Anthropocene: Earth System, geological, philosophical and political paradigm shifts

The concept of the Anthropocene has created a profound paradigm shift within the scientific community that may well create equally important changes in philosophy and politics. There is general scientific agreement that human activity has been a geologically recent, yet profound, influence on the Earth System. The magnitude, variety and longevity of human-induced changes, to the lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere and atmosphere, suggests that we should refer to the present, not as within the Holocene Epoch (as it is currently formally referred to), but instead as within the Anthropocene Epoch. Hamilton (2015) argues that many commentators fail to acknowledge this paradigm shift and suggests the discussion of when the Anthropocene Epoch started is a distraction and irrelevant. Earth System scientists, such as ourselves, would argue that the evidence for the Anthropocene is already accepted and that the paradigm shift has already occurred. The current discussion has moved forward and is now centred on defining the start of the epoch using the fundamental principles of stratigraphy. We explain how geological time is divided up and the fundamental role of Global Stratotype Section and Points (GSSPs). We go beyond Hamilton’s (2015) limited discussion and argue that the Anthropocene is creating paradigm shifts beyond the natural sciences. We also argue that there are multiple definitions of the Anthropocene and even if a formal definition of the Anthropocene Epoch is agreed by geoscientists, this would in no way invalidate other definitions or uses. It is the utility and wide appeal that makes the Anthropocene such an important concept.