North Eastern Mindanao State University

Formerly Surigao del Sur State University

Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

Lesson 10

The Anthropocene

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. discuss the Anthropocene;
2. showcase the evidence of the Anthropocene;
3. explain why Anthropocene matter

Introduction
Humanity’s impact on the planet has been profound. It is widely accepted that
our species, has had such a significant impact on Earth and its inhabitants that we will
have a lasting - and potentially irreversible - influence on its systems, environment,
processes and biodiversity. From fire, intensive hunting, and agriculture, it has
accelerated into rapid climate change, widespread pollution, plastic accumulation,
species invasions, and the mass extinction of species—changes that have left a
permanent mark in our planet. In the past 60 years in particular, these human impacts
have unfolded at an unprecedented rate and scale.

Motivation
How many of you have seen the movie Ice Age? Where those
characters Manfred the woolly mammoth and Diego the saber tooth
tiger still exist today?

Anthropocene

The story of the earth is written in rocks. Scientists have gradually deciphered
the secrets by patiently “reading” the records. The rocks unfold the story of the earth,
the geologic events and the succession of life. Its history is very long that geologists
feel the need to divide it.
Earth’s history is divided into a hierarchical series of smaller chunks of time, referred to
as the geologic time scale. These divisions, in descending length of time, are called
eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages. Its division is marked by the extinction of many
life forms and the appearance of new ones.
These units are classified based on Earth’s rock layers, or strata, and the fossils
found within them. From examining these fossils, scientists know that certain organisms
are characteristic of certain parts of the geologic record. The study of this correlation
is called stratigraphy.
Officially, the current epoch is called the Holocene, which began 11,700 years
ago after the last major ice age. However, the Anthropocene Epoch is an unofficial
unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when
human activity started to have a significant impact on the
planet’s climate and ecosystems. The word Anthropocene is derived from the Greek
words anthropo, for “man,” and cene for “new,” coined and made popular by
biologist Eugene Stormer and chemist Paul Crutzen in 2000.

MST-PEE (People and Earth Ecosystem) I by Rodrigo Sumuob

 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

Scientists still debate whether the Anthropocene is different from the Holocene,
and the term has not been formally adopted by the International Union of Geological
Sciences (IUGS), the international organization that names and defines epochs. The
primary question that the IUGS needs to answer before declaring the Anthropocene
an epoch is if humans have changed the Earth system to the point that it is reflected
in the rock strata.
To those scientists who do think the Anthropocene describes a new geological
time period, the next question is, when did it begin, which also has been widely
debated. A popular theory is that it began at the start of the Industrial Revolution of
the 1800s, when human activity had a great impact on carbon and methane in
Earth’s atmosphere. Others think that the beginning of the Anthropocene should be
1945. This is when humans tested the first atomic bomb, and then dropped atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The resulting radioactive particles were
detected in soil samples globally.
In 2016, the Anthropocene Working Group agreed that the Anthropocene is
different from the Holocene, and began in the year 1950 when the Great
Acceleration, a dramatic increase in human activity affecting the planet, took off.
To date, the Anthropocene has not been formally adopted into geologic
timescale but has been gaining traction as a cultural concept.

Figure 1. Geological periods. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/a

ug/29/declare-anthropocene-epoch-expertsurge-geological-congress-human-impact

MST-PEE (People and Earth Ecosystem) I by Rodrigo Sumuob

 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

The table below summarizes potential start dates/events for marking the
beginning of the Anthropocene.

Figure 2. Beginning of the Anthropocene

Evidence of the Anthropocene

Human activity has:

✓ Pushed extinction rates of animals and plants far above the long-term
average. The Earth is on course to see 75% of species become extinct in the
next few centuries if current trends continue.
✓ Increased levels of climate-warming CO2 in the atmosphere at the fastest
rate for 66 million years, with fossil-fuel burning pushing levels from 280 parts
per million before the industrial revolution to 400 parts per millions and still
rising today.
✓ Put too much plastic in our waterways and oceans that microplastic
particles are now virtually ubiquitous and plastics will likely leave identifiable
fossil records for future generations to discover.
✓ Doubled the nitrogen and phosphorous in our soils in the past century with
fertilizer use. This is likely to be the largest impact on the nitrogen cycle in 2.5
billion years.
✓ Left a permanent layer of airborne particulates in sediment and glacial ice
such as black carbon from fossil fuel burning

Extend your knowledge about Anthropocene by watching the trailer [much better
the whole movie] of Anthropocene: Human Epoch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqocRZoF3VI

What is the Anthropocene and why does it matter?

