ABSTRACT
First introduced in 2000 by Crutzen and Stoermer, the Anthropocene defines a previously undetected interval in geological history, one thought to constitute the third division of the Quaternary period (2.6 million years ago to the present) when for the first time in the history of the planet Homo sapiens became the primary agent of change, altering the Earth’s surface, oceans, atmosphere, and nutrient cycles to unprecedented degrees. Its origins are thought to be located in the eighteenth century when the invention of steam technology allowed for the rapid expansion of agriculture and industrialization. However, it was only when certain activities became a force of global eco destruction from the mid-twentieth century (including the expansion of nuclear energy, fossil fuel combustion, nitrogen and phosphorous in agricultural fertilizers, and subsequently, the spread of micro-plastic particles into waterways and food chains) that the Anthropocene would become a calamitous agent of change, altering the Earth’s atmospheric composition and physical structures.
