The Start of the Anthropocene

The Start of the Anthropocene

Geologists, evolutionary biologists, and earth scientists divide the history of the Earth into epochs, periods, and eras. These disciplines use the environmental history of planet Earth to classify geological periods. For a long time, the world was in the Cenozoic era, the Quaternary period, and the Holocene epoch, which refers to the last 12,000 years of world history. The Holocene epoch is one of the most stable ones in the history of the world. During this era, the world has witnessed essential developments in human history covering all world civilizations, advancement in agriculture, and the start of the Industrial Revolution. However, from 2000, there is a discussion about the emergence of another epoch, the Anthropocene. The development is critical because it tries to explain the changes taking place on planet Earth because of human activities.

The term Anthropocene is a combination of two Greek words Anthropos (meaning humans) and “-cene,” the suffix that describes in the names of geological epochs. The idea began to take shape in 2000 and has evolved widely and diversely ever since. The change became necessary after Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen argued that the Ozone layer was thinning because of human activities. It was his opinion that the era of global stability was over as humanity activities were now destroying the world. One of the main challenges is the concentration of industrial gas in the air that is causing climate change affecting people around the globe. Thus, for the first time in the history of geological, humans have become the main driver of geological and environmental activities. Therefore, in the past seventy years, without any major catastrophe such as nuclear war or the impact of an asteroid, humans continue to influence the changes taking place in the world negatively.

The concept is a definition of a new geological epoch, an analytical framework, as a way of framing contested cultural narratives or as a metaphor for global change. At the core of the concept is a summary of the unprecedented planetary-scale changes that result from transformations that take place in society since the start of the European Industrial Revolution. Social changes such as advancement in technology, changes in population and settlement patterns, cultures, communication, and trade, civil and military conflicts are some of the social changes that drive global changes..

It captures the new and unprecedented planetary-scale changes resulting from societal transformations. It brings to the fore the social drivers of global change. It has revealed tensions generalized interpretations of humanity’s contribution to global change, and arguments that are historically, politically, and culturally situated. It motivates deep ethical questions about the economies and politics of global change, including diverse interpretations of past causes and future possibilities. The concept is a source of division between humanities, social, and natural science. It has brought new opportunities for collaboration between various disciplines. Based on the literature review, it is possible to discuss the broad acceptance of the term, the flexibility of its interpretation, the emerging narratives, as well as the debates it is generating.

There is no specific period that marks the start of the epoch, but there are numerous proposals. Some scholars such as Paul Crutzen suggest that it goes as far back as during the beginning of the Agricultural Revolution more than 12, 000 years ago. Others suggest that it began during the Industrial Revolution in 1780, while others insist that it started in 1945 or the 1950s. Although the ratification of the term is an ongoing process under the guidance of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the international commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), it appears that the 1940s is the most appropriate era for the start of the era. The date coincides with the post-Second World Two-era when Earth System activities and the socio-economic transformation of the period as well as the development and deployment of the atomic bomb during the Second World War. Therefore, the denotation date of the first nuclear bombs in 1945 appears to the most plausible period for the start of the Anthropocene.

It is also possible that the Anthropocene epoch began during the 18th century with the onset of large scale use of fossil energy, the Industrial Revolution, and the discovery of the steam engine. By 1780, the use of fossil was part and parcel of the British citizens and its industries.[1]It was an essential component of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the emerging lifestyle of the British people. By the end of the 19th century, fossil fuel was the primary source of energy and increased to more than 80 percent by 2015. [2] Therefore, all the development that exists in the world today are the reis fueled by fossil energy.

The Industrial Revolution and the increase in population are some of the main issues that are changing the world significantly. The rapid expansion of people from under one billion by the end of the 18th century to 7 billion in 2011 has put pressure on the environment to produce adequate food. These changes support Crutzen’s assertions that the Anthropocene epoch began during the 18th century. The high acceleration that started during the era has put pressure on the environment. However, sitting is not possible for the high acceleration to continue as it has done in the past decades, suggesting that the epoch will not be as long as the rest.

The high acceleration is not likely to continue because there are no resources to continue exploiting to fuel further resources. Today, only a few rivers remain without dams, few countries have not utilized their oil, few forests remain to fell, and there is little groundout water left to pump to the surface. Therefore, the acceleration is not likely to accelerate at the current rate. Although it is difficult to predict the future of the Anthropocene epoch, it may not change much in futue until people accept the need to conserve the environment and use less fossil fuel.

In 2015, members of the International Anthropocene Working Group published a paper suggesting that the epoch date was to be 1945. Although the majority agrees on this date (26/38), a minority indicates that the time should be several decades earlier. The minority insist that the start of the Industrial Revolution (1780) is the best possible date with the advent of the Steam Engine.

Environmental scientists use the term to discuss emerging challenges in the world. It is an essential idea because it explains the role of people in bleaching of coral reefs, acceleration of species extinction, and retreating sea ice. Thus, to the environmentalist, the concept is an essential tool to explain to the world about the dangers of climate change. It is a concept that environmental scientists use to describe to the world about the consequences of climate change and the action that world leaders can take to reverse the trends. Although the idea began among the geologists, it is an encompassing word that captures the attention of many disciplines.

One of the significant challenges facing the world today as a result of human activity is climate change. Today, the world is witnessing global warming as a result of the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. During the natural glacial process, the dense forests absorbed the carbon dioxide, and the little that was left did not concentrate in the atmosphere to alarming levels. The depletion of the forests that takes place through systematic deforestation, industrialization, and other human activities is a threat to the environment.

Without integrative and collaborative research, many discussions will not amount to anything. It may only perpetuate the existing disciplinary boundaries and increase the fragmentation of research agendas. Therefore, it is crucial to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of numerous knowledge domains, perspectives, approaches that the concept of Anthropocene is trying to serve as a bridge. There are three global changes themes that some form of collaboration in research can make a lot of difference. These are emergent properties of socio-ecological systems, the nexus between urbanization and resource, and systemic risks and tipping points. Therefore, creative tensions around the concept of Anthropocene can help the research community to move towards a new conceptual synthesis and collaborative action-oriented approaches that are needed to produce reasonable knowledge

From 2000, geologists, environmentalists’ biologists, and earth scientists continue to discuss the need to have a new epoch to describe emerging changes in society. Most of the human development that has taken place in the world has occurred in the past 12, 000 years during the Holocene epoch. There is a lot of debate about the Anthropocene that is supposed to replace the Holocene period, especially regarding when it began. Some school of thought holds that it started at the start of the Industrial Revolution with the discovery of the steam engine. Others hold the view that the epoch began in the post-World War Two era. Despite the disagreements, human activities are inevitably a source of destruction in the world today.

[1] McNeill, 2014

[2] McNeill, 2014