The epoch that extends from the last ice age, 11,700 years ago, and until today is called the Holocene. But has humankind’s footprint on the planet become so large that it will leave a mark in the planet’s geological archives forever?
Have we seen the transition to a new epoch, one to be called the Anthropocene — the age of humankind?
A working group has been pondering this question since 2009. They have recommended introducing the Anthropocene, with the 1950s as a starting point.
Now they have identified twelve places worldwide that can be used to define the beginning of the Anthropocene. Here they have identified detailed markers that illustrate humankind’s influence in bogs, on the seabed, in lakes or coral reefs, as has been described in a new commentary in the journal Science.
At the end of 2022, the candidate locations will be voted on. One of them will remain. The proposal must then be voted on by various committees.
If the proposal is ratified, it will usher in a new epoch in Earth’s history. We will no longer live in the Holocene, but in the Anthropocene.
