Geological epochs are what are known as subdivisions of the geologic timescale that is classed as being longer than an age but shorter than a period. Scientists from the Working Group on the Anthropocene now believe that we have shifted from the Holocene epoch and are now in the new Anthropocene epoch and have been for some time. The scientists are now asking for this to become an official declaration and recommended the change to the International Geological Congress in Cape Town earlier this week.
According to the group of scientists who have been studying this subject since 2009, the Anthropocene epoch started around the 1950’s. This was the time when man-made developments were the main cause of the previous epoch, the Holocene, ending. The Holocene epoch consists of the 12,000 years of the ice age on the planet up until the beginning of the Anthropocene epoch.
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The different geological epochs are defined by their developments and effects geologically on the planet. The Holocene geological epoch ended pretty much with the rise in carbon dioxide levels, rising sea levels, deforestation, and the mass extinction of various species. The Anthropocene geological epoch would be defined by the effects of nuclear bombs and plastic pollution to name just a couple.
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Professor Jan Zalasiewicz, geologist and chair of the Working Group on the Anthropocene comments, “We have lived most of the lives in something called the Anthropocene and are just realizing the scale and performance of the change.”
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