The Anthropocene as a civil time unit

Abstract

Geologists are currently finalizing the specification of a new geological time unit, the Anthropocene Epoch, characterized by the Earth’s response to humans driving geological change. Once it is ratified we can use it also as a civil time unit. The standard for time reckoning used worldwide today is the Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582. As a calendar of the Catholic church, it is structured around supernatural events and indeterminate religious dates. Astronomical year numbering has long fixed the arcane arithmetic and religious notations of the Gregorian calendar, but the origin of its time scale perpetuates the links to religious and supernatural dates. If we shift the origin of the astronomical time scale to the onset of the Anthropocene, we can update the calendar with a science based time scale that is anchored by real world data and events. Such a time scale would be better suited as a culturally inclusive standard in a multi-cultural world.

Keywords

Anthropocene calendar calendar reform epoch era Great Acceleration inclusiveness multi-cultural time reckoning time scale

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adam

(2022) World population hits eight billion — here’s how researchers predict it will grow. Nature News, 15 November. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03720-6

Aitken

(1924) Calendar reform. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 36(210): 74–78.

Alexander

(1493) Inter caetera. Papal Encyclicals Online. Available at: https://www.papalencyclicals.net/alex06/alex06inter.htm (accessed 21 September 2022).

Anthropocene Working Group (2019) Results of the AWG binding vote. Newsletter of the Anthropocene Working Group 29: 4. Available at: http://quaternary.stratigraphy.org/working-groups/anthropocene/

Bauer

Ellis

(2018) The Anthropocene divide: Obscuring understanding of social-environmental change. Current Anthropology 59(2): 209–227.

Bede (725) The reckoning of time. (1999). In: Wallis

(ed.) Bede: The reckoning of time. Translated Texts for Historians No. 29. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, pp.1–250. Available at: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/books/id/53367/

Bede (731) The ecclesiastical history of the English people. (1969). In: Colgrave

Mynors

RAB

(eds) Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp.1–577. Available at: https://archive.org/details/x-bede-s-ecclesiastical-history/mode/2up

Betts

(2012) Decolonization: A brief history of the world. In: Bogaerts

Raben

(eds) Decolonization: A Brief History of the World. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, pp.23–37. Available at: https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/34488/1/424255.pdf#page=30

Blackburn

Holford-Strevens

(1999) The Oxford companion to the year. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, pp.126–130. Available at: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL6897078M/The_Oxford_companion_to_the_year

10.

Britannica (2011) Star of Bethlehem. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Star-of-Bethlehem-celestial-phenomenon (accessed 21 September 2022).

11.

Britannica (2021) Incarnation. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Incarnation-Jesus-Christ (accessed 21 September 2022).

12.

Britannica (2023) Gregorian calendar. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gregorian-calendar (accessed 20 July 2023).

13.

Cassini

(1740a) Tables astronomiques, du soleil, de la lune, des planètes, des étoiles fixes, et des satellites de Jupiter et de Saturne. Paris: L’Imprimerie Royale: 5. Available at: https://books.google.com/books?id=fVIVAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA10

14.

Cassini

(1740b) Tables astronomiques des mouvements du soleil, de la lune, et des autres planètes; et de la position des étoiles fixes. In: Tables Astronomiques, Du Soleil, de La Lune, Des Planètes, Des Étoiles Fixes, Et Des Satellites de Jupiter Et de Saturne. Paris: L’Imprimerie Royale: Tables III, X, XXXII, XXXIX, XLVI, LIII, LX, Available at: https://books.google.com/books?id=fVIVAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA10

15.

Centre for Ice and Climate (2005) The GICC05 Time Scale. Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen. Available at: https://www.iceandclimate.nbi.ku.dk/research/strat_dating/annual_layer_count/gicc05_time_scale/

16.

Christian

(2018) Origin Story: A Big History of Everything. New York; Boston; London: Little Brown & Company, https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/david-christian/origin-story/9780316392013/

17.

