Earth History
GEOL 2110
The Anthropocene Epoch
The Age of Human Influence
Entomology
May 2011
The name Anthropocene is a
combination of Greek roots:
anthropos (Greek: ἄνθρωπος)
meaning "human" and cene
meaning "new".
All epochs in the Cenozoic Era
end in "-cene".
PEOMPP – HA!
Proposal for the Anthropocene Epoch
Term was first used in print in 2000
by Paul Crutzen, a Nobel Prizewinning atmospheric chemist, and
Eugene Stoermer in a newsletter of
the International GeosphereBiosphere Programme.
Paul Crutzen 1933 -
Proposed the term to reflect the
influence of human behavior on the
Earth's atmosphere, biosphere, and
lithosphere
Appeal for Official Designation to the
International Commission on
Stratigraphic Nomenclature
The 'Anthropocene' is currently not a formally defined geological
unit within the Geological Time Scale. A proposal to formalize the
term is being developed by the Anthropocene Working Group for
consideration by the International Commission on Stratigraphy,
with a current target date of 2016.
To be accepted as a formal term the 'Anthropocene' needs to be
A) scientifically justified (i.e. the 'geological signal' currently being
produced in strata now forming must be sufficiently large, clear
and distinctive) and B) useful as a formal term to the scientific
community.
When Did the Anthropocene Begin?
When Did the Anthropocene Begin?
Beginning of Agriculture ~8,000 years ago
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the development of farming and animal husbandry
ancient farmers cleared forests to grow crops – impact to
carbon cycle balance
Some scientists argue that 8,000 years ago Earth sustained
a few million people and was still fundamentally pristine
Humans commandeer 75% of the global
land surface outside of the Greenland and
Antarctic ice sheets, and we’re bringing
more wild land under our control every day
When did the Anthropocene Begin?
Land use 8,000 years ago
When did the Anthropocene Begin?
When Did the Anthropocene Begin?
Empires and Kingdoms ~2,000 years ago
Roman Empire - Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
China – the classical dynasties were flowering
India - largest economy of the ancient and medieval world
Vast kingdoms in Sudan and Ethiopia, central Mexico and
Guatemala, and northern Peru
When Did the Anthropocene Begin?
Industrial Revolution~ 1800 AD
The Industrial Revolution caused huge problems as well as benefits. It paved the
way for the prosperity much of the Western world takes for granted today. Yet
burning coal polluted the air in cities causing health problems; inadequate
sanitation and refuse collection created horrifying outbreaks of disease; factory
workers were poisoned by hazardous materials. Only recently have humans
attempted to mitigate the detrimental impacts of unrestrained industrialization.
When Did the Anthropocene Begin?
The Dawn of the Atomic Age (1947) and
the Great Acceleration
We’ve been changing the world around us for millennia. But the scale and speed of
change in the last 60 years have been incredible, leading scientists to call events since the
1950s the ‘Great Acceleration’, Our increasing demand for natural resources and polluting
habits are ratcheting up the pressure on ecosystems all over the world.
At the dawn of the
nineteenth century,
the world’s population
was 1 billion; it’s now
seven times that, and
by 2050 it’s predicted
to pass 9 billion.
Over the past 60 years,
we have been catching
more fish, cutting down
more forests, emitting
more nitrogen
pollution, bringing
more land under
cultivation and driving
more species into
extinction than ever
before.
When did the Anthropocene Begin?
Nature of Human Effects
Nature of Human Effects
Urbanization
Nature of Human Effects
Damning of Rivers
• Blocks spawning fish
• Build-up of organics
creates oxygenstarved dead zones
• Interferes with
conveyance of
sediment, logs, and
other material
important to the river
ecosystem
Over 1000 dams in the US have been removed over the past 50 years.
Nature of Human Effects
Landfills
Rubbish dumped on the tundra outside llulissat in Greenland
Nature of Human Effects
Diminshed Biodiversity
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature calculated in 2004
that the rate of extinction had reached 100-1,000 times that suggested by
the fossil records before humans – a situation comparable to the five
previous "mass extinctions“
The number of wild animals on Earth has
halved in the past 40 years, according to a
2014 analysis by the WWF. Creatures
across land, rivers and the seas are being
decimated as humans kill them for food in
unsustainable numbers, while at the
same time polluting or destroying their
habitats
The fastest decline among the animal
populations were found in freshwater
ecosystems, where numbers have
plummeted by 75% since 1970.
Nature of Human Effects
Destruction of Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are dying around the world. In particular, coral mining, pollution (organic and
non-organic), overfishing, blast fishing and the digging of canals and access into islands
and bays are serious threats to these ecosystems. Coral reefs also face high dangers from
diseases, destructive fishing practices and warming oceans.
Nature of Human Effects
Geomorphology
Increases in erosion due to farming and
other operations are reflected by
changes in sediment composition and
increases in deposition rates elsewhere
Through mining activities alone,
humans move more sediment than
all the world's rivers combined.
Nature of Human Effects
Agriculture
52%
7%
Nature of Human Effects
Nitrogen – the New Iridium
Agricultural and industrial
nitrogen (N) inputs to the
environment currently exceed
inputs from natural N fixation.
As a consequence of
anthropogenic inputs, the
global nitrogen cycle (Fig. 1) has
been significantly altered over
the past century.
Global atmospheric nitrous
oxide (N2O) mole fractions have
increased from a pre-industrial
value of ~270 nmol/mol to ~319
nmol/mol in 2005
Nature of Human Effects
Climate Change
Nature of Human Effects
Local Climate Change
Warming of Lake Superior
Austin and Colman (2008)
What to Do?
A brief history of the UN climate talks
June 1992
At the Rio Earth Summit, countries agree to
establish the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change.
December 1997
The first international agreement to cut carbon
emissions, the Kyoto protocol, is finalized.
February 2005
The Kyoto Protocol becomes international law
after Russia ratifies the agreement. The US fails
to ratify it.
December 2009
A summit in Copenhagen (COP15) ends in
disappointment with a weak deal on action
after Kyoto expires in 2012, leading countries
to submit voluntary carbon cuts up to 2020.
December, 2011
Leaders in Durban (COP17) agree that by 2015
they will finalize an agreement on emissions
cuts beyond 2020.
November 2014
China and US strike deal hailed as historic
by observers, with US pledging to cut
emissions by at least 26% by 2025 and
China to peak emissions by 2030.
December 2014
In Lima (COP21), negotiators agree a draft
text for a climate deal to be finalised in
Paris in 2015, which will mandate cuts
from all the nearly 200 countries in the UN
process.
February and March 2015
Switzerland becomes the first country to
announce its pledge for the Paris climate
summit (an ‘INDC’ in UN jargon), followed
by the EU as a bloc. Other countries are
expected to follow.
What to Do?
Next Lecture
Sustainability of Earth Resources
Precambrian Field Trip Overview
Precambrian Field Trip
Sunday, May 3, 2015
DEPART at 7:30AM
Overview on Friday, May 1