The Anthropocene represents a phase of profound transformation of the planet at the hands of man, but it cannot be considered a geological era: after 15 years of debate, the rejection comes from a subcommission of the International Union of Geological Sciences, which rejected the idea of putting an end to the Holocene, the geological phase that began 11,700 years ago.
at the end of the last ice age.
A formal rejection but which, as Nature magazine states on its website, does not detract from the value of a well-established term used to describe the current era.
"I deal with the Anthropocene but I agree with the choice made", zoologist Marco Alberto Bologna, of the University of Roma Tre, commented to ANSA.
"It cannot be considered as a geological era, but - he added - as a term that broadly describes the profound transformation that man is bringing to the planet".
For at least 15 years the possibility of formally recognizing the beginning of a new era in which human impact has left a recognizable mark has been discussed among specialists in the sector.
A change that according to some geologists can be well represented by the sediments of Lake Crawford, in Canada, in which since 1952 it has been possible to observe traces of plutonium due to atomic tests, as well as other undoubtedly human signs such as microplastics, pesticides and other pollutants.
Precisely those samples had been the basis for the request, made by some geologists, to ask the UISG to declare the Holocene, the geological phase that began 11,700 years ago, over and to consider the Anthropocene open, understood as the geological era in which visible human impacts on the planet.
After long discussions, the issue was now put to the vote and, with 12 against and 4 in favour, the reform was thus rejected.
The decision had repercussions and produced controversy within the commission, so much so that some of the members, notes Nature, officially requested the annulment of the vote due to a "violation of the statutes of the International Stratigraphy Commission".
The vote will hardly be able to be repeated before 10 years and, even if the term Anthropocene were never to be officially recognised, the term is already used by many and is a well-rooted cultural concept to describe the current era in which human impacts have had great acceleration.
"Beyond this entirely internal controversy in the geological commission - added Bologna - I agree that at a geological level there is no significant change, what happened at a geological level was different, for example in the passage of the end of the Cretaceous ".
This does not mean that human activities are profoundly impacting the planet: "we are causing a monstrous transformation of the climate, a fact that we don't want to make clear for economic reasons, we have eliminated ecosystems, we use too many resources and we live in a highly polluted environment. I believe there is little to dwell on formal issues. The Anthropocene - concluded Bologna - is not a geological question, it is a very different global transformation".
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