Scientists have found over 200 new minerals that exist only due to human activity:
Scientists have identified 208 new minerals that owe their existence wholly or in part to humans. Many in the list have been found down old mine tunnels or on slag heaps where water and even fire have had the opportunity to work up novel compounds.
It is another example, the researchers argue, of our pervasive influence on the planet. New minerals and mineral-like compounds are now being formed faster than at anytime in Earth's history, they say. "These 200 minerals are roughly 4% of the total known minerals, but they all occurred in the last couple of thousand years, most in the last couple of hundred years," explained Robert Hazen from the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC.
[...] It is further evidence, if more were needed, that Earth has now entered a new epoch. Currently, geologists label the time since the last ice age, 11,700 years ago, as the Holocene. But there is a push to introduce a new classification to reflect the immense, planet-wide changes driven by humans in recent decades - and for it to be called the Anthropocene Epoch. The list of new man-mediated minerals bolsters the case.
Also at The Washington Post, Scientific American, and The Guardian.
On the mineralogy of the "Anthropocene Epoch" (DOI: 10.2138/am-2017-5875) (DX)
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Environmental scientists are warning of a sixth mass extinction, pointing to a decline in vertebrate population sizes, even among species of least concern:
Many scientists say it's abundantly clear that Earth is entering its sixth mass-extinction event, meaning three-quarters of all species could disappear in the coming centuries. That's terrifying, especially since humans are contributing to this shift.
But that's not even the full picture of the "biological annihilation" people are inflicting on the natural world, according to a study published Monday [open, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1704949114] [DX] in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Gerardo Ceballos, an ecology professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and his co-authors, including well-known Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich, cite striking new evidence that populations of species we thought were common are suffering in unseen ways. "What is at stake is really the state of humanity," Ceballos told CNN.
The authors: Gerardo Ceballos, Paul R. Ehrlich, and Rodolfo Dirzo.
Also at The Guardian and DW.
Related: For the Second Time, We Are Witnessing a New Geological Epoch: The Anthropocene
Crystals Win in the Anthropocene: 208 Manmade Minerals Identified
Welcome to the Meghalayan Age - a new phase in history
The official history of Earth has a new chapter - and we are in it. Geologists have classified the last 4,200 years as being a distinct age in the story of our planet. They are calling it the Meghalayan Age, the onset of which was marked by a mega-drought that crushed a number of civilisations worldwide.
The International Chronostratigraphic Chart, the famous diagram depicting the timeline for Earth's history (seen on many classroom walls) will be updated. It should be said, however, there is disquiet in the scientific community at the way the change has been introduced. Some researchers feel there has been insufficient discussion on the matter since the Meghalayan was first raised as an idea in a scholarly paper [DOI: 10.1002/jqs.2565] [DX] six years ago.
[...] The Meghalayan, the youngest stage, runs from 4,200 years ago to the present. It began with a destructive drought, whose effects lasted two centuries, and severely disrupted civilisations in Egypt, Greece, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Yangtze River Valley. It was likely triggered by shifts in ocean and atmospheric circulation. The Meghalayan Age is unique among the many intervals of the geologic timescale in that its beginning coincides with a global cultural event produced by a global climatic event, says Stanley Finney, professor of geological sciences at Long Beach State University and Secretary-General of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), which ratified the ICS proposal.
The middle phase of the Holocene will be referred to as the Northgrippian, and runs from 8,300 years ago up to the start of the Meghalayan. The onset for this age was an abrupt cooling, attributed to vast volumes of freshwater from melting glaciers in Canada running into the North Atlantic and disrupting ocean currents. The oldest phase of the Holocene - the exit from the ice age - will be known as the Greenlandian.
Scientists are still working on defining the (ongoing) Athropocene and some have criticized this new definition.
Related: For the Second Time, We Are Witnessing a New Geological Epoch: The Anthropocene
Crystals Win in the Anthropocene: 208 Manmade Minerals Identified
Anthropocene News: Scientists Warn of "Sixth Mass Extinction", the Era of "Biological Annihilation"
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday March 03 2017, @01:40AM (1 child)
A pity littering the oceans with plastic won't create crystals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Friday March 03 2017, @01:34PM
how do you think they seed the oysters to make plastic pearls ? ? ?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @01:46AM (7 children)
As soon as it is declared, the SJWs will be lobbying for a gynopocene, then the LGBQTs will want a transopocene. At that point, the Muslims will win.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @02:12AM
The Muslims won long ago:
Morocco formally recognized the United States by signing a treaty of peace and friendship in 1786.
-- https://history.state.gov/countries/morocco [state.gov]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @02:20AM (4 children)
LGBTQI, you insensitive clod!
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @07:18AM (3 children)
I just call them faggots and weirdos. It's much simpler.
(Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Friday March 03 2017, @01:37PM (2 children)
i looked for a mod of 'over-the-top anti-PC', but had to settle for 'touchy'...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @02:49PM
For which comment?
