Anthropocene?
According to this, geologists have suggested a new geological epoch (from about 200 years ago to the present): the epoch where humans have caused major changes to Earth’s geology.I knew we had a major effect on the biosphere, but are we having a major impact on the geology? Maybe we are…
Earth has been subject to the same kinds of physical forces–wind, waves, sunlight–throughout the planet’s existence. But life has been much more varied in its impact. The appearance of oxygen-producing photogenesis, the rise of land plants, and many other evolutionary events have shaped the planet in dramatic ways. And now–humans. In the past 200 years, ever since the human population reached 1 billion, the use of fossil fuels, the growth of metropolises, and other influences have begun to affect the stratigraphic process, altering the physical and chemical nature of ocean sediments, ice cores, and surface deposits.
Go figure.