Topic

Anthropocene

Proposed geological epoch defined by lasting human alteration of the Earth system. Stratigraphers rejected it as a formal unit, and its usefulness as a concept remains debated.

Current clusters

science1 publisher

The Anthropocene's authors publish the evidence stratigraphers judged behind closed doors

The International Commission on Stratigraphy turned the epoch down in 2024 after reading a case that stayed unpublished. That case is now in print in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, and its authors argue the idea's real work has moved outside geology.

Publishers:phys.org

Reality

Evidence55
Adoption28
Hype gap+22
Incentives82
Confidence45

science1 publisher

Sediment DNA at Crawford Lake catches early-1800s cattle the traditional record missed

By pulling DNA out of annually layered mud, a team rebuilt 1,000 years of plants, animals, bacteria and fungi at the lake proposed as the Anthropocene's marker, confirming decades of earlier work and adding cattle the older methods never saw.

Publishers:phys.org

Reality

Evidence64
Adoption: Insufficient
Hype gap+12
Incentives45
Confidence58