Cohen

Finney

Gibbard

, et al. (2013) The ICS international chronostratigraphic chart. Episodes 36(3): 199–204.

18.

Coolman

(2020) The Gregorian calendar: Why we have Leapyears and April Fools’ Day. LiveSience, 28 February. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/45768-gregorian-calendar.html

19.

Crutzen

Stoermer

(2000) The “Anthropocene.” IGBP Global Change Newsletter 41: 16–18. http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf

20.

Crutzen

(2002) Geology of mankind. Nature 415: 23. https://www.nature.com/articles/415023a

21.

Currie

(2004) The remarkable metrological history of radiocarbon dating [II]. Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology 109(2): 185–217.

22.

Dalrymple

(2001) The age of the Earth in the twentieth century: A problem (mostly) solved. Geological Society London Special Publications 190(1): 205–221.

23.

Damianos

(2023) Law and geology for the Anthropocene: Toward an ethics of encounter. Law and Critique 34: 165–183.

24.

Fagan

(2019) On the dangers of an Anthropocene epoch: Geological time, political time and post-human politics. Political Geography 70: 55–63.

25.

Fibonacci

(1202) Liber abaci. In: Sigler

(ed.) Fibonacci’s Liber Abaci: A Translation Into Modern English of Leonardo Pisano’s Book of Calculation. New York, NY: Springer, pp.13–615. Available at: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm:978-1-4613-0079-3/1.pdf

26.

Folke

Polasky

Rockström

, et al. (2021) Our future in the Anthropocene biosphere. Ambio 50(4): 834–869.

27.

Foster

Clark

(2021) The Capitalinian: The first geological age of the Anthropocene. Monthly Review 73(4): 1–16.

28.

Gibbard

Walker

Bauer

, et al. (2022b) The Anthropocene as an event, not an epoch. Journal of Quaternary Science 37(3): 395–399.

29.

Gibbard

Bauer

Edgeworth

, et al. (2022a) A practical solution: The Anthropocene is a geological event, not a formal epoch. Episodes 45: 349–357.

30.

Gregorius

XIII (1582) Inter gravissimas. Tusculum: Cae. Glorierius, A. de Alexijs (Chancellors to the Pope). Available at: http://www.bluewaterarts.com/calendar/NewInterGravissimas.htm

31.

Haff

(2014) Humans and technology in the Anthropocene: Six rules. The Anthropocene Review 1(2): 126–136.

32.

Haff

(2013) Technology as a geological phenomenon: Implications for human well-being. Geological Society Special Publication 395(1): 301–309.

33.

Head

(2019) Formal subdivision of the quaternary system/period: Present status and future directions. Quaternary International 500: 32–51.

34.

Head

Gibbard

(2015) Formal subdivision of the quaternary system/period: Past, present, and future. Quaternary International 383: 4–35.

35.

Head

Steffen

Fagerlind

, et al. (2022a) The Great Acceleration is real and provides a quantitative basis for the proposed Anthropocene Series/Epoch. Episodes 45: 359–376.

36.

Head

Waters

Zalasiewicz

, et al. (2023b) The Anthropocene as an epoch is distinct from all other concepts known by this term: A reply to Swindles et al. (2023). Journal of Quaternary Science 38(4): 455–458.

37.

Head

Zalasiewicz

Waters

, et al. (2022b) The proposed Anthropocene Epoch/Series is underpinned by an extensive array of mid-20th century stratigraphic event signals. Journal of Quaternary Science 37(7): 1181–1187.

38.

Head

Zalasiewicz

Waters

, et al. (2023a) The Anthropocene is a prospective epoch/series, not a geological event. Episodes 46: 229–238.

39.

Holy See Press Office (2023) Joint statement of the Dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development on the “Doctrine of Discovery”, Bollettino Sala Stampa Della Santa Sede, No. 230330b. Available at: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/03/30/230330b.html#

40.

