Proposed Anthropocene geological epoch starts in the late 1940s

Science : For the past seven years the Anthropocene Working Group has been trying to determine whether scientists should establish a new geologic epoch, one defined as the period in which humanity’s presence is marked in sediments around the world. On 29 August the group will present its recommendations to the International Geological Congress and ask the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), the organization that sets the demarcations of geologic time, to define the Anthropocene as a geologic epoch . The working group points to the period following World War II, dubbed the “Great Acceleration,” in which fallout from nuclear testing, pollution from fossil fuels, and widespread production of plastic and aluminum left their mark in global sediments. The current epoch is the Holocene, which began around 9700 BCE. Before the working group formally presents the request to the ICS, geologists will collect sediment samples from around the world to demonstrate the global nature of humanity’s impact.