Head, Martin J;
Steffen, Will;
Fagerlind, David;
Waters, Colin N;
Poirier, Clement;
Syvitski, Jaia;
Zalasiewicz, Jan A;
... Zinke, Jens; + view all
(2022)
The Great Acceleration is real and provides a quantitative basis for the proposed Anthropocene Series/Epoch.
Episodes
, 45
(4)
pp. 359-376.
10.18814/epiiugs/2021/021031.
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Abstract
The Anthropocene was conceptualized in 2000 to reflect the extensive impact of human activities on our planet, and subsequent detailed analyses have revealed a substantial Earth System response to these impacts beginning in the mid-20th century. Key to this understanding was the discovery of a sharp upturn in a multitude of global socio-economic indicators and Earth System trends at that time; a phenomenon termed the ‘Great Acceleration’. It coincides with massive increases in global human-consumed energy and shows the Earth System now on a trajectory far exceeding the earlier variability of the Holocene Epoch, and in some respects the entire Quaternary Period. The evaluation of geological signals similarly shows the mid-20th century as representing the most appropriate inception for the Anthropocene. A recent mathematical analysis has nonetheless challenged the significance of the original Great Acceleration data. We examine this analytical approach and reiterate the robustness of the original data in supporting the Great Acceleration, while emphasizing that intervals of rapid growth are inevitably time-limited, as recognised at the outset. Moreover, the exceptional magnitude of this growth remains undeniable, reaffirming the centrality of the Great Acceleration in justifying a formal chronostratigraphic Anthropocene at the rank of series/epoch.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Great Acceleration is real and provides a quantitative basis for the proposed Anthropocene Series/Epoch |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.18814/epiiugs/2021/021031 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2021/021031 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Geosciences, Multidisciplinary, Geology, STRATOTYPE SECTION, BIODIVERSITY, IMPACTS, CLIMATE, MARINE, RECORD, POLICY, FUTURE, POINT, GSSP |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10165680 |
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