還在回味侏羅紀(jì)？人類也有以自己物種命名 的地質(zhì)學(xué)時(shí)代了！

據(jù)英國著名科學(xué)雜志《自然》雜志21日?qǐng)?bào)道，一組科學(xué)家投票選出了一個(gè)新的地質(zhì)時(shí)代——人類世 。

　　A panel of scientists voted this week to designate a new geologic epoch — the Anthropocene — to mark the profound ways in which humans have altered the planet. That decision, by the 34-member Anthropocene Working Group (AWG), marks an important step towards formally defining a new slice of the geologic record — an idea that has generated intense debate within the scientific community over the past few years.

　　一組科學(xué)家投票選出了一個(gè)新的地質(zhì)時(shí)代——人類世，以標(biāo)志人類對(duì)地球做出的深刻改變。由34名成員組成的人類世工作組(AWG)做出的這一決定，標(biāo)志了朝著對(duì)地質(zhì)記錄新片段的正式定義邁出了重要一步——過去幾年，這一想法在科學(xué)界引發(fā)了激烈的辯論。

　　The panel plans to submit a formal proposal for the new epoch by 2021 to the International Commission on Stratigraphy, which oversees the official geologic time chart.

　　該小組計(jì)劃在2021年之前向國際地層學(xué)委員會(huì)提交一份關(guān)于新紀(jì)元的正式提案。該委員會(huì)負(fù)責(zé)制訂標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的地質(zhì)時(shí)間表。

　　Twenty-nine members of the AWG supported the Anthropocene designation and voted in favour of starting the new epoch in the mid-twentieth century, when a rapidly rising human population accelerated the pace of industrial production, the use of agricultural chemicals and other human activities. At the same time, the first atomic-bomb blasts littered the globe with radioactive debris that became embedded in sediments and glacial ice, becoming part of the geologic record.

　　AWG的29位成員支持人類世的定義，并投票贊成新紀(jì)元始于20世紀(jì)中期，當(dāng)時(shí)迅速增長的人口加快了工業(yè)生產(chǎn)、農(nóng)用化學(xué)品的使用和其他人類活動(dòng)的步伐。與此同時(shí)，第一次原子彈爆炸使地球上散落著放射性碎片，這些碎片嵌入沉積物和冰川冰中，成為地質(zhì)記錄的一部分。

▲ Anthropocene now: influential panel votes to recognize Earth’s new epoch (via Nature)