For those of you who are passionate about climate issues, get ready to delve into the fascinating concept of Anthropocene. This term, with its roots in two Greek words, 'anthro' meaning human and 'gene' meaning new, is most commonly used in the context of geological epochs.
The current epoch, officially known as the 'Holocene', is a term that encompasses our planet's history for the past 11,700 years. It's important to note that the epoch preceding the Holocene was the 'Pleistocene' , which was characterized by the ice age.
However, some believe that we contemporary humans—that is, you, me, and every reader of this blog, as well as their parents and grandparents—have fundamentally changed the course of our planet, and unfortunately, for the worse.
This view holds that our climate, weather patterns, and the natural flow of ecosystems and interconnections have been irrevocably altered by the extraordinary devastation produced by human activities, often referred to as "Anthropogenic" actions. We, the people, are the climate change agents, and for the worse. Therefore, many believe the present period should be renamed the "Anthropocene" epoch.
In the next few blogs, I will try to explain some of the changes that have occurred as a result of human activities so you may decide for yourself whether we are in the Anthropocene period.
References:
The Holocene Epoch. (n.d.). https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/quaternary/holocene.php
The Pleistocene Epoch. (n.d.). https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/quaternary/pleistocene.php
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