The OP appears to be dry cynicism, so such a moderation would not be suitable. I think a "predictable, sad, and probably true" would work best. It encapsulates the silent majority fairly well, at least based on what the liberally biased media suggests were reasons for what Trump said on how it was the faithfulness of uneducated people that helped him win despite widespread voter fraud and hillaries email server.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 03 2017, @06:36PM
Off-topic would probably do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @08:58AM
I'm probably elitist, but fuck it. If you can't even tell the difference between the word andros (man) and anthropos (human) then you're too ignorant to be take seriously.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday March 03 2017, @02:33AM (2 children)
It's been the Anthropocene for over 6000 years now, heretics.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @05:19AM (1 child)
We should draw the line at one of these places:
a. when we started to really move invasive species around the planet
b. when we started connecting oceans with canals
c. when paved surfaces became really common (major production of roads, not experiments)
That's 70 to 500 years ago.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Friday March 03 2017, @09:30AM
How about the mass extinction at the end of the Pleistocene? It's not proven to be the result of human activity, but it might be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_extinction_event [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday March 03 2017, @03:04AM (11 children)
Excessive pride and self-confidence? Arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, self-importance. "The earth wouldn't be what it is without us! We need to name the time itself after ourselves!" Yeah, hubris nails it.
If we manage to kill ourselves off before getting off this rock, the earth won't even notice that we are gone. The forests will grow back, the cities will fall, the animals will repopulate. The earth may or may not return to the state it was in before we arrived, but it will reach some balance that approximates that state. And, the next intelligent species will spend eons puzzling over the crap we left behind. We just don't matter a hell of a lot, in the long run.
That may shock people who can't see any further ahead than the next quarterly statement.
_______________
I like those quotes at the bottom of the page. "Your education begins where what is called your education is over."
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Friday March 03 2017, @03:15AM (1 child)
Obviously, the answer is to polute the earth even more to make sure our impact is felt long after we are gone.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @04:04AM
It gets weird when the "pollution" is plant food though...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by khallow on Friday March 03 2017, @05:01AM (3 children)
Excessive pride and self-confidence? Arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, self-importance. "The earth wouldn't be what it is without us! We need to name the time itself after ourselves!" Yeah, hubris nails it.
What's excessive about this? We have a significant extinction event accompanied by global changes in climate, terrain, and now, appearance of new minerals and geologically stable manufactured materials. Humanity is the most significant thing to happen to Earth since multicellular life formed and it is unique - if any other organism did what we have done, we would be able to detect their presence from looking at any sedimentary rock formed from their era.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday March 03 2017, @03:18PM (1 child)
Obviously plants never became fossil fuels, ever. Yet more reason to suspect you're living on a different planet.
Oh, and the algae called, they want your allocation of oxygen back.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 03 2017, @04:25PM
since multicellular life formed
Covers the algae situation. Not the first plants with protective bark situation which happened a bit latter.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 03 2017, @06:36PM
AKA, the exact same definition used to define the previous epochs.
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Friday March 03 2017, @07:10AM (3 children)
No, the word is "science". These new compounds are facts. Real facts. We are not bragging that we created them, that is just the facts. Facts, Runaway! Things that are true, whether you like it or not. Get used to it, there are lots of "facts" in the universe.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @07:57AM
(Score: 1) by ewk on Friday March 03 2017, @12:08PM
Hmmm... 'collateral damage' is also created (some by science, some by sheer stupidity or coincidence).
Especially the lack of mentioning (at least in the summary and the link to the BBC article) of any (negative or positive) impact from these minerals on the environment, seems a tad suspicious :-)
"Look at us! We created 200 new minerals... only too bad that 195 are highly toxic and/or radioactive...." would have been a rather different headline. :-D
I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @02:51PM
yes, I didn't see any hubris in it, especially since the undercurrent is all of the negative things.
I saw it as more of a 'we looked in the mirror and saw we did this, we had best own up to it'.
this doesnt jive with many conservatives because we are supposed to be able to do whatever we damn well please as god's created chosen ones, and he'll fix the planet just like he did the easter islands after he got the last stone carving installed.
(Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Friday March 03 2017, @01:39PM
...w-a-i-t a minute, i think i've seen this movie, does it have apes in it ? ? ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03 2017, @06:57PM
We used to landfill almost everything. We landfilled newspapers.
I still think about this when I have to throw something away. Will
the landfill become like a coal deposit or something else?
The parts about redistributing precious minerals is something I
hadn't thought about. If humanity collapses in sudden ways, where
would future beings find most of the diamonds and gold? Let's say
everybody in a major city dies due to a plague and it's quarantined
then abandoned and forgotten. The buildings collapse and settle,
vegetation covers, and ultimately it's a stratum. Is it more or less
rich than currently mined deposits?