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Article Dans Une Revue Episodes Journal of International Geoscience Année : 2021

The Great Acceleration is real and provides a quantitative basis for the proposed Anthropocene Series/Epoch

Martin J Head
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Will Steffen
Colin N Waters
Anthony D Barnosky
Reinhold Leinfelder
Neil L Rose
Michael Wagreich
Jens Zinke

Résumé

The Anthropocene was conceptualized in 2000 to reflect the extensive impact of human activities on our planet, and subsequent detailed analyses have revealed a substantial Earth System response to these impacts beginning in the mid-20 th century. Key to this understanding was the discovery of a sharp upturn in a multitude of global socioeconomic indicators and Earth System trends at that time; a phenomenon termed the 'Great Acceleration'. It coincides with massive increases in global human-consumed energy and shows the Earth System now on a trajectory far exceeding the earlier variability of the Holocene Epoch, and in some respects the entire Quaternary Period. The evaluation of geological signals similarly shows the mid-20 th century as representing the most appropriate inception for the Anthropocene. A recent mathematical analysis has nonetheless challenged the significance of the original Great Acceleration data. We examine this analytical approach and reiterate the robustness of the original data in supporting the Great Acceleration, while emphasizing that intervals of rapid growth are inevitably time-limited, as recognised at the outset. Moreover, the exceptional magnitude of this growth remains undeniable, reaffirming the centrality of the Great Acceleration in justifying a formal chronostratigraphic Anthropocene at the rank of series/epoch.
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hal-03437341 , version 1 (19-11-2021)

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Paternité - Pas d'utilisation commerciale - Pas de modification

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Martin J Head, Will Steffen, David Fagerlind, Colin N Waters, Clément Poirier, et al.. The Great Acceleration is real and provides a quantitative basis for the proposed Anthropocene Series/Epoch. Episodes Journal of International Geoscience, 2021, ⟨10.18814/epiiugs/2021/021031⟩. ⟨hal-03437341⟩
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