It's difficult for us to imagine a time when humans didn't run the world, but several thousand years ago that was the case. And now that humans have put their own distinct touch on the world, for better or for worse, many scientists are giving the age of human existence its own unique name, Anthropocene.
Scientists have referred to the past 12,000 years as the Holocene epoch, which is Greek for "entirely recent." However, humans are impacting the planet so much, especially in the case of climate change, that scientists have begun to refer to this epoch as Anthropocene, "the age of humans," instead, according to The Associated Press.
The 30 members of the Anthropocene Working Group, made up of geologists, climate scientists and ecologists from around the world, met in Berlin on Oct. 16 to discuss the issue of changing the name of the time period we currently live in, according to The Guardian. The International Commission on Stratigraphy is the body that has the power to officially change the name of the epoch. When it receives a proposal for a new name, the approval process consists of reaching a consensus on the definition of Anthropocene and then determining how it should be classified in the international geological time scale.
Paul Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning Dutch chemist, is credited with popularizing the term in 2000 when he used it in the Global Change Newsletter. Since then, experts such as John Grunsfeld, a former astronaut and now associate administrator for science at NASA, and institutions such as the Smithsonian are using the term.
If the International Commission on Stratigraphy approves the name change, the current Holocene epoch will end, which was marked by a geochemical signal in Greenland's ice cores showing the beginning of warmer and wetter conditions at the end of the last ice age. The Holocene epoch signifies a time of the colonization of new territories and population booms. Scientists usually name new geologic time periods when a "golden spike," occurs. This is when bronze disk in a rock layer becomes visible. The disk marks when one scientific period ends and another begins, Harvard University's Andrew Knoll told The Associated Press.
There isn't a consensus yet on when the Anthropocene epoch started. Some say the appearance of radionuclides after the atomic bombs were dropped in the 1940s is one marker. Others say the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century, which had a big impact on the earth's atmosphere, could signal the start of the Anthropocene.
Still, not everyone's a fan of the name change. Some scientists believe that "Holocene" is an accurate name for the time period we're living in. Others think there needs to be more evidence from what is in rocks before a name change can take place.
The Anthropocene Working Group hopes to have its proposal ready in time for the International Geological Congress in 2016. Until then, we can all enjoy possibly the last year or so of the Holocene epoch. Let's live it up while we can.
