Anthropocene

Anthropocene Epoch, an unofficial term used by scientists to describe a period of time—up to the present—in which humanity has impacted the planet on a global scale. The phrase was first used in 2000, by Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer. In the Anthropocene, which would supposedly follow the Holocene, humans have demonstrated the ability to alter the workings of Earth systems and shape global circulation cycles: atmospheric, hydrological, and geological. In this framework, the focus is on how human influence has impacted the makeup of ecosystems and the geochemistry of the Earth. Thus, many scientists define the current time in the planet's history by the scale of human influence, and label it as a new geological epoch.

The Anthropocene has no concrete scientific definition and the idea is subject to debate among geologists and others in the scientific community, for whom determining the start and end of an epoch requires specific empirical claims and methodological assumptions. Some experts suggest that the Anthropocene should be defined as a formal geological epoch. In order for the Anthropocene to become officially recognized as such by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, an agreed-upon start date must be accepted that can be defined by chemical, biological, or other types of markers. Other scientists, such as paleoecologist Jacquelyn Gill at the University of Maine, argue that the Anthropocene should be considered a geological event, rather than an epoch. Because human activity is diverse, for some geologists there is no clear moment that universally distinguishes a period of time separating the Anthropocene from the Holocene.

There is also debate surrounding the proposed start date of the Anthropocene. Some argue that it began with the advent of agriculture, as early as 8,000 years ago. Others claim that it was not until the Industrial Revolution that humanity's use of fossil fuels and population growth qualify as impacting the Earth on a global scale. For other scholars, who situate the term less within the field of environmental studies and in closer proximity to political economy, the Anthropocene began around the year 1500 with the impact of European colonialism. Some political theorists and critical theorists argue that the Anthropocene is more about the consequences of the production and reproduction of the means of existence of social life on a planetary scale, and thus the Anthropocene more or less parallels the rise of industrial capitalism. Another proposed start date is the beginning of the nuclear age in the mid-20th century. In 2019 the Anthropocene Working Group recommended that the International Geological Congress declare the Anthropocene epoch, proposing to establish its beginnings in the 1950s with the "Great Acceleration." Despite the lack of consensus among scientists, the Anthropocene as an empirical and metaphysical concept has become a popular topic of study in the social sciences, arts, and humanities.

See Geologic Timescale (table)geologic timescale (table).

See P. F. Sale, Our Dying Planet: An Ecologist's View of the Crisis We Face (2011); J. Purdy, After Nature: A Politics for the Anthropocene (2015); M. Wark, Molecular Red: Theory for the Anthropocene (2015); D. J. Haraway, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene (2016); J. W. Moore, ed., Anthropocene or Capitalocene? Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalism (2016); J. Davies, The Birth of the Anthropocene (2016); S. L. Lewis and M. A. Maslin, The Human Planet: How We Created the Anthropocene (2018); N. Castree et al., eds., Companion to Environmental Studies (2018); S. Mentz, Break Up the Anthropocene (2019); S. Brenner et al., eds., Paul J. Crutzen and the Anthropocene: A New Epoch in Earth's History (2021).

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