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TokyoWelcome to the Anthropocene. Man’s impact on the planet is now believed to be so great geologist are considering creating a new geological epoch. What factors are driving such a substantial impact on the planet? What will cause the geological record to mark our presence? If we are in the Anthropocene, when did it begin?
According to Elizabeth Kolbert writing in the March issue of National Geographic, Paul Crutzen coined the term “anthropocene” while attending a scientific conference. When the chairman kept using the term Holocene to describe the current epoch, Crutzen exclaimed “'Let's stop it, we are no longer in the Holocene. We are in the Anthropocene.' Well, it was quiet in the room for a while." That quiet has since led to a lot of thinking and scientists now considering the possibility that a new geological epoch has begun.
Stratigraphers are geologists that study the Earth's strata, the layers you can see at a roadside cut. Kolbert observes:
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