The Anthropocene
According to the geologic era/epoch/period format, we live in the "Holocene"--the last 10,000 years or so. But for some years now, some academic folks have claimed human influence on the Earth has been dramatic. (Actually, they don't call it "human", since that would be sexist (it has "man" in it). They instead use the term "anthropogenic" ( human-created ). Anyway, because of the apparent extreme anthropogenic influence, some academics say we've moved out of the Holocene and into a new geologic epoch called the Anthropocene . They cite evidence that since the industrial revolution (that's usually the start-time), human--I mean anthropogenic --influence has really been the key factor shaping Earth. Good argument, sure. Good evidence, yes. I've heard and read good arguments on both sides. But still, the term has a difficult time catching on in Science. Maybe we don't want to admit the influence we've had...Maybe we're ...