Hope

(1963a) The arithmetical reform of the calendar, part I. R.A.S.C. The Journal 57(1): 14–23.

41.

Hope

(1963b) The arithmetical reform of the calendar, part II. R.A.S.C. The Journal 57(2): 51–62.

42.

Hyde

(2022) Aphorisms for the Anthropocene. The New Yorker, 24 June. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/aphorisms-for-the-anthropocene (accessed 9 October 2022).

43.

IPBES (2019) Summary for policymakers. In: Díaz

Settele

Brondízio

, et al. (eds) The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Bonn: IPBES Secretariat, pp.1–56. Available at: https://zenodo.org/record/3553579#.Y0Q8TUrMLYo

44.

IPCC (2021) Summary for Policymakers. In: Masson-Delmotte

Zhai

Pirani

, et al. (eds) Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, pp.3–32. Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/

45.

ISO (2019) ISO 8601-1:2019(en): Date and time - Representations for information interchange - Part 1: Basic rules. Geneva: International Standards Organization. Available at: https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:8601:-1:ed-1:v1:en (accessed 21 September 2022).

46.

Kaplan

(1999) The Nothing That is. A Natural History of Zero. London: Penguin Books Ltd. Available at: https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/0195128427/

47.

Kennelly

(1935) Proposed reforms of the Gregorian calendar. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia for promoting useful knowledge 75(1): 71–110.

48.

Kepler

(1615) Joannis Keppleri Eclogæ chronicæ ex epistolis doctissimorum aliquot virorum, & suis mutuis, quibus examinantur tempora nobilissima: I. Herodis Herodiadumque, II. baptismi & ministerii Christi annorum non plus 2 1/4, III. passionis, mortis et resurrectionis Dn. N. Iesu Christi, anno æræ nostræ vulgaris, 31. non, ut vulgo, 33. IV. belli Iudaici, quo funerata fuit cum Ierosolymis & Templo Synagoga Iudaica, sublatumque Vetus Testamentum. Inter alia & commentarius luculentus in locum Epiphanii obscurissimum de cyclo veteri Iudæorum. Frankfurt: Gottfried Tampach. Available at: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=041mAAAAcAAJ&rdid=book-041mAAAAcAAJ&rdot=1

49.

Kepler

(1627) Tabularum Rudolphi astronomicarum pars secunda. Tabulæ Rudolphinæ, quibus astronomicæ scientiæ, temporum longinquitate collapsæ restauratio continetur: 42, 48, 54, 60, 66, 72, 78. Available at: http://www.ub.uni-kiel.de/digiport/bis1800/Arch3_436.html

50.

League of Nations (1923) Minutes of the 5th session of the Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit. Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit. Geneva: League of Nations: 8-11, 15-16, 31-32. Available at: https://archives.ungeneva.org/proces-verbaux-des-seances-de-la-5e-session-de-la-commission-consultative-et-technique-des-communications-et-du-transit-geneve-29-aout-1er-septembre-1923/download

51.

League of Nations (1927) Classification and summary of proposals for calendar reform. Geneva: League of Nations, pp.1–58. Available at: https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/1939/7137/193971370.23.pdf

52.

Lewis

Maslin

(2015) Defining the Anthropocene. Nature 519(7542): 171–180.

53.

Mark

(2017) The origin and history of the BCE/CE dating system. WorldHistory.org. Available at: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1041/the-origin–history-of-the-bcece-dating-system/#:~:text=The%20BCE/CE%20dating%20system%20was%20first%20used%20in%20the,birth%20which%20no%20one%20knows (accessed 21 September 2022).

54.

McCarthy

FMG

Patterson

Head

, et al. (2023) The varved succession of Crawford Lake, Milton, Ontario, Canada as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series. The Anthropocene Review 10(1): 146–176.

55.

Merritts

Edwards

Ellis

, et al. (2023) Response to Waters et al. (2022) the Anthropocene is complex. Defining it is not. Earth-Science Reviews 238: 104340. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825223000296?via=ihub

56.

