miss several of the earlier chapters.  So close to the beginning, in geologic terms, it's easier to quibble over such details.  But the scope  of the change is unquestionable and devastating.  Congratulations, humanity, your accomplishments on Earth approximate those of a comet. >_<

Comments

[siliconshaman]

Considering that apart from the K/T boundary all the other epochs are equally fuzzy over just when they started, difficulty defining the start of the anthropocene isn't that unusual.

Although we're not the only species to have fucked up the planet. Consider the Great Oxidation Event caused by cyanobacteria. that wiped out 90% of life on earth at the time. We've got some way to go before we match that.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Considering that apart from the K/T boundary all the other epochs are equally fuzzy over just when they started, difficulty defining the start of the anthropocene isn't that unusual.<<

Good point.

*ponder* I think if I were looking to identify a beginning, then I would stack up as many threshold events as I could find, and map them on a timeline, to see if I could identify a cluster. Draw the line through the densest part. It wouldn't be the very beginning, but would be a meaningful beginning. From a geological perspective -- say a bunch of alien explorers a million years hence -- I think they'll go for the atomic line because it is so crisp, and because from a distant perspective the rest just looks like the usual wobbles before a major extinction.

>>Although we're not the only species to have fucked up the planet. Consider the Great Oxidation Event caused by cyanobacteria. that wiped out 90% of life on earth at the time. We've got some way to go before we match that.<<

I love you for remembering that, almost nobody does. Though I think it was more like 99%. Other than the ones who discovered fire, all we have left are the few anaerobes who managed to find pockets of low or no oxygen.