Information about Anthropocene
The term Anthropocene is used by some scientists to describe the most recent period in the Earth's history, starting in the 18th century when the activities of the human race first began to have a significant global impact on the Earth's climate and ecosystems. The term was coined in 2000 by the Nobel Prize winning scientist Paul Crutzen, who regards the influence of mankind on the Earth in recent centuries as so significant as to constitute a new geological era.
While much of the environmental change presently occurring on Earth is a direct consequence of the industrial revolution, it can be argued that the Anthropocene actually began approximately 10,000 years ago with the termination of the last ice age. At this point, humans were dispersed across all of the continents (bar Antarctica), and the Neolithic Revolution was ongoing. This introduced agriculture and animal husbandry to supplement or replace hunter-gatherer subsistence, and was followed by a wave of extinctions, beginning with large mammals, and land birds. This wave was driven by both the direct activity of humans (e.g. hunting) and the indirect consequences of land-use change for agriculture. This period (10,000 years to present) is usually referred to as the Holocene by geologists, and for the majority of it human populations were relatively low and their activities considerably muted relative to that of the last few centuries. Nonetheless, many of the processes currently altering the Earth's environment were still taking place during this period.
One obvious geological signal of human activity is increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) content. During the glacial-interglacial cycles of the past million years, natural processes have varied CO2 by approximately 100 ppm (from 180 ppm to 280 ppm). As of 2006, anthropogenic net emissions of CO2 have increased its atmospheric concentration by a comparable amount from 280 ppm (Holocene or pre-industrial "equilibrium") to more than 383 ppm. This signal in the Earth's climate system is especially significant because it is occurring much faster, and to an enormously greater extent, than previous, similar changes. Most of this increase is due to the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, although smaller fractions are the result of cement production and land-use changes (e.g. deforestation).
William Ruddiman [1] [2] [3] claims that the anthropocene as defined by significant human impact on greenhouse gas emissions began not in the industrial era, but 8000 years ago, as ancient farmers cleared forests to grow crops, the early anthropocene hypothesis. Ruddiman's work has in turn been challenged on the grounds that comparison with an earlier interglaciation ("Stage 11", around 400,000 years ago) suggest that 16,000 more years must elapse before the current Holocene interglaciation comes to an end, and that thus the early anthropogenic hypothesis is invalid. But Ruddiman argues that this results from an invalid alignment of recent insolation maxima with insolation minima from the past, among other irregularities which invalidate the criticism. (see external links)
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While much of the environmental change presently occurring on Earth is a direct consequence of the industrial revolution, it can be argued that the Anthropocene actually began approximately 10,000 years ago with the termination of the last ice age. At this point, humans were dispersed across all of the continents (bar Antarctica), and the Neolithic Revolution was ongoing. This introduced agriculture and animal husbandry to supplement or replace hunter-gatherer subsistence, and was followed by a wave of extinctions, beginning with large mammals, and land birds. This wave was driven by both the direct activity of humans (e.g. hunting) and the indirect consequences of land-use change for agriculture. This period (10,000 years to present) is usually referred to as the Holocene by geologists, and for the majority of it human populations were relatively low and their activities considerably muted relative to that of the last few centuries. Nonetheless, many of the processes currently altering the Earth's environment were still taking place during this period.
One obvious geological signal of human activity is increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) content. During the glacial-interglacial cycles of the past million years, natural processes have varied CO2 by approximately 100 ppm (from 180 ppm to 280 ppm). As of 2006, anthropogenic net emissions of CO2 have increased its atmospheric concentration by a comparable amount from 280 ppm (Holocene or pre-industrial "equilibrium") to more than 383 ppm. This signal in the Earth's climate system is especially significant because it is occurring much faster, and to an enormously greater extent, than previous, similar changes. Most of this increase is due to the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, although smaller fractions are the result of cement production and land-use changes (e.g. deforestation).
William Ruddiman [1] [2] [3] claims that the anthropocene as defined by significant human impact on greenhouse gas emissions began not in the industrial era, but 8000 years ago, as ancient farmers cleared forests to grow crops, the early anthropocene hypothesis. Ruddiman's work has in turn been challenged on the grounds that comparison with an earlier interglaciation ("Stage 11", around 400,000 years ago) suggest that 16,000 more years must elapse before the current Holocene interglaciation comes to an end, and that thus the early anthropogenic hypothesis is invalid. But Ruddiman argues that this results from an invalid alignment of recent insolation maxima with insolation minima from the past, among other irregularities which invalidate the criticism. (see external links)
Word origin
Anthropocene is a neologism coined in 2000 by the Nobel Prize winning scientist Paul Crutzen. "I was 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 first used it in print in a 2000 newsletter of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), no.41.Notes
References
- Crutzen, P. J., and E. F. Stoermer. 2000. The "Anthropocene". Global Change Newsletter. 41: 12-13.
