Goodbye Holocene, hello Anthropocene

[mix]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/07/07/global_warming/print.html

To the question "Are we now living in the Anthropocene?" the 21 members of the Commission unanimously answer "yes." They adduce robust evidence that the Holocene epoch -- the interglacial span of unusually stable climate that has allowed the rapid evolution of agriculture and urban civilization -- has ended and that the Earth has entered "a stratigraphic interval without close parallel in the last several million years." In addition to the buildup of greenhouse gases, the stratigraphers cite human landscape transformation which "now exceeds natural sediment production by an order of magnitude," the ominous acidification of the oceans, and the relentless destruction of biota.

[whistle]

1. Holy shite!

[Vickers]

2. Aw man.

:(

[mix]

3. don't despair

we can always terraform Mars and colonize the asteroid belt

[n2doc]

4. We need to terraform Terra n/t

[Kolesar]

5. that article careens from one focus to another

It has some insights into climate policy, but it could use some references.

[nilram]

6. Other tha that, Mrs. Lincoln, how didyou like the play? -nt