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UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 6AM AEDT, FRIDAY 8 JANUARY
An international team of scientists has found overwhelming evidence that the Earth has entered a new geological epoch due to the impact of human activity.
In a paper published in the latest edition of Science, the researchers have found human activity has left a marked and persistent record of impact on the Earth.
Co-author Professor Will Steffen from The Australian National University (ANU) said the evidence suggested the Earth has moved from the Holocene epoch of the past 11,700 years and into a new Anthropocene period.
“The Jurassic period was known for dinosaurs and the Holocene is the period during which human civilisation developed, but the new Anthropocene epoch will be marked by the widespread impacts that humans are having on our planet,” Professor Steffen said.
Professor Steffen, a world-leading expert on climate and Earth System science, said the Anthropocene epoch would be recognised by the spread of material such as aluminium, concrete, plastic and nuclear material, as well as higher levels of greenhouse gases, climate change, species extinctions and a reshaping of coastal sedimentation processes.
The exact starting date of the Anthropocene remains uncertain, although it is likely to be around the middle of the 20th century, at the start of the nuclear age and a time of accelerating population growth and rapid industrialisation.
Professor Steffen, who is also a member of the Climate Council, said the study pointed to the need to stabilise the climate as well as to reduce human pressure on the biosphere.
“The actions we take now to transition to clean energy and away from fossil fuels will help protect our planet from further damage and ensure future generations can continue to prosper,” he said.
Professor Steffen was the only Australian among the 24 members of the Anthropocene Working Group who co-wrote the study.
The Anthropocene Working Group will gather more evidence in 2016, which will help contribute to the case for formal recognition of the Anthropocene epoch. A decision will be made by the International Commission for Stratigraphy, which meets in South Africa in September.
Expert Reaction
These comments have been collated by the Science Media Centre to provide a variety of expert perspectives on this issue. Feel free to use these quotes in your stories. Views expressed are the personal opinions of the experts named. They do not represent the views of the SMC or any other organisation unless specifically stated.
Dr Duanne White is Assistant Professor in Earth Systems at the University of Canberra.
I strongly agree with the sentiments of the paper. While us scientists will probably debate the precise onset of the Anthroprocene for the next decade, sediments across the planet will continue to record our disruptive influence to the Earth System. In eastern Australia the expansion of agriculture in the 1800s provided a stark change to our rivers and creeks, with extensive formation of gullies in the headwaters and silting of the major rivers. All across the country you can go out and see the transition from the Holocene to the Anthroprocene in our stream banks - from the organic muds of the Holocene at the base, to the sandy inorganic sediments of the Anthroprocene near the surface. In most cases this transition is as significant and clear as the change from the late Pleistocene ('ice age') to the Holocene 'interglacial' sediments.
Professor Will Steffen is an Adjunct Professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University. He is also a Climate Councillor. Will is one of the co-authors of this new research
The geological data are now abundant and clear – human activities now rival, or in some cases exceed – the great forces of nature that have shaped the evolution of Earth’s environment over its 4.6 billion year existence. The Anthropocene represents a rapid destabilisation of the Earth’s environment compared to the 11,700-year long Holocene epoch, the most recent period of Earth history in which humans have developed agriculture, villages and cities, and the contemporary societies we live in today. The Anthropocene is a planetary wake-up call. We are sailing into planetary terra incognita.