Ken's shared items

Thursday, June 23, 2011

A Man-Made Earth

A Man-Made Earth: "

Adam Frank believes we are witnessing the advent of the Anthropocene, a unique geological age where human activity, not natural processes, is the principal driver of planetary change:



The first point to absorb is that there are no politics in the designation. It is neither a value judgment nor a critique. Instead, it is simply a recognition that human activity has now come to be the most significant ... [force] driving the various interlocking systems that define the current "state" of the planet. Scientists digging through sediments millions of years from now should easily be able to identify the transition from the Holocene to the Anthropocene. From the fossilized remains of our cities to changes in the carbonate content in sea-floor sedimentation, the Anthropocene may appear as clearly to future scientists as the Cretaceous appears to us.



The Economist did a feature on this last month.



"

No comments: