Bruce Smith - "In Search of the Anthropocene" Hakai Seminar
Dr. Bruce Smith will be leading a Hakai Seminar titled "In Search of the Anthropocene" on Friday 15th November, 9:30 - 11 am
To be held in the Hakai Seminar Room (Strand Hall Annex 622, SFU Burnaby)
The poster for this event can be found here
Seminar Abstract:
A brief overview of the Anthropocene concept is presented, and the long and ongoing debate regarding its proposed codification as a formal geological epoch is outlined. Various alternative onset dates for the Anthropocene are presented, including a new practical solution that considers the Anthropocene and the Holocene as both spanning the last ca. 10,000 years, with the former term being appropriate for popular usage and the latter being retained for formal scientific discourse. The onset of the Anthropocene is linked to the initial domestication of plants and animals, which leads to agriculture - the major mechanism by which humans have modified the earth's terrestrial environments over the past 10,000 years.