Anthropocene

The International Chronostratigraphic Chart has officially been revised. That means our current point in Earth’s geological timeline has been updated so that we’re now living in the Meghalayan age, which began 4,200 years ago with a two-century drought that destroyed several civilizations.

Some scientists believe that human activity has triggered the dawn of a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene. On the path to being formally recognized, a new study has proposed a start date for the new epoch, and outlined where geological evidence could be found to support it.

In the history of life on Earth, there have been five mass extinction events. Now, an MIT professor has analyzed the changes that took place in the carbon cycle leading up to these events and found that the end of this century could mark the tipping point for a sixth mass extinction event.

New research says that the world is rich in a collection of minerals that have arisen exclusively due to human activity, such as those in mine shafts and on shipwrecks. And this could be further evidence that the current period in time should be declared the Age of Man, or the Anthropocene epoch.