Dylan Yoder
Columnist
Honestly speaking, it’s swelteringly hot out. Parts of Kansas were projected to hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit this past week and it looks like that’s not the last of it this year. For those of you with a long memory, you’ll remember times when the weather wasn’t quite this bad. Times when we still had enough snow in winter to make sledding hills for the kiddos to run around on.
It seems as though our region has been warming up over the past couple of years. So much out of the ordinary that scientists have been wanting to declare a new climate epoch in the history of our planet. The proposed, Anthropocene era. Now if you’re like me, you took one look at that long word, tried to pronounce it a couple of different ways, gave up, and wondered what the heck that is. That said, let’s try and understand a little more about our world and the people in it.
Let’s start by trying to understand what the different geological eras mean. The current era, known widely as the Holocene epoch, is a period of time after the last ice age in the history of our planet. Simply put, it’s what scientists call the current geological era or epoch. It features the warm and friendly climate that we all know and rely on from year to year. The proposed new epoch, the “Anthropocene” period, is a term that intends to show more accurately the time period in which humans have permanently altered the geological processes of the Earth. Breaking down the Greek roots of the word we can see the definition a bit more accurately, “anthropo”- human “cene” – new or recent. Or in other words, Anthropocene means the recent age of man.
To be fair, humans have done a lot to change the face of our planet. The cities and sprawling settlements we’ve built have all but covered most of the Earth, and there are now 8 billion of us running around. That compiled on top of all of the natural resources we’ve used is pretty extensive. Don’t worry though, I’m not here to doom and gloom all of us, in reality, we’ve been around for a long time, and there’s no use in looking at the bad side of things all the time, but rather, what we can do to support our ever-growing world.
The proposed new name “anthropocene” can seem like a daunting label to put on our current existence, but it’s important to remember that it’s just a name. Realistically, we have made pretty radical changes to our planet in greenhouse gas emissions, consumer uses, pollution, and many other ways. The proposed new epoch for our planet’s geological processes simply reflects the way that we have lived for the past hundred years.
The impact that we have had on our ecosystems is an unfortunate one to be sure, and there’s no use in pointing blame towards anyone in particular. We are all living on the same planet, we all use the same oxygen, and we all take part in enjoying the bounties that it has to provide for us. It’s always a good thing to be conscious about how we use the things that we take from the planet. Being earth conscious is a kind and noble way to live. That’s not to say that anyone, in particular, isn’t being conscious of the earth, but just that it’s always a good thing to keep in your mind as you go about your day. As I stated prior, we all live on the same floating rock, why not keep it nice and clean while we’re here?
