Proposed Anthropocene Epoch Seeks Formal Approval

A proposed Anthropocene epoch will be reviewed this month and possibly approved by the end of this year. Find out which sites are contending to be the epoch’s “golden spike” and the prospects of its final approval.

I probably first heard about the divisions in the geologic time scale from watching that “modern stone age family,” The Flintstones. I realize that program wasn’t exactly scientifically rigorous. Humans and dinosaurs didn’t live at the same time, for just one example.

Even so, our generation got used to picking up terms like “Paleozoic” and “Precambrian” from science fiction and pop culture. We learned about the Jursassic period at the movies, and maybe even a few divisions in science class.

So, I found it inspiring around the turn of the new millenium to hear about some newly proposed geologic divisions by reading the works of Thomas Berry. They’re called the Anthropocene and the Ecozoic.

Profound Influence Humans Have Had on Ecosphere

The idea of a proposed Anthropocene epoch comes from the profound influence humans have on the ecosphere. We’ve had a powerful propensity to…