Monastersky

(2015) First atomic blast proposed as start of Anthropocene. Nature News, 16 January. DOI: 10.1038/nature.2015.16739. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2015.16739

57.

Morin

(1949) The perpetual World Calendar that we need. Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada 43: 181–194.

58.

O’Brien

(1954) Calendar reform. Irish Astronomical Journal 3: 80–83.

59.

Pew Research Center (2012) The global religious landscape. The Pew Forum on Religion & Pulic Life. Pew Research Center. Available at: https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/ (accessed 21 September 2022).

60.

Pew Research Center (2015) The future of world religions: Population growth projections, 2010-2050. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Pew Research Center. Available at: https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/ (accessed 21 September 2022).

61.

Pew Research Center (2017) The changing global religious landscape. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Pew Research Center. Available at: https://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/ (accessed 21 September 2022).

62.

Raphall

(1855a) Post-Biblical History of the Jews: From the Close of the Old Testament, About the Year 420 B. C. E., Till the Destruction of the Second Temple in the Year 70 C. E, vol. i. Philadelphia: Moss & Brothers. Available at: https://archive.org/details/postbiblicalhist01raph

63.

Raphall

(1855b) Post-Biblical History of the Jews: From the Close of the Old Testament, About the Year 420 B. C. E., Till the Destruction of the Second Temple in the Year 70 C. E, vol. II. Philadelphia, PA: Moss & Brothers. Available at: https://archive.org/details/postbiblicalhist02raph

64.

Revell

(2017) History of zero pushed back 500 years by ancient Indian text. New Scientist, 14 September. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2147450-history-of-zero-pushed-back-500-years-by-ancient-indian-text/

65.

Roser

Ritchie

Ortiz-Ospina

, et al. (2013a) World population growth: Population since 10,000 BC. OurWorldInData.org. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth (accessed 21 September 2022).

66.

Roser

Ritchie

Ortiz-Ospina

, et al. (2013b) World population growth: Historic and projected population. OurWorldInData.org. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth (accessed 21 September 2022).

67.

Rosol

Schäfer

Turner

, et al. (2023) Evidence and experiment: Curating contexts of Anthropocene geology. The Anthropocene Review 10(1): 339.

68.

Rudwick

MJS

(2014) Earth’s Deep History. How It Was Discovered and Why It Matters. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, p.360. Available at: https://www.bibliovault.org/BV.landing.epl?ISBN=9780226203935

69.

Rull

(2018) What if the ‘Anthropocene’ is not formalized as a new geological Series/epoch? Quaternary 1(3): 24–30.

70.

Seife

(2000) Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea. New York, NY: Penguin Books. Available at: https://archive.org/details/zerobiographyofd00seif

71.

Siegel

(2021) How long do we have until we need to change our calendar? Forbes, 16 July. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2021/07/16/ask-ethan-how-long-do-we-have-until-we-need-to-change-our-calendar/?sh=21899031645a (accessed 21 September 2022).

72.

Steffen

Broadgate

Deutsch

, et al. (2015) The trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration. The Anthropocene Review 2(1): 81–98.

73.

Steffen

Grinevald

Crutzen

, et al. (2011) The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 369(1938): 842–867.

74.

Steffen

Leinfelder

Zalasiewicz

, et al. (2016) Stratigraphic and Earth System approaches to defining the Anthropocene. Earth s Future 4(8): 324–345.

75.

Steffen

Sanderson

Tyson

, et al. Turner

Wasson

RJ , (2004) Global Change and the Earth System: A Planet Under Pressure. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer. Available at: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm%3A978-3-540-26607-5%2F1.pdf

76.

Strang

(1991) Global Patterns of Decolonization, 1500-1987. International Studies Quarterly 35(4): 429–454.

77.

Subramanian

(2019) Anthropocene now: influential panel votes to recognize Earth’s new epoch. Nature News, 21 May. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-019-01641-5

78.

