What is the Anthropocene epoch?

About Anthropocene epoch:

• It is a proposed epoch that denotes the present geological time interval, in which the Earth’s ecosystem has gone through radical changes due to human impact.

• The word Anthropocene is derived from the Greek words anthropo, for “man,” and cene for “new,” coined and made popular by biologist Eugene Stormer and chemist Paul Crutzen in 2000.
• There are numerous phenomena associated with this proposed epoch, such as global warming, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, mass-scale soil erosion, the advent of deadly heat waves, deterioration of the biosphere and other detrimental changes in the environment.
• What is the Geological Time Scale?
  • Earth’s history is divided into a hierarchical series of smaller chunks of time, referred to as the geologic time scale.
  • These divisions, in descending length of time, are called eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages.
  • These units are classified based on Earth’s rock layers, or strata, and the fossils found within them.
  • From examining these fossils, scientists know that certain organisms are characteristic of certain parts of the geologic record. The study of this correlation is called stratigraphy.
• Current Epoch: Officially, the current epoch is called the Holocene, which began 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age.
• Debate:
  • Scientists still debate whether the Anthropocene is different from the Holocene.
  • The term Anthropocene has not been formally adopted by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the international organization that names and defines epochs.
  • The primary question that the IUGS needs to answer before declaring the Anthropocene an epoch is if humans have changed the Earth system to the point that it is reflected in the rock strata.