Don’t worry, I’m not philosophizing. I mean it quite literally by asking that question. Namely, in what geologic time period do we currently reside? There’s been a ongoing debate (see recent links here here) as to the exact definition of what geologists should call ‘now.’

As that debate rages on, a new term, coined in 2000 by Nobel Prize winning chemist Paul Crutzen (for his work on the ozone hole), perhaps better describes the human influence we have on our environment: the Anthropocene. His 2002 essay in Nature called “The Geology of Mankind” further explains his reasoning.

‘Anthropocene’ is not an official name; the definition of its time span is up for debate too. For instance, should it start with the industrial revolution in the 1700’s? Perhaps earlier to a time when early hunter-gatherer humans began wiping out entire species 30,000 years ago? And although we have no idea when it will end, barring catastrophe, it will probably continue for a long time. In 2002, Crutzen had this to say:

“A daunting task lies ahead for scientists and engineers to guide society towards environmentally sustainable management during the era of the Anthropocene. This will require appropriate human behaviour at all scales, and may well involve internationally accepted, large-scale geo-engineering projects, for instance to ‘optimize’ climate. At this stage, however, we are still largely treading on terra incognita.”

Just putting it out there…