Swindles

Roland

Ruffell

(2023) The ‘Anthropocene’ is most useful as an informal concept. Journal of Quaternary Science 38(4): 453–454.

79.

The Nautical Almanac Offices of the United Kingdom and the United States of America (1961) Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Ephemeris and the American Ephemeris and the Nautical Almanac. HM Nautical Almanac Office by Order of the Science Research Council. London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office. Available at: https://archive.org/details/astronomicalalmanac1961

80.

United Nations Population Division (2019) Population by Country, 10000 BCE to 2021 (published by Gapminder (v6), HYDE (v3.2), United Nations Population Division (2019)). Our World in Data. ourworldindata.org. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/world-population-by-world-regions-post-1820?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL (accessed 21 September 2022).

81.

Ussher

(1650) The epistle to the reader. In: The Annals of the World. London: F. Crook, and G. Bedell. Available at: https://archive.org/details/AnnalsOfTheWorld/page/n3/mode/2up

82.

van der Plicht

Hogg

(2006) A note on reporting radiocarbon. Quaternary Geochronology 1(4): 237–240.

83.

Vinther

Clausen

Johnsen

, et al. (2006) A synchronized dating of three Greenland ice cores throughout the Holocene. Journal of Geophysical Research 111(D13): 1–11.

84.

Walker

Johnsen

Rasmussen

, et al. (2009) Formal definition and dating of the GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) for the base of the Holocene using the Greenland NGRIP ice core, and selected auxiliary records. Journal of Quaternary Science 24(1): 3–17.

85.

Wallis

(1999) Introduction. In: Bede: The reckoning of time. Translated Texts for Historians No. 29. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, pp.xv–ci. Available at: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/books/id/53367/

86.

Waters

Turner

Zalasiewicz

, et al. (2023b) Candidate sites and other reference sections for the Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point of the Anthropocene series. The Anthropocene Review 10(1): 3–24.

87.

Waters

Head

Zalasiewicz

, et al. (2023a) Response to Merritts et al. (2023): The Anthropocene is complex. Defining it is not. Earth-Science Reviews 238: 104335.

88.

Waters

Syvitski

JPM

Gałuszka

, et al. (2015) Can nuclear weapons fallout mark the beginning of the Anthropocene Epoch? The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 71(3): 46–57.

89.

Waters

Williams

Zalasiewicz

, et al. (2022) Epochs, events and episodes: Marking the geological impact of humans. Earth-Science Reviews 234: 104–171.

90.

Waters

Zalasiewicz

Summerhayes

, et al. (2016) The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene. Science 351(6269): aad2622.

91.

Waters

Zalasiewicz

Summerhayes

, et al. (2018) Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Anthropocene Series: Where and how to look for potential candidates. Earth-Science Reviews 178: 379–429.

92.

Witze

(2023) This quiet lake could mark the start of a new Anthropocene epoch. Nature News 619(7970): 441–442.

93.

Yusoff

(2013) Geologic life: Prehistory, climate, futures in the Anthropocene. Environment and Planning. D, Society & Space 31(5): 779–795.

94.

Yusoff

(2016) Anthropogenesis: Origins and endings in the Anthropocene. Theory Culture & Society 33(2): 3–28.

95.

Zalasiewicz

Waters

Barnosky

, et al.; Members of the Anthropocene Working Group (2015) Colonization of the Americas, ‘Little Ice Age’ climate, and bomb-produced carbon: Their role in defining the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene Review 2(2): 117–127.

96.

Zalasiewicz

Waters

Ellis

, et al. (2021) The Anthropocene: Comparing its meaning in geology (chronostratigraphy) with conceptual approaches arising in other disciplines. Earth s Future 9(3): e2020EF001896.

97.

Zalasiewicz

Waters

Wolfe

, et al. (2017) Making the case for a formal Anthropocene epoch: An analysis of ongoing critiques. Newsletters on Stratigraphy 50(2): 205–226.