David Suzuki Foundation | Solutions are in our nature. Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is an informal geologic chronological term that marks the evidence and extent of human activities that have had a significant global impact on the Earth's ecosystems. The term was coined in the 1980s[1] by ecologist Eugene F. Stoermer and has been widely popularized by the Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist, Paul Crutzen, who regards the influence of human behavior on the Earth's atmosphere in recent centuries as so significant as to constitute a new geological epoch for its lithosphere. To date, the term has not been adopted as part of the official nomenclature of the geological field of study. In 2008 a proposal was presented to the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London to make the Anthropocene a formal unit of geological epoch divisions.[2] A large majority of that Stratigraphy Commission decided the proposal had merit and should therefore be examined further.
Etymology[edit] Nature of human effects[edit] Biodiversity[edit] Climate[edit] August 22 was Earth Overshoot Day. In 8 Months, Humanity Exhausts Earth's Budget for the Year August 20 is Earth Overshoot Day 2013, marking the date when humanity exhausted nature’s budget for the year. We are now operating in overdraft. For the rest of the year, we will maintain our ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Just as a bank statement tracks income against expenditures, Global Footprint Network measures humanity’s demand for and supply of natural resources and ecological services. And the data is sobering. Global Footprint Network estimates that in approximately eight months, we demand more renewable resources and C02 sequestration than what the planet can provide for an entire year. In 1993, Earth Overshoot Day—the approximate date our resource consumption for a given year exceeds the planet’s ability to replenish—fell on October 21. The Cost of Ecological Overspending Methodology and Projections Click here for the 2013 press release. Video: What is Ecological Overshoot? Life After People.
The very notion is deliciously ghoulish: What happens to earth if - or when - people suddenly vanished? The History Channel presents a dramatic, fascinating what-if scenario, part science fiction and part true natural science. Welcome to Earth, Population: 0 is the catchy tagline, Life After People's 94 minutes are so gripping you nearly forget while you watch that you, yourself, will be gone too. It turns out that earth can go along very nicely without us. The hardest part of the special is probably in the first 15 minutes, when pet owners confront what likely will happen to their dogs (thankfully, the show follows those dogs who break out of their houses, and the prognosis for them to survive as scavengers is good).
As the fictional days and weeks tick by, the process of nature's reclaiming the planet becomes less grim and more fascinating. The impact of the lack of people will be noticed right away, as most power grids shut down around the planet. Kevin Costner Shows Machine that Extracts 97% of Oil From Water (Video) Screen grabs: Youtube Wants to Use it on BP Oil Spill If you don't know about the BP oil spill by now, you've probably been living in a cave for the past few weeks. The catastrophe is far from over, and most of what BP has been trying to stop the oil leaks has failed so far. That means that there's a lot of oil in the water, and more being added all the time. Clean-up efforts will be long and hard, and volunteers will need all the help they can get. This Makes Up for Waterworld From what has been revealed, it seems like there's a centrifuge inside of the machine that helps it separate the oil from the water (because of their different densities). Costner helped fund the development of this machine 15 years ago.
Update: BP Buys 32 Oil Cleanup Machines from Kevin Costner (Video) Via Youtube See also: BP Buys 32 Oil Cleanup Machines from Kevin Costner (Video) Living On a New Earth. Forget banking and the automotive industry. Earth is the one system that is truly “too big to fail.” For centuries humans have used up the planet’s resources, saddled it with our waste and simply moved on when a wellspring dried up or the back forty became polluted. But now we’ve exhausted that strategy. Scientists, social thinkers and the global public are realizing that humankind has transformed the natural planet into an industrialized one, and we must transition again to a sustainable planet if we are to survive. So what is the bailout plan?
Select an option below: Customer Sign In *You must have purchased this issue or have a qualifying subscription to access this content. Dnireport. National Intelligence Council - Who We Are. Anthropocene radio series on the BBC « Wandering Gaia. The Anthropocene | An Introduction. Every living thing affects its surroundings. But humanity is now influencing every aspect of the Earth on a scale akin to the great forces of nature. There are now so many of us, using so many resources, that we’re disrupting the grand cycles of biology, chemistry and geology by which elements like carbon and nitrogen circulate between land, sea and atmosphere. We’re changing the way water moves around the globe as never before. Almost all the planet’s ecosystems bear the marks of our presence. Our species’ whole recorded history has taken place in the geological period called the Holocene – the brief interval stretching back 10,000 years. Probably the best-known aspect of our newfound influence is what we’re doing to the climate.
These developments are all connected, and there’s a risk of an irreversible cascade of changes leading us into a future that’s profoundly different from anything we’ve faced before. The Anthropocene is a decisive break from what came before. Welcome to the Anthropocene.