Ice could play a role in identifying and defining the Anthropocene. The recurrence of northern hemisphere glaciation and the stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet are both potentially vulnerable to human impact on the environment. However, only a very long hiatus in either would be unusual in the context of the Quaternary Period, requiring the definition of a geological boundary. Human influence...

In atmospheric chemistry, interactions between air pollution, the biosphere and human health, often through reaction mixtures from both natural and anthropogenic sources, are of growing interest. Massive pollution emissions in the Anthropocene have transformed atmospheric composition to the extent that biogeochemical cycles, air quality and climate have changed globally and partly profoundly. I...

At an international scientific meeting held in 2000, the NobelPrize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen became increasingly frustrated by the repeated use of the term “Holocene” to describe the earth’s most recent geological epoch. “After the term Holocene was mentioned yet again,” one observer recounts, Crutzen became “visibly agitated” and then “interrupted” the session. “‘Stop using the...