A new era has come on earth
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Members of the International Commission studying the sequence of rock complexes reported the beginning of a new geological era. Such a statement was made in South Africa's Keyape Town at the International Congress of Geologists. The new era was called anthropocene and its distinctive feature is that the actions of mankind began to predominate in the work of all the earth's ecosystems. In fact, our planet is a huge space ship, and people on it - the crew. Assuming that we actually live on a space ship, a systematic intrusion into the life support systems of the ship would ultimately lead to a collapse. And, according to scientists, the anthropocene era is precautionary and it must remind us of the danger.
Naturalists have warned for several decades about the beginning of the anthropocene, a new geological and historical period in which man dominates the planet. To confirm their owls, scientists cite as an example the rapid extinction rates of various representatives of the animal world, irreparable changes in the ecological system of our planet, which are caused by the actions of mankind.
Geologists, on the contrary, deny concepts of this kind and believe that no human actions throughout the development period can significantly change the rocks in the earth so that in the future it can be established on them the beginning of a new era that marks the development of mankind.
In geology, historical epochs are divided into two main parameters: noticeable traces of long-term changes in terrestrial rocks and traces of short-term global changes. Quite brightly about the establishment of a new era say prints in terrestrial rocks at the junction of the Cretaceous and the Cenozoic, where the trace of the meteorite's fall has survived. At the border of this period, global climate changes took place on the planet, which caused the death of large animals, in particular dinosaurs.
According to geologists, there have not been any clear changes in terrestrial rocks, and in order to talk about the establishment of a new era, it is necessary to determine which event will mark the beginning of the anthropocene.
According to different versions, a new era could occur at the beginning of the XVII century, mid-50's and in 1964.
This week, experts who worked on this rather complex issue came to the conclusion that the beginning of a new era was in the 50s of the XX century, when radioactive dust after a nuclear test and industrial emissions polluting the atmosphere could leave traces that are significant for geology in terrestrial breeds.
If the scientists' assumption is accepted, then the duration of the previous Holocene era, which began with the stabilization of the climate on the planet, will be only about 12 thousand years. This, in turn, can give rise to new disputes in scientific circles, between representatives of natural sciences and geologists.
Finally, the beginning of the anthropocene era will be recognized after an official proposal has been submitted to the International Commission for Stratigraphy and finally approved by the International Union of Geological Sciences.
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