- A note on the relationship between ice core methane concentrations and insolation, Schmidt, GA, Shindel, DT and Harder, S; GRL v31 L23206, 16 December 2004.
- The anthropogenic greenhouse era began thousands of years ago, Ruddiman WF; Climatic Change, 61 (3): 261-293 Dec 2003
- A test of the overdue-glaciation hypothesis, William F. Ruddiman, Stephen J. Vavrus, John E. Kutzbach, Quaternary Science Reviews 24 (2005) 1Â1
- William F. Ruddiman (2005), Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum:How Humans Took Control of Climate, Princeton University Press
External links
- New Scientist interview with Paul Crutzen
- copy of IGBP article on Crutzen's website
- The Starving Oceans
- Videos of a Radcliffe conference on "Biodiversity in the Anthropocene" March 10, 2006
- Debate over the Early Anthropogenic Hypothesis
EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001. Their greatest hit, their debut single "time after time", peaked at #13 in the Oricon singles chart.
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The 18th Century lasted from 1701 through 1800 in the Gregorian calendar.
Historians sometimes specifically define the 18th Century otherwise for the purposes of their work.
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Historians sometimes specifically define the 18th Century otherwise for the purposes of their work.
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The Human Race could be:
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- The Human race; see also World population
- The Human Race (DC Comics), a comic book published by DC Comics
- Human Race (video game), a video game
- The Human Race, 79th episode of YuYu Hakusho
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Climate is the average and variations of weather over long periods of time. Climate zones can be defined using parameters such as temperature and rainfall.
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ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all the non-living physical factors of the environment.
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This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved.
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Paul Jozef Crutzen (born December 3, 1933, Amsterdam) is a Dutch Nobel prize winning atmospheric chemist.
Crutzen is best known for his research on ozone depletion. He lists his main research interests as
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Crutzen is best known for his research on ozone depletion. He lists his main research interests as
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A geologic era is a subdivision of geologic time that divides an Eon into smaller buckets. The Phanerozoic Eon is divided into three such timeframes: the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic represent the major stages in the macroscopic fossil record.
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Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation had a profound effect on socioeconomic and cultural conditions in Britain and subsequently spread throughout the world, a process that
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ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earth's climate, resulting in an expansion of the continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers.
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The Neolithic Revolution is the first agricultural revolution, describing the transition from nomadic hunting and gathering communities and bands, to agriculture and settlement, as first adopted by various independent prehistoric human societies, in numerous locations on
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Agriculture (from Agri Latin for ager ("a field"), and culture, from the Latin cultura "cultivation" in the strict sense of "tillage of the soil". A literal reading of the English word yields "tillage of the soil of a field".
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Animal husbandry, also called animal science, stockbreeding or simple husbandry, is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.
The science of animal husbandry is taught in many universities and colleges around the world.
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The science of animal husbandry is taught in many universities and colleges around the world.
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Economic systems
Ideologies and Theories
Primitive communism
Capitalist economy
Corporate economy
Fascist economy
Laissez-faire
Mercantilism
Natural economy
Social market economy
Socialist economy
Communist economy
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Ideologies and Theories
Primitive communism
Capitalist economy
Corporate economy
Fascist economy
Laissez-faire
Mercantilism
Natural economy
Social market economy
Socialist economy
Communist economy
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extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point).
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758
Subclasses & Infraclasses
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Linnaeus, 1758
Subclasses & Infraclasses
- Subclass †Allotheria*
- Subclass Prototheria
- Subclass Theria
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758
Orders
About two dozen - see section below
Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Linnaeus, 1758
Orders
About two dozen - see section below
Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly (by molar content/volume) 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.
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Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state.
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ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earth's climate, resulting in an expansion of the continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers.
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Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames.
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Fossil fuels or mineral fuels are hydrocarbons found within the top layer of the earth’s crust. They range from very volatile materials with low carbon:hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquid petroleum to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like
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Coal (IPA: /ˈkəʊl/) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation.
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Petroleum (Latin Petroleum derived from Greek πέτρα (Latin petra) - rock + έλαιον (Latin oleum) - oil) or crude oil
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Gas is one of the four major states of matter, consisting of freely moving atoms or molecules without a definite shape. Compared to the solid and liquid states of matter a gas has lower density and a lower viscosity.
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In the most general sense of the word, cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The name "cement" goes back to the Romans who used the term "opus caementitium" to describe masonry which resembled concrete and was
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Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land for use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area, or wasteland.[] Generally, the removal or destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with
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William F. Ruddiman is a palaeoclimatologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia. He is known principally for his "early anthropocene" hypothesis, the idea that human-induced changes in greenhouse gases did not begin in the eighteenth century with advent of
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