Overwhelming evidence found by an international team of scientists have shown that humans have altered the Earth to the point that the Earth has entered a new geological time period, a press release by the Australian National University (ANU) said on Friday.
Professor Will Steffen, the only member from Australia in the 24-strong Anthropocene Working Group, said the Earth has moved from the Holocene epoch of the past 11,700 years and into a new Anthropocene epoch.
In a paper published in the latest edition of Science, the researchers have found human activity has left a marked and persistent record of impact on the Earth.
The scientists suggest that the geological record will now include layers of uniquely human products such as concrete, plastics and the fallout from nuclear weapons, and that human activity has left a pervasive and persistent signature on Earth that warrants recognition as a new geological time unit.
While the exact starting date of the Anthropocene is still under review, the researchers suggest it may be somewhere around 1950.
"The Jurassic period was known for dinosaurs and the Holocene is the period during which human civilisation developed, but the new Anthropocene epoch will be marked by the widespread impacts that humans are having on our planet," said Steffen, a professor at the ANU's Fenner School of Environment and Society.
Steffen, a world-leading expert on climate and Earth System science, said the Anthropocene epoch would be recognised by the spread of material such as aluminium, concrete, plastic and nuclear material, as well as higher levels of greenhouse gases, climate change, species extinctions and a reshaping of coastal sedimentation processes.
The exact starting date of the Anthropocene remains uncertain, although it is likely to be around the middle of the 20th century, at the start of the nuclear age and a time of accelerating population growth and rapid industrialisation.
Steffen said the study pointed to the need to stabilize the climate as well as to reduce human pressure on the biosphere.
"The actions we take now to transition to clean energy and away from fossil fuels will help protect our planet from further damage and ensure future generations can continue to prosper," he said.
The Anthropocene Working Group will gather more evidence in 2016, which will help contribute to the case for formal recognition of the Anthropocene epoch. A decision will be made by the International Commission for Stratigraphy, which meets in South Africa in September.
