Tinkering With Time: The Questionable Campaign to Conjure Up an ‘Anthropocene’ Epoch

When we examine the geological record—the vast archive of Earth’s history—the Anthropocene seems less like a scientific demarcation than a reflection of our own current environmental and existential anxieties, writes John Weissenberger. Triff/Shutterstock

Commentary

In an era defined by rapid technological advances, growing concerns about humanity’s impact on the planet are penetrating even normally quiet disciplines of natural history. Take the proposed new geological epoch, the “Anthropocene.” Introducing a new (and still unfolding) epoch into the geological record—marked by our recent chemical “footprints” and traces of nuclear explosions—has serious implications and any such process should stick to the rigorous standards of geological science.