Sometimes, the word “Anthropocene” is used to refer to the period of time when humans have significantly impacted our world. Whether or whether we are living in a new geological era, there is no denying that we are a part of a complex, global system, and there is plenty evidence of our influence on it.

Earth`s records is split right into a hierarchical collection of smaller chunks of time, known as the geologic time scale. These divisions, in descending duration of time, are referred to as eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages. These gadgets are categorised primarily based totally on Earth`s rock layers, or strata, and the fossils determined inside them. From analyzing those fossils, scientists recognise that sure organisms are function of sure elements of the geologic record. The observe of this correlation is referred to as stratigraphy. Officially, the modern-day epoch is referred to as the Holocene, which started out 11,seven-hundred years in the past after the ultimate essential ice age. However, the Anthropocene Epoch is an unofficial unit of geologic time, used to explain the maximum latest duration in Earth`s records whilst human hobby commenced to have a big effect at the planet`s weather and ecosystems. The phrase Anthropocene is derived from the Greek phrases anthropo, for “man,” and cene for “new,” coined and made famous via way of means of biologist Eugene Stormer and chemist Paul Crutzen in 2000. Scientists nevertheless debate whether or not the Anthropocene isn’t the same as the Holocene, and the time period has now no longer been officially followed via way of means of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the worldwide company that names and defines epochs. The number one query that the IUGS desires to reply earlier than maintaining the Anthropocene an epoch is that if people have modified the Earth device to the factor that it’s miles meditated withinside the rock strata. To the ones scientists who do suppose the Anthropocene describes a brand new geological time duration, the subsequent query is, whilst did it begin, which additionally has been broadly debated. A famous idea is that it started out on the begin of the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s, whilst human hobby had a amazing effect on carbon and methane in Earth`s atmosphere. Others suppose that the start of the Anthropocene need to be 1945. This is whilst people examined the primary atomic bomb, after which dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The ensuing radioactive debris have been detected in soil samples globally. In 2016, the Anthropocene Working Group agreed that the Anthropocene isn’t the same as the Holocene, and started out withinside the 12 months 1950 whilst the Great Acceleration, a dramatic growth in human hobby affecting the planet, took off.

What are the 4 causes of the Anthropocene?

Scientists now concur that the main driver of the faster global warming is human activity rather than any natural advancement. Significant changes on Earth have been brought about by pollution, deforestation, urbanisation, and agriculture.

Signs of the Anthropocene:

• global warming
• fuel
• Microplastics
• Extinctions
• Anthropogenic effect
• Nuclear power
• Geology
• Fertilisers
• New materials

Agriculture

For the production of both food and non-food items, agriculture includes aquaculture, fisheries, forestry, and crop and livestock production. The cultivation of domesticated animals produced food surpluses that allowed people to live in cities, and this was the primary factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization. Agriculture causes extraordinary changes on Earth because the ancient roots of farming produced enough carbon dioxide and methane to influence the environment.

urbanisation

Urbanisation is the process by which individuals move from rural to urban regions, the percentage of people living in rural areas declines accordingly, and societies adjust to this shift. It may also refer to an increase in the population of urban rather than rural areas. Population growth places extraordinary demand for natural resources and exceptional stress on natural systems. 

deforestation

Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. This is one of the main effects of deforestation, as, without trees, CO2 stays in the atmosphere, causing the infamous greenhouse effect.

pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance or energy. Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants. Pollution causes extraordinary changes on Earth because carbon dioxide emissions, global warming, ocean acidification, habitat destruction, extinction and widescale natural resource extraction are all signs that we have significantly modified our planet.

Consequences of the Anthropocene

These human actions cause, among other consequences, changes in the water cycle, imbalances and destructions in the marine and terrestrial ecosystems, the increase of extreme meteorological phenomena, the acidification of the oceans or the disappearance of the forests.

MOODBOARD

MINDMAP