A New Age?

What should people call the time period we live in? Traditionally, geologists have called the current period the Holocene epoch. Holocene means “entirely recent.” This time period started about 11,700 years ago, at the end of the last significant ice age.

However, some scientists believed humans have left the Holocene. They wanted to call the present time the Anthropocene. This term means “new man.” These scientists wanted to change the name because humans now affect almost the entire planet. In 2019, a panel of scientists voted to approve the name. Anthropocene reflects the idea that humans are the strongest influence on Earth’s climate and environment—for better and for worse.