Canadian lake ground-zero for Anthropocene epoch
Canadian lake ground-zero for Anthropocene epoch
Milton: Scientists on Tuesday designated a small body of water near Toronto, Canada as ground-zero for the Anthropocene, the proposed geological epoch defined by humanity’s massive and destabilising impact on the planet. Layered sediment at the bottom of Lake Crawford — laced with microplastics, fly-ash spread by burning oil and coal, and the detritus of nuclear bomb explosions — is the single best repository of evidence that a new, and challenging, chapter in Earth’s history has begun, members of the Anthropocene Working Group concluded.
“The data show a clear shift from the mid-20th century, taking Earth’s system beyond the normal bounds of the Holocene”, the epoch that began 11,700 years ago as the last ice age ended, working group member Andy Cundy, a professor at the University of Southampton, said.
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