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Have Humans Brought About a New Geological Epoch?
Has man's impact brought about a new geological age?
Recent human activity has altered the geological record so fundamentally that a new name, 'The Anthropocene', should be adopted for the time interval starting about 200 years ago.
This is the proposal of Geography's Dr Mark W. Hounslow and others from the Geological Society of London Stratigraphy Commission, set out in an article in the Geological Society of America GSA Today magazine.
The group believes that human activity impacting on patterns of sediment erosion and deposition, changes in the carbon cycle, global temperature rise, and associated extinction of animals and plants, has caused an event which will be observable in the geological record many millions of years into the future.
They argue that this event is sufficiently comparable to other major extinctions and intervals of global environmental change in Earth history that it deserves the name of a new geological epoch.
The commission proposes that the new epoch should be formally recognized by the international body governing the sub-division of geological time. The article has been widely commented on in the popular media.
Wed 20 February 2008
Associated Links
- BBC News: An Epoch in the making - "We may be witnessing a transformation of the Earth as profound as the end of the age of the dinosaurs, and entering a geological period as distinctive as the Jurassic - and the reason is that we are causing it"
- Geography Department - The Geography Department's home page
- GSA Today: Are we now living in the Anthropocene? - the article in the Geological Society of America's magazine
- Lancaster Environment Centre - Innovation, training and research for a sustainable future
Latest News
Geography student sets up film company
It is well known that Geography graduates are highly employable and use their degrees in many different ways. One of the more unusual we have heard about recently is Lancaster geographer Greg Tomaszewicz who has set up his own Video Production Company - Lanor Productions.
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Fri 22 February 2013
Eco-innovation businesses invited to attend pioneering project launch
Ambitious North West SMEs keen to drive forward eco-innovative ideas and products are invited to a major event in Manchester on March 4.
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Thu 21 February 2013
First Science and Technology Business Partnerships and Enterprise Annual Report 2011-2012 available to download now
2011-2012 saw the development of a new theme-based strategy for Business Partnerships and Enterprise in Science and Technology. The seven interdisciplinary themes are: Advanced Manufacturing, Energy, Environment, Health and Human Development, Information and Communication Technologies, Quantum Technology and Security. Each theme has dedicated professional staff to work with businesses and source the expertise they need.
Tue 19 February 2013
Lancaster University Coffeemat Challenge won by Science and Technology student Seb
The concept of a new university website, complete with mobile application, to capture the campus social scene at a glance, earned an enterprising student an iPad.
Story supplied by LU Press Office
Tue 19 February 2013