The Earth has lived through seven epochs during the Cenozoic, but some scientists believe human impact has triggered a new epoch, the Anthropocene. This remains controversial.
An epoch is a division of time characterized by a prevailing set of conditions on Earth. So far, during the Cenozoic, the Earth has lived through seven epochs: Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene. Generally, each epoch lasted at least 3 million years. But just 11,500 years into the Holocene era, some scientists believe we have already entered a new era. They believe that human impact on Earth has been so significant that it has triggered the onset of a new geological epoch, dubbed the Anthropocene, which means “new man”.
According to the scientists who proposed the new epoch at the International Geological Congress in Cape Town in 2016, human activities such as pollution, habitat destruction and nuclear testing ushered in a new epoch much earlier than the norm. It should be noted, however, that not all scientists agree on this premise and the term “Anthropocene” remains unofficial. Indeed, the entire geological history of the Earth remains a highly controversial topic, as some scientists even argue that we are simply experiencing a warm period of the Ice Age.
Read more about the epochs of the Earth:
There are several ways to classify the chronological divisions in the history of the Earth: epochs, periods, eras and eons.
Epochs are defined by evidence of changes in Earth’s life forms, as evidenced by rock strata.
The continents of the Earth are believed to have taken their present position at the end of the Pliocene.
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