{"id":11207,"date":"2016-08-29T14:41:04","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T14:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=11207"},"modified":"2016-08-29T14:47:33","modified_gmt":"2016-08-29T14:47:33","slug":"study-get-ready-for-the-unexpected-as-mans-negative-activities-impact-the-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=11207","title":{"rendered":"STUDY: Get ready for upheaval as man&#8217;s negative activities impact the earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><script src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><br \/>\n <!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p><code><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=10152&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n<p>Planet Earth has entered a new epoch dubbed the Anthropocene because of the extent of humanity\u2019s impact on the planet, according to a group of experts.<\/p>\n<p>An international working group set up to consider the question voted by 34 to zero, with one abstention, that the Anthropocene was real in a geological sense.<\/p>\n<p>The warming temperature, higher sea levels, ash from fossil fuels, plastic waste, a dramatic increase in erosion, the spread of animal species around the world and\u00a0radioactive particles left around the world from nuclear bomb tests would all contribute to permanent changes in the Earth\u2019s rocks, the scientists said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/earth.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11208\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11208\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/earth.jpg\" alt=\"earth\" width=\"290\" height=\"174\" \/><\/a>They are still considering what date should be chosen for the so-called \u201cGolden Spike\u201d \u2013 a line in the rock the marks the boundary between the Holocene and Anthropocene epochs, but believe it should be in the mid-20th century.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement was made at the 35th International Geological Congress in South Africa. Their recommendation would have to be agreed by the International Union of Geological Sciences in order to be formally declared and enter textbooks.<\/p>\n<p>A statement issued by Leicester University about the working group\u2019s \u201cprovisional recommendation\u201d said: \u201cThe Anthropocene concept \u2026 is geologically real.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe phenomenon is of sufficient scale to be considered as part of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart, more commonly known as the Geological Time Scale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><code><script src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><br \/>\n <!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p>The idea that the world had entered an epoch defined by humans was first suggested in 2000 by scientists Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHuman impact has left discernible traces on the stratigraphic record for thousands of years \u2013 indeed, since before the beginning of the Holocene,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, substantial and approximately globally synchronous changes to the Earth system most clearly intensified in the \u2018Great Acceleration\u2019 of the mid-20th century.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mid-20th century also coincides with the clearest and most distinctive array of signals imprinted upon recently deposited strata.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChanges to the Earth System that characterise the potential Anthropocene Epoch include marked acceleration to rates of erosion and sedimentation, large-scale chemical perturbations to the cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements, the inception of significant change to global climate and sea level, and biotic changes such as unprecedented levels of species invasions across the Earth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany of these changes are geologically long-lasting, and some are effectively irreversible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese and related processes have left an array of signals in recent strata, including plastic, aluminium and concrete particles, artificial radionuclides, changes to carbon and nitrogen isotope patterns, fly ash particles, and a variety of fossilizable biological remains. Many of these signals will leave a permanent record in the Earth\u2019s strata.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to <em>The Independent<\/em> earlier this month, Dr Colin Waters, secretary of the Anthropocene Working Group, compared the changes made by humans on Earth to the end of the last ice age some 11,500 years ago, the start of the Holocene epoch.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the last century we have had such a huge impact that we\u2019re actually taking the planet away from that natural [climate] oscillation and changing the trend for global temperatures from what should have been a cooling trend to a warming trend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The working group had been expected to make the recommendation and they are now likely to look for a symbolic line that will mark the beginning of the Anthropocene. This could be in a sediment that will turn into rock in the future, in a coral reef or even in tree rings.<\/p>\n<p>Writing in the journal <em>Nature<\/em>, Professor Clive Hamilton, an ethicist at Charles Sturt University in Australia, cautioned against scientists who declared &#8220;Welcome to the Anthropocene&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At first I thought they were being ironic, but now I see they are not. And that\u2019s scary,&#8221; he said.\u00a0&#8220;The idea of the Anthropocene is not welcoming. It should frighten us. And scientists should present it as such.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>.independent.co.uk<\/p>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><br \/>\n <!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<p><code><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=10152&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Planet Earth has entered a new epoch dubbed the Anthropocene because of the extent of humanity\u2019s impact on the planet, according to a group of experts. An international working group set up to consider the question voted by 34 to zero, with one abstention, that the Anthropocene was real in a geological sense. The warming [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[2857,2860,2861,2859,2858],"class_list":["post-11207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-anthropocene","tag-clive-hamilton","tag-colin-waters","tag-eugene-stoermer","tag-paul-crutzen"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/earth.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-2UL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11207"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11212,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11207\/revisions\/11212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}