We are living in a time many people refer to as the Anthropocene. Humans
have become the single most influential species on the planet, causing significant

MST-PEE (People and Earth Ecosystem) I by Rodrigo Sumuob

 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

global warming and other changes to land, environment, water, organisms and the
atmosphere.
The word Anthropocene comes from the Greek terms for man ('anthropo') and
new ('cene'), but its definition is controversial. It was coined in the 1980s, then
popularised in 2000 by atmospheric chemist Paul J Crutzen and diatom researcher
Eugene F Stoermer. The duo suggested that we are living in a new geological epoch.
It is widely accepted that our species, Homo sapiens, has had such a
significant impact on Earth and its inhabitants that we will have a lasting - and
potentially irreversible - influence on its systems, environment, processes
and biodiversity.
The Earth is 4.5 billion years old, and modern humans have been around for
around a mere 200,000 years. Yet in that time we have fundamentally altered the
physical, chemical and biological systems of the planet on which we and all other
organisms depend.
In the past 60 years in particular, these human impacts have unfolded at an
unprecedented rate and scale. This period is sometimes known as the Great
Acceleration. 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.
Not everyone agrees that these changes represent enough evidence to
declare a new formal geological epoch, the Anthropocene. Scientists all over the
world are still debating.

The Holocene Epoch and the Ice Age

Let's take a look at the geological meaning of the word Anthropocene. The
history of planet Earth is long: about 4.5 billion years. Scientists divide up this huge
history using geological epochs, eons, eras and ages to create a timeline.
Epochs can last for millions of years and are defined by significant changes in
rock layers, such as mineral composition and the appearance of distinctive fossils.
Each variation reflects a major climatic change.
For the last 11,500 years, Earth has been in the Holocene Epoch. It began at
the end of the last ice age, when glaciers that had previously covered Earth
disappeared.

How has Earth changed during our current epoch?

The Holocene has seen
major change on our planet,
including the rapid population
growth of our species and the
development of modern
civilizations. In the last 11,500
years, humans have built cities
and achieved colossal
technological advancements.
Since the last ice age, Figure 3. Industry has been emitting carbon dioxide in large quantities
Earth's climate had been since the dawn of the industrial revolution, fueling climate change. ©
relatively warm and stable. Roy Luck (CC-BY-2.0) via Flickr.

MST-PEE (People and Earth Ecosystem) I by Rodrigo Sumuob

 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

Signs of the Anthropocene

It is clear that our climate is no longer stable and is beginning to warm rapidly.
Scientists now agree that human activity, rather than any natural progress, is the
primary cause of the accelerated global warming. Agriculture, urbanization,
deforestation and pollution have caused extraordinary changes on Earth.
Geologists disagree over whether humans will have a lasting and meaningful
impact on the chemical composition of the rocks and fossils beneath our feet. This is
what will need to be proven to declare a new epoch. Humans have been around for
such a short period relative to Earth's history that it may be too soon to tell whether our
impact will be visible in the fossil record millions of years from now.
The International Commission on Stratigraphy - the body which oversees how
we talk about the history of Earth - has the power to decide on and name geological
epochs. They are still debating the proof for the Anthropocene and are looking for
what's known as a 'golden spike' - a marker in the fossil record which could demarcate
the Holocene from the Anthropocene.
This marker will have to be so significant that it would be detectable in rock
layers thousands and even millions of years into the future.

Anthropocene and the Industrial Revolution

Some people suggest the Anthropocene began at the start of Britain's Industrial
Revolution in the eighteenth century, which created the world's first fossil fuel
economy.
Burning the organic carbon in fossil fuels enabled large-scale production and
drove the growth of mines, factories and mills. Since then, other countries have
followed suit. Demand for coal has increased, along with carbon dioxide emission, to
the detriment of the environment.
Others argue that the Anthropocene began far earlier, when humans began
farming. Even more people suggest it dawned in 1950, when nuclear weapons cast
radioactive elements across the globe. The radioactive debris from nuclear bombs
made its way into rocks, trees and the atmosphere - they may represent the golden
spike that scientists are searching for. Currently there is no clear consensus.
It is important to note that some countries, regions, communities and industries
have contributed to planetary pollution and climate change more than others.
Industrialized and post-industrial societies have produced proportionally more
emissions and use more resources than developing countries.

