The Anthropocene Is More Than a Time Interval

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EarthsFuture2024EdgeworthTheAnthropoceneIsMoreThanaTimeInterval.pdf (265.54 KB)

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https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024EF004831

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https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004831
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/35252

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UMBC Faculty Collection
UMBC Geography and Environmental Systems Department

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Author/Creator ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2006-3362

Date

2024-07-18

Type of Work

journal articles
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Program

Citation of Original Publication

Edgeworth, Matthew, Andrew M. Bauer, Erle C. Ellis, Stanley C. Finney, Jacqueline L. Gill, Philip L. Gibbard, Mark Maslin, Dorothy J. Merritts, and Michael J. C. Walker. “The Anthropocene Is More Than a Time Interval.” Earth’s Future 12, no. 7 (2024): e2024EF004831. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EF004831.

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ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-NODERIVATIVES 4.0 INTERNATIONAL

Subjects

event
Anthropocene

Abstract

Following the recent rejection of a formal Anthropocene series/epoch by the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), and its subsequent confirmation by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), the opportunity arises to reset the definition of the Anthropocene. The case for informally recognizing the Anthropocene to be a major planetary event of Earth system transformation offers a promising way forward, but this has been criticized by proponents of an Anthropocene series/epoch. In order to move on from the assumption that it must be a time interval, and to foster a more transdisciplinary and inclusive approach, the main points of the critique must be directly addressed.