The Anthropocene golden spike - implications of the rejection

Written By Peter Søgaard Jørgensen

Peter recently appeared on Swedish public radio to comment on the decision by the International Union of the Geological Sciences (IUGS) Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) to reject the 1954 golden spike proposed by the Anthropocene Working Group.

While there are multiple different, fairly technical arguments for the rejection, it is worth noting that none of these dispute that humans are indeed the major driving force of change on the planet. If anything, human impacts are so large that we may need to think much more deeply about how we can define the Anthropocene beyond the standard geological avenue.

Hear Peter comment on the implications of the decision by the SQS below (in Swedish):

https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/manniskans-tidsalder-far-vanta-experter-rostade-nej-till-antropocen

Crawford Lake in Canada. Photo: Cole Burston/AP/TT


Peter Søgaard Jørgensen
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