The Anthropocene is not a new geological epoch, says leading scientific entity

After decades of debate, the world’s leading geological authority finally decided not to grant the Anthropocene, a stage characterized by the traces of human presence in the planeta special place in the geological history of the Land.

Although human activity has had an impact – increases in greenhouse gases, spread of microplastics and other pollutants, mass extinction of species – that does not mean that we have abandoned the Holocene, the geological period that began about 12,000 years ago at the end of the last glaciation, to enter the “human epoch”indicated the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS).

The entity approved the decision “to reject the proposal of an Anthropocene epoch as a formal unit of scale for geological times.”indicated a statement from the UICG, confirming a vote that ended on March 4.

There is no right of appeal, although some members of the voting committee expressed doubts about the way the decision was made and the fairness of the procedure.

These arguments were rejected by the IUCG, which considered that, although a new geological epoch is not strictly constituted, the term Anthropocene will continue to be widely used.

“It will remain an invaluable descriptor of human impact on the Earth system”clarified the organization, known for its intransigence with changes.

Technical criteria

In 2009, a working group was created to determine to what extent humanity had or had not changed geological epochs, since when, and what the most emblematic signs are. In July, after almost 15 years of study, the group members chose Crawford Lake, near Toronto, Canadaas a reference place for the beginning of the Anthropocene.

The stratified sediments at the bottom of this lake, loaded with microplasticsashes from the combustion of oil and coal, and radioactive fallout from nuclear explosions, are the best proof that a new chapter in the history of the Earth has opened, scientists then concluded.

But they already knew that recognition of the Anthropocene by the IUCG gatekeepers would be more than uncertain because many leading geologists believed that the technical criteria for introducing a new geological epoch had not been met.

There is no disagreement that the “age of man” has caused profound global changes, recognized Erle Ellis, an environmental scientist critical of the Anthropocene proposal. But “The truth is that it is not necessary to establish a firm limit. It’s just not the most important issue.”said Ellis, a professor of geography and environmental systems at the University of Maryland.

For Martin Head, professor of Earth sciences at Canadian Brock University and defender of the recognition of the Anthropocene, there is “a myriad of geological signs” of this new era. The rejection of the IUCG is “a missed opportunity to recognize and approve a simple reality, namely that our planet abandoned its natural state in the mid-20th century”Head declared.