The Anthropocene Epoch Began When Humans Dominated Earth in 1610

It turns out that the Anthropocene, which is the human-dominated epoch that has helped change our world, began around the year 1610. New research has revealed that this is the time when an unusual drop in atmospheric carbon dioxide and the irreversible exchange of species between New and Old Worlds began to alter the Earth.

Much of Earth's "life" is defined by epochs. Previous epochs began and ended due to factors including meteorite strikes, sustained volcanic eruptions and shifting continents. Now, it seems that humans are also a force to be reckoned with and have their own epoch.

Defining an epoch requires two main criteria to be met. There have to be long-lasting changes to the Earth and there has to be a specific date where global environmental change has been captured in natural material, such as in rocks, ancient ice or sediment from the ocean floor. This marker is called a "golden spike."

In this case, the researchers systematically compared the major environmental impacts of human activity over the past 50,000 years against these two formal requirements. Just two dates met the criteria: 1610 and 1964. In the end, the scientists decided 1610, which is when the collision of New and Old Worlds was first felt globally, was the stronger candidate.

The Anthropocene began when species jumped continents, starting when the Old World met the New World. As people journeyed across oceans, they altered entire ecosystems.

"In a hundred thousand years scientists will look at the environmental record and know something remarkable happened in the second half of the second millennium," said Simon Lewis, the lead author of the new study, in a news release. "They will be in no doubt that these global changes to Earth were caused by their own species. Today we can say when those changes began and why. The Anthropocene probably began when species jumped continents, starting when the Old World met the New. We humans are now a geological power in our own right-as Earth-changing as a meteorite strike."

The findings are published in the journal Nature.

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