Anthropocene and plastic pollution

Plastic could become a key marker of the Anthropocene. Earth is now awash
with plastic - millions of tons are produced every year. Because plastic doesn’t
biodegrade, it ends up littering soils and ocean beds.
There is already some evidence that plastic is being deposited into the fossil
record. A 2019 study of sediments off the Californian coast found that plastic deposits
have been rising since the 1940s.
Plastic pollution is another marker that scientists are studying to find out whether
they could be the golden spike, the signifier of the Anthropocene.

MST-PEE (People and Earth Ecosystem) I by Rodrigo Sumuob

 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

The scale of human impact on Earth

To make matters more complicated, the word Anthropocene is used in a
variety of cultural and scientific contexts. Researchers, conservationists, poets,
philosophers, politicians and activists are all using it, and often they mean quite
different things.
The Anthropocene is sometimes used to simply describe the time during which
humans have had a substantial impact on our planet. Whether or not we are in a new
geological age, we are part of a complex, global system and the evidence of our
impact on it has become clear.
Some people think of this human impact largely with regard to climate change
- the warming of our atmosphere, air and oceans caused by using fossil fuels. But the
age of humans is about more than just climate change.
Our awareness of both the current state of the planet and the effects of our actions
is a key factor in the Anthropocene.

Anthropocene and extinction

Although there have been mass extinction events in Earth's history where vast
swathes of life have been wiped out, until now they have all been triggered by natural
causes like asteroids and volcanic eruptions. This is the first time a single species has
caused such destructive effects on the natural world and had an awareness of doing
so.
Furthermore, this mass extinction is happening frighteningly quickly: species are
becoming extinct at a significantly faster rate than they have for millions of years
before.

Is there hope for our planet's future?

Since the beginning of humankind, our planet's global ecology has never been
in such a critical state as it is today. But we have also never been better equipped
with the tools to understand what is happening and what needs to be done.

ASSESSMENT TASKS

Assessment Task 1
Can you observe changes through time in collections of everyday objects?
Everyday objects that are invented, designed and manufactured by human’s exhibit
changes over time in both structure and function. How have these changes affected
the efficiency and or safety of some common items?
1. Choose a set of items that you wish to observe such as telephones or television
2. How does it change overtime?
3. Write down the details of the structure and function of each of the items
Conclusion:
__________________________________________________________________________________
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MST-PEE (People and Earth Ecosystem) I by Rodrigo Sumuob

 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

Assessment Task 2
Create your own history of earth using geologic time scale. Research on what
type of organisms where present in each era/eon. Create a time line with organism in
the correct era/eon.
Be guided by the following criteria:
a) Accuracy
b) organization
c) Content/facts
d) Graphics
e) Creativity

For grading, refer to the rubrics below.

SUMMARY
The earth has a long history and this is written in rocks. Many changes
happened during that period. Earth surface changes, living things disappear and new
ones appeared. The changes that happen become the basis of dividing earth’s
history into eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages. However, many scientists argued
that a new era must be added to the previous ones. According to them we are now
in Anthropocene epoch. This is the period when human activities have big impact to
our ecosystem and to the planet as a whole.

MST-PEE (People and Earth Ecosystem) I by Rodrigo Sumuob

 North Eastern Mindanao State University
Formerly Surigao del Sur State University
Bislig Campus
Maharlika, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur

Reflection
How has earth changed during our current epoch? Why does it matter?

Cited Sources:

Anthropocene (2012) retrieved from:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/anthropocene/

Pavid, Katie (2010). What is Anthropocene: Why Does it Matter? Retrieved from
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-the-anthropocene.html

Population Matters: Welcome to Anthropocene [2014] retrieved from

https://populationmatters.org/campaigns/anthropocene?gclid=EAIaIQobCh
MI kPr9v4WI6wIV1wRyCh2HDQM0EAAYASAAEgLIQPD_BwE

Welcome to the Anthropocene [2017] retrieved from:

http://anthropocene.info/anthropocene.php

MST-PEE (People and Earth Ecosystem) I by Rodrigo Sumuob