Scientists say new epoch marked by human impact — the Anthropocene — began in 1950s

Photo caption: Trees surround Crawford Lake in Milton, Ontario., on Monday, July 10, 2023. A team of scientists is recommending the start of a new geological epoch defined by how humans have impacted the Earth should be marked at the pristine Crawford Lake outside Toronto in Canada. Photo credit: Cole Burston / The Canadian Press via AP. Article by Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press. NPR – July 11, 2023.

From climate change to species loss and pollution, humans have etched their impact on the Earth with such strength and permanence since the middle of the 20th century that a special team of scientists says a new geologic epoch began then. Called the Anthropocene — and derived from the Greek terms for “human” and “new” — this epoch started sometime between 1950 and 1954, according to the scientists. […]

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