In a paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Kansas Geological Survey researcher Justin Holcomb and his colleagues argue the new epoch may have dawned in 1959, thanks to the Soviet unmanned spacecraft Luna 2.
Homo sapiens first appeared in Africa around 300,000 years ago, and after a series of fits and starts, we successfully populated every continent — except for Antarctica – by approximately 16,000 years ago.
To track and correlate these dispersals, archaeologists study the material remains left behind by humans, including artifacts, features, and art.
One result of the long evolutionary journey is that our species has re-ordered life on Earth, altered the atmosphere and oceans, and become the primary driver of geomorphic change.
As a result, some scientists have argued that we should designate a geological epoch capturing our impact on the Earth — an ‘age of humans’ called the Anthropocene.
Currently, we are undergoing our next major range expansion: the peopling of our Solar System.
But rather than stone tools and hearths, we leave behind human footprints, rovers and rover tracks, landers, and various scientific equipment.
The human imprint began in 1959 when Luna 2 impacted east of Mare Imbrium on the Moon, producing the first human-made crater.
Since this event, humans have caused surface disturbances in at least 58 additional locations on the lunar surface.
As we enter the next space race, one characterized by private companies offering access via space tourism and plans for industrial mining, Dr. Holcomb and co-authors argue that it is time to discuss whether Earth’s Moon has also entered its own ‘age of humans’ — a Lunar Anthropocene.
“The idea is much the same as the discussion of the Anthropocene on Earth — the exploration of how much humans have impacted our planet,” Dr. Holcomb said.
“The consensus is on Earth the Anthropocene began at some point in the past, whether hundreds of thousands of years ago or in…
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