A few layers of sediment from around 1950 at the bottom of a lake in Milton, scientists say, show more clearly than anywhere else how human activities have changed the planet's functioning to the extent that a new geological epoch should be declared.
Last Updated Tuesday, July 11, 2023 3:35PM EDTin southern Ontario should mark the birth of the modern world., they say, show more clearly than anywhere else how human activities have changed the planet's functioning to the extent that a new geological epoch should be declared: the Anthropocene, or the age of people.
Geologists are to debate the issue, including whether the Anthropocene should be declared at all, in the fall. The matter is to come to a final vote at the International Union of Geological Sciences in August 2024. Some geologists initially suggested a new epoch should begin with the Industrial Revolution, when fossil-fuel combustion began in earnest.That's when plutonium-239 begins to show up in geological strata. The element does not occur in nature and is the result of widespread nuclear weapons testing.
A 2015 paper in the journal Anthropocene Review produced 12 graphs on everything from population to GDP to fertilizer use to dam construction to energy consumption to international travel. They all spike dramatically right around 1950.Fertilizer use changes which nitrogen compounds are deposited. Atmospheric changes alter what filters down from the sky.All of the 12 candidates considered for the Golden Spike showed the same signals, said McCarthy.
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