Getting the Anthropocene so wrong

In a paper just published in The Anthropocene Review, Clive Hamilton argues that a proper understanding of the Earth System and Earth System science invalidates the argument for an early Anthropocene start date recently put forward by Mark Maslin and Simon Lewis in Nature.

ABSTRACT: Rather than clarifying it, a recent paper by Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin (2015), ‘Defining the Anthropocene’, adds to the confusion about the new epoch. The paper does not recognise that a paradigm shift has occurred, one in which environmental science has been displaced by Earth System science. The story tells of an Anthropocene beginning in 1610. It is not credible, as it is not based on an accurate understanding of the Earth System. In addition, in its determination to find a ‘golden spike’ the paper confuses stratigraphic markers for the epoch itself. It finds a marker when there is no event and ignores an event when it cannot find a marker.

Access Clive Hamilton’s article through the link above and read the article by Lewis and Maslin here.