Environmental Archaeology:Anthropocene
Published: September 10, 2008, 1:47 pm
Updated: May 30, 2012, 8:40 pm
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor:
Jay Gulledge
Introduction
The Earth at night, demonstrating the global extent of human influence.
The Anthropocene defines Earth's most recent geologic time period as being human-influenced, or anthropogenic, based on overwhelming global evidence that atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic, biospheric and other earth system processes are now altered by humans. The word combines the root "anthropo", meaning "human" with the root "-cene", the standard suffix for "epoch" in geologic time. The Anthropocene is distinguished as a new period either after or within the Holocene, the current epoch, which began approximately 10,000 years ago (about 8000 BC) with the end of the last glacial period.
Origins of the term
Anthropocene is a new term, proposed in 2000 by Nobel Prize winning scientist Paul Crutzen. A similar term, Anthrocene, was coined by Andrew Revkin in his 1992 book Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast, but was not adopted by scientists. Crutzen noted that the term originated in 2000 at "a conference where someone said something about the Holocene. I suddenly thought this was wrong. The world has changed too much. So I said: 'No, we are in the Anthropocene.' I just made up the word on the spur of the moment. Everyone was shocked. But it seems to have stuck."[1]. Crutzen then proceeded to use the term in print in 2000[2]. In 2008, Zalasiewicz and colleagues published the first proposal for the formal adoption of the Anthropocene epoch by geologists, and this adoption is now pending [3].
Evidence for the Anthropocene
Geologic epochs are distinguished from one another based on geological observations, such as the composition of sediment layers and other tools of paleoclimatology. To justify the identification of a new Anthropocene epoch, it must therefore be demonstrated that evidence of anthropogenic global change is present at such a level that it can be distinguished using geologic indicators despite natural variability in these across the Holocene.
The most commonly cited and readily measured global change associated with humans is the rise of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide and methane, around the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, together with the associated rise in global temperatures and sea level caused by this global warming. Other key indicators include massive global increases in soil erosion caused by land clearing and soil tillage for agriculture; massive deforestation; and massive extinctions of species caused by hunting and the widespread destruction of natural habitats.
When did the Anthropocene begin?
Human alteration of land surfaces.
The originator of the Anthropocene terminology, Paul Crutzen, favors the beginning of the Industrial Revolution as the starting point for the Anthropocene. In a 2002 paper in the journal Nature he stated: "The Anthropocene could be said to have started in the late eighteenth century, when analyses of air trapped in polar ice showed the beginning of growing global concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane."[4]. Zalasiewicz et al. are in general agreement with Crutzen that the Anthropocene is best identified at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, though they also propose the beginning of the nuclear era in the 1960s as a useful date, due to the global presence of radioactive isotopes in sediments at this time.
However, as yet, there is no official start date for the Anthropocene. Moreover, William Ruddiman proposes that globally significant human alteration of greenhouse gas concentrations and associated climate change, extensive land clearing and soil erosion, and mass species extinctions actually began approximately 8,000 years ago with the rise of farming and the global spread of human populations in the latter stages of the first Agricultural Revolution. For this reason, the Anthropocene might be considered to begin 8,000 years ago. On the other hand, this "Early Anthropocene" definition is difficult to differentiate from the Holocene epoch which began only 2,000 to 4,000 years earlier.
See also
Notes
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^ Fred Pearce, F. 2007. With Speed and Violence. Page 21. ISBN: 0807085774.
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^ Crutzen, P. J., and E. F. Stoermer. 2000. The "Anthropocene". ''Global Change Newsletter''. 41: 17-18.
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^ Zalasiewicz, J., M. Williams, A. Smith, T. L. Barry, A. L. Coe, P. R. Bown, P. Brenchley, D. Cantrill, A. Gale, P. Gibbard, F. J. Gregory, M. W. Hounslow, A. C. Kerr, P. Pearson, R. Knox, J. Powell, C. Waters, J. Marshall, M. Oates, P. Rawson, and P. Stone. 2008. Are we now living in the Anthropocene? GSA Today 18:4-8.
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^ Crutzen, P. J. 2002. Geology of mankind. Nature 415:23-23.
Further Reading
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Crutzen, P. J. 2002. Geology of mankind. Nature 415:23-23.
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Ruddiman, W. F. 2003. The anthropogenic greenhouse era began thousands of years ago. Climatic Change 61:261-293.
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Ruddiman, W. F. 2007. The early anthropogenic hypothesis: Challenges and responses. Reviews of Geophysics 45:RG4001.
-
Ruddiman, W. E. 2005. Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 0691133980.
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De Vries, B. and J. Goudsblom. 2002. Mappae Mundi: Humans and their Habitats in a Long-term Socio-ecological Perspective: Myths, Maps and Models. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN: 9053566554.
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Zalasiewicz, J., M. Williams, A. Smith, T. L. Barry, A. L. Coe, P. R. Bown, P. Brenchley, D. Cantrill, A. Gale, P. Gibbard, F. J. Gregory, M. W. Hounslow, A. C. Kerr, P. Pearson, R. Knox, J. Powell, C. Waters, J. Marshall, M. Oates, P. Rawson, and P. Stone. 2008. Are we now living in the Anthropocene? GSA Today 18:4-8.
External links
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Citation
Erle Ellis (Lead Author);Jay Gulledge (Topic Editor) "Anthropocene". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth September 10, 2008; Last revised Date May 30, 2012; Retrieved May 18, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Anthropocene?topic=49578>
The Author
Dr. Erle Ellis is Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he teaches Environmental Science, Landscape Ecology and Biogeochemistry. His research focuses on ecological processes in anthropogenic landscapes at local, regional and global scales, and their transformation by population growth and industrially-based technologies. He has studied long-term changes in nitrogen balance in village ecosystems of China's Tai Lake Re ... (Full Bio)
Introduction
The Earth at night, demonstrating the global extent of human influence.
