Abstract

This title does not promise anything too new. We all know that humans have a significant impact on the planet. And we mostly know that this is being codified through an attempt to invent a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. I am here to tell you that the Anthropocene is not a new epoch. If anything the Anthropocene is a new eon, but less stratigraphically, the Anthropocene is a new operating system for the Earth. As Earth scientists, we have a reasonably good understanding of the rate-limiting processes that dictated the pace of the first 4.5 billion years of Earth’s history. What I want to explore (or at least propose) is the new set of rate-limiting processes for the next… well, for the future as far as we can see it.