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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 Gaaark on Sunday July 22 2018, @02:27PM (2 children)
Damn Canadians, eh?
Waiiiiiittt...........
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 22 2018, @03:15PM (1 child)
Hey, we'll take your melted water. No problem.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday July 22 2018, @03:55PM
https://www.iceberg.ca/ [iceberg.ca]
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 22 2018, @04:16PM (1 child)
No mention of the Americas? Civilizations have come and gone here, some of them due to drought. Some of them left behind pretty extensive works, in the form of stone and adobe works. Road networks have been discovered in the US southwest, that connected various communities, some of which were only discovered because someone followed the road.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday July 22 2018, @09:48PM
I suspect the drought mentioned in the article may have been a little early for any of the really extensive North American civilisations, although it might have affected some of the Central American ones?
The Pueblo people of the South-West may have developed a bit late also, Wikipedia seems to indicate they arose 700 - 900 AD, but of course who knows what else might be found in the region?
There is no doubt the Mississippian culture was extensive and quite advanced, but it seems to be contact with Europeans that destroyed it.
I would love to see Cahokia one day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 22 2018, @04:55PM (1 child)
I remember a few elections ago, people voted for "change". It sounds like we'd be stuck in the Northgrippian, if it weren't for this climate changing event.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 23 2018, @12:17AM
Covfefian
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday July 23 2018, @02:35AM
I heard they wanted to call it the Mega-Hylian age, but were hit with a C&D from Nintendo...