To: International Union of Geological Sciences, President, Dr. Roland Oberhaensli and International Commission on Stratigraphy, Chair, Prof. Felix M. Gradstein
Against the "official" Anthropocene
We are against the efforts of the International Commission on Stratigraphy to declare the end of the Holocene epoch, and to declare the beginning of a new "anthropocene" epoch. The undeniable markers of "human-caused" destructive domination of Earth are dismal warning signs that the Holocene epoch is seriously endangered, but they are not nails on the coffin of life as we know it.
Instead of encouraging fatalism and myths about the wretchedness of human nature, those who practice "Earth science for the global community" should intensify efforts to protect and nurture the resiliencies of Earth's immeasurably valuable beings and systems, and to help educate the world's diverse communities about these urgent issues.
Instead of encouraging fatalism and myths about the wretchedness of human nature, those who practice "Earth science for the global community" should intensify efforts to protect and nurture the resiliencies of Earth's immeasurably valuable beings and systems, and to help educate the world's diverse communities about these urgent issues.
Why is this important?
Please join me in signing this petition to leadership of the International Union of Geological Sciences. Although this may seem like an obscure professional committee issue, the decision of the IUGS could have chilling implications for all of us, for they hold in their hands the ability to declare that Earth itself is in a new and irreversible physical phase. We do not accept the idea that the Holocene is over, or that some essential "human" quality has caused the severe destruction of nuclear war, strip mining, ocean acidification and species extinction. The term "anthropocene" masks the work of capitalism, colonialism and other systems of domination in creating climate change and current global ecological hardships. It therefore misidentifies the problem, and misdirects attempts to address it.