New start date for the Anthropocene proposed – when humans first changed global methane levels

Ice cores provide important evidence as archival records of global atmospheric composition that has constantly changed.

Vincent Gauci, Professorial Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham • conversation
June 19, 2025 • ~8 min

How the pollution of today will become the ‘technofossils’ of the far future

Chickens, concrete, computers and clothes will leave a billion-year mark in the rocks.

Sarah Gabbott, Professor of Palaeontology, University of Leicester • conversation
Feb. 12, 2025 • ~9 min

Technofossils: how the pollution of today will become the fossils of the far future

Chickens, concrete, computers and clothes will leave a billion-year mark in the rocks.

Sarah Gabbott, Professor of Palaeontology, University of Leicester • conversation
Feb. 12, 2025 • ~9 min

Education in the Anthropocene: addressing the environmental crisis means learning about our place in Earth’s history

We should consider what our society is doing to the planet not just during our individual lifespans but over the long term.

Peter Sutoris, Lecturer in Climate and Development, University of Leeds • conversation
Aug. 14, 2024 • ~6 min

The fossils being formed today will show how humankind disrupted life on Earth

Such massive disruptions have in the past been caused by volcanoes or meteorites. Only humans have done this with full awareness of their actions.

Jan Zalasiewicz, Professor of Palaeobiology, University of Leicester • conversation
May 10, 2024 • ~6 min

The Anthropocene epoch that isn’t – what the decision not to label a new geological epoch means for Earth’s future

Scientists Jan Zalasiewica and Erle Ellis on the recent decision to reject a proposal for a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Gemma Ware, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation • conversation
April 4, 2024 • ~5 min

The Anthropocene already exists in our heads, even if it’s now officially not a geological epoch

The idea cannot be stopped, even if geologists have voted not to recognise a new epoch.

Kevin Collins, Senior Lecturer, Environment & Systems, The Open University • conversation
March 27, 2024 • ~6 min

The Anthropocene already exists in our heads, whatever the geologists decide

The idea cannot be stopped, even if it’s not an official geological epoch.

Kevin Collins, Senior Lecturer, Environment & Systems, The Open University • conversation
March 27, 2024 • ~6 min

What the Anthropocene’s critics overlook – and why it really should be a new geological epoch

Geologists recently voted down a proposal to formally recognise the Anthropocene.

Martin J. Head, Professor of Earth Sciences, Brock University • conversation
March 12, 2024 • ~9 min

The Anthropocene is not an epoch − but the age of humans is most definitely underway

Scientists have been debating the start of the Anthropocene Epoch for 15 years. I was part of those discussions, and I agree with the vote rejecting it.

Erle C. Ellis, Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County • conversation
March 5, 2024 • ~7 min

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