Dear 21st century humans,
Everyday, I am amazed at just how much we are capable of achieving. Evolution has truly outdone itself when it helped create the brains that we now have.
We have claimed the world. No doubt. As I said in my previous letter to you, we have done what no species has ever been able to achieve in our 4.6 billion years old history; complete dominance of Earth.
We have a place in time that marks our existence.
Yes, the anthroposhere is THE sign that we have taken over Earth spatially, i.e. we have occupied every aspect of the physical Earth available to us.
But, But! I We are not the greatest species ever for nothing! See, the universe is composed of space and time. We’ve occupied the space that we are confined to (and are happily obliterating it), so why should we not occupy a slice of time as well?
Your wish has been granted! We now (and this was accepted by the scientific community last year) have a time period all to ourselves! Of course, we did have a place in time, which began from the moment we evolved, but this is different.
We have a place in time that marks our existence. Marks it. Forever.
And this time period (called an epoch) in the Geological Time Scale (GTS) is known as the “anthropocene”. Scientists came up with this term to describe everything that has happened on Earth ever since the Industrial Revolution.
Time periods are marked in the GTS based on an event that made such a huge impact that it was recorded into Earth’s history. The last Ice Age, was such an event.
We should be proud! We’re being put on level with something as massive as the Ice Age.
Our impact transcends time, and will have it’s signature in Earth’s history.
The fact that we have been singled out in the Geological history (for the Industrial Revolution, mind you) is a clear sign that we have had a serious impact on the Earth system. This impact has been great for us!
Until now…
Think about it. Think about what it means to have left an impact on Earth that will remain as a permanent mark in Earth’s history.
I’ll be back soon. Until then,
Yours,
Fellow 21st century human.
Eco-intelligent™ 