The Anthropocene defines Earth's most recent geologic time period as being human-influenced, or anthropogenic, based on overwhelming global evidence that atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic, biospheric and other earth system processes are now altered by humans. The word combines the root "anthropo", meaning "human" with the root "-cene", the standard suffix for "epoch" in geologic time. The Anthropocene is distinguished as a new period either after or within the Holocene, the current epoch, which began approximately 10,000 years ago (about 8000 BC) with the end of the last glacial period.
Origins of the term
Anthropocene is a new term, proposed in 2000 by Nobel Prize winning scientist Paul Crutzen. A similar term, Anthrocene, was coined by Andrew Revkin in his 1992 book Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast, but was not adopted by scientists. Crutzen noted that the term originated in 2000 at "a conference where someone said something about the Holocene. I suddenly thought this was wrong. The world has changed too much. So I said: 'No, we are in the Anthropocene.' I just made up the word on the spur of the moment. Everyone was shocked. But it seems to have stuck."[1]. Crutzen then proceeded to use the term in print in 2000[2]. In 2008, Zalasiewicz and colleagues published the first proposal for the formal adoption of the Anthropocene epoch by geologists, and this adoption is now pending [3].
Evidence for the Anthropocene
Geologic epochs are distinguished from one another based on geological observations, such as the composition of sediment layers and other tools of paleoclimatology. To justify the identification of a new Anthropocene epoch, it must therefore be demonstrated that evidence of anthropogenic global change is present at such a level that it can be distinguished using geologic indicators despite natural variability in these across the Holocene.
The most commonly cited and readily measured global change associated with humans is the rise of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide and methane, around the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, together with the associated rise in global temperatures and sea level caused by this global warming. Other key indicators include massive global increases in soil erosion caused by land clearing and soil tillage for agriculture; massive deforestation; and massive extinctions of species caused by hunting and the widespread destruction of natural habitats.
When did the Anthropocene begin?
Human alteration of land surfaces.
The originator of the Anthropocene terminology, Paul Crutzen, favors the beginning of the Industrial Revolution as the starting point for the Anthropocene. In a 2002 paper in the journal Nature he stated: "The Anthropocene could be said to have started in the late eighteenth century, when analyses of air trapped in polar ice showed the beginning of growing global concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane."[4]. Zalasiewicz et al. are in general agreement with Crutzen that the Anthropocene is best identified at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, though they also propose the beginning of the nuclear era in the 1960s as a useful date, due to the global presence of radioactive isotopes in sediments at this time.
However, as yet, there is no official start date for the Anthropocene. Moreover, William Ruddiman proposes that globally significant human alteration of greenhouse gas concentrations and associated climate change, extensive land clearing and soil erosion, and mass species extinctions actually began approximately 8,000 years ago with the rise of farming and the global spread of human populations in the latter stages of the first Agricultural Revolution. For this reason, the Anthropocene might be considered to begin 8,000 years ago. On the other hand, this "Early Anthropocene" definition is difficult to differentiate from the Holocene epoch which began only 2,000 to 4,000 years earlier.
See also
Notes
-
^ Fred Pearce, F. 2007. With Speed and Violence. Page 21. ISBN: 0807085774.
-
^ Crutzen, P. J., and E. F. Stoermer. 2000. The "Anthropocene". ''Global Change Newsletter''. 41: 17-18.
-
^ Zalasiewicz, J., M. Williams, A. Smith, T. L. Barry, A. L. Coe, P. R. Bown, P. Brenchley, D. Cantrill, A. Gale, P. Gibbard, F. J. Gregory, M. W. Hounslow, A. C. Kerr, P. Pearson, R. Knox, J. Powell, C. Waters, J. Marshall, M. Oates, P. Rawson, and P. Stone. 2008. Are we now living in the Anthropocene? GSA Today 18:4-8.
-
^ Crutzen, P. J. 2002. Geology of mankind. Nature 415:23-23.
Further Reading
-
Crutzen, P. J. 2002. Geology of mankind. Nature 415:23-23.
-
Ruddiman, W. F. 2003. The anthropogenic greenhouse era began thousands of years ago. Climatic Change 61:261-293.
-
Ruddiman, W. F. 2007. The early anthropogenic hypothesis: Challenges and responses. Reviews of Geophysics 45:RG4001.
-
Ruddiman, W. E. 2005. Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 0691133980.
-
De Vries, B. and J. Goudsblom. 2002. Mappae Mundi: Humans and their Habitats in a Long-term Socio-ecological Perspective: Myths, Maps and Models. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN: 9053566554.
-
Zalasiewicz, J., M. Williams, A. Smith, T. L. Barry, A. L. Coe, P. R. Bown, P. Brenchley, D. Cantrill, A. Gale, P. Gibbard, F. J. Gregory, M. W. Hounslow, A. C. Kerr, P. Pearson, R. Knox, J. Powell, C. Waters, J. Marshall, M. Oates, P. Rawson, and P. Stone. 2008. Are we now living in the Anthropocene? GSA Today 18:4-8.
External links
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Figure 1: Increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, 1744 to 2005. (Source: PhysicalGeography.net)
1 Comment
Add CommentCurt Stager wrote:
Great site here! Note, however, that although the "Anthropocene" term is often attributed to Paul Crutzen in the media and in the scientific literature as well, ecologist Eugene Stoermer actually coined and employed it in conferences well before Crutzen championed it. This is why Stoermer was included as coauthor on the 2000 paper that first used the term (cited above) though many writers incorrectly treat it as a single-author publication (see the "origins" section above). It is also why Stoermer's name appears on Crutzen's Anthropocene web page.