Earth's Anthropocene Era Began In 1965 When Humans Started To Damage The Planet

[Judi Lynn]

20 February 2018, 9:24 pm EST By Samriddhi Dastidar Tech Times

Researchers have found proof of the start of the Anthropocene period, the latest geological epoch for planet Earth.

The proof was found in the shape of a golden spike discovered in the heartwood of what is being claimed as the world's loneliest tree.

Researchers observe that mankind has been impacting Earth's ecosystems for centuries. Many also think that the sudden rise in radioactive carbon dating caused by nuclear weapon testing in the 1950s to 1960s as the actual point of the newly dominant part of humanity is the main influencer of change in climate.

A New Geological Epoch Called Anthropocene
Now, a research team has discovered the direct proof of the golden spike in one tree, a Sitka spruce, which was spotted on Campbell Island located in the center of the South Ocean. The spruce has been termed the loneliest on Earth because its nearest neighboring tree stands 125 miles away from it in the Auckland Islands.

More:
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/221447/20180220/earths-anthropocene-era-began-in-1965-when-humans-started-to-damage-the-planet.htm

[Binkie The Clown]

1. There are some who say the Anthropocene started with the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago.

That's when we started large-scale forest removal for crop lands.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. The Holocene is already defined as starting around then

From the article:

A recent example is the formal definition of the onset of the Holocene as an abrupt North Atlantic warming at 11,650 years before CE 1950 as recorded in a Greenland ice core.

[Binkie The Clown]

7. I stand corrected. :) nt

[n2doc]

2. I don't agree

One can pick many possible starting points, but most agree it was in the 1850's, when atmospheric CO2 levels rose above background trends in the start of the Industrial age. The Nuke spike is very useful as a tracer for many things, but we had been screwing thing up on a global scale for far longer.

BTW, 2018 is the 100th anniversary of the first commercial plastic. Now that is another marker of our polluting up the planet.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. No, most of the working group agreed the mid 20th century was the time to pick

• Human impact has left discernible traces on the stratigraphic record for thousands of years – indeed, since before the beginning of the Holocene. However, substantial and approximately globally synchronous changes to the Earth System most clearly intensified in the ‘Great Acceleration of the mid-20th century. The mid-20th century also coincides with the clearest and most distinctive array of signals imprinted upon recently deposited strata.

• Hence, the mid-20th century represents the optimal beginning of a potential Anthropocene Epoch (and, simultaneously, the base of the Anthropocene Series).

• Changes to the Earth System that characterize the potential Anthropocene Epoch include marked acceleration to rates of erosion and sedimentation, large-scale chemical perturbations to the cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements, the inception of significant change to global climate and sea level, and biotic changes such as unprecedented levels of species invasions across the Earth. Many of these changes are geologically long-lasting, and some are effectively irreversible.
...
Results of AWG Vote (35 members):

Is the Anthropocene stratigraphically real? For: 34, Against: 0, Abstain: 1
Should the Anthropocene be formalised? For:30, Against: 3, Abstain: 2
Hierarchical level of the Anthropocene? Era: 2, Period: 1.5, Epoch: 20.5, Sub-epoch: 1, Age: 2, Sub-age: 0, None: 1, Uncertain: 3, Abstain: 4
Base/beginning of the Anthropocene? ~7ka: 0, ~3ka: 1.3, 1610 Orbis: 0, ~1800: 0, ~1950: 28.3, ~1964: 1.3, Diachronous: 4, Uncertain: 0, Abstain: 0
GSSA .v. GSSP? GSSP: 25.5, GSSA: 1.5, Uncertain: 8
What is the Primary Signal? aluminium: 0, plastic: 3, fuel ash particles: 2, carbon dioxide concentration: 3, methane concentration: 0, carbon isotope change: 2, oxygen isotope change: 0, radiocarbon bomb spike: 4, Plutonium fallout: 10, Nitrate concentration / nitrogen isotope change: 0, Biostratigraphic: extinction/ assemblage change: 0, Other (lead, persistent organic pollutants, technofossils): 3, Uncertain: 2, Abstain: 6.

https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2016/august/media-note-anthropocene-working-group-awg

From reading the Nature article the Tech Times article was based on ("a Potential Definition for the Onset" ), I don't think this is necessarily the only proposed GSSP; it's one group putting forward their case for it.

[n2doc]

5. One Group

And one, In my opinion, very biased towards radionuclides....

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. *The* group. They will make the recommendation to the International Union of Geological Sciences

for the official definition. And they're looking for a signal that can measured in the soil, and radionuclides are very handy for that.