A group of scientists will announce the period selected to embody the Anthropocene epoch, a geological age that reflects the devastating impact of humans on the planet
Some experts say the threshold for the "epoch of humans", first proposed in 2002 by chemistry Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen, should be the mid-20th century.For the first time in Earth's history, a single species has not only radically changed the planet's morphology, chemistry and biology but is aware of having done so. / Photo: AP Archive
On Tuesday, they will deliver the last of their findings –– the location of ground-zero for the Anthropocene, the proposed geological epoch borne of humanity's outsized impact on the planet. The first, roughly, is this: would aliens sifting through Earth's layered rocks and sediment a million years from now discern a human signature distinctive enough to mark a clear geological boundary?Yes, the Working Group concluded, human appetites and activity have evicted the planet –– and its inhabitants –– from the stability of the Holocene epoch, which began 11,700 years ago as the last ice age ended.
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