One of the arguments that went under the radar this year was whether the Holocene era is over, giving way to the Anthropocene, the era of human dominance over the planet. For what it’s worth, the panel voted we are still in the Holocene, a period that began some 11,700 years ago with the end of the last ice age.
Few opponents of the Anthropocene proposal doubted the enormous impact that human influence, including climate change, is having on the planet. But some felt the proposed marker of the epoch—some 10 centimeters of mud from Canada’s Crawford Lake that captures the global surge in fossil fuel burning, fertilizer use, and atomic bomb fallout that began in the 1950s—isn’t definitive enough. (Science, March 5, 2024).
The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) has not given up and will be working the next ten years until another vote is taken. In the Science article, author Paul Voosen indicated the AWG are news hounds. “‘The Anthropocene epoch was pushed through the media from the beginning—a publicity drive,’ says Stanley Finney, a stratigrapher at California State University Long Beach and head of the International Union of Geological Sciences, which would have had final approval of the proposal.”
What does this have to do with the price of tea in China? Expect climate deniers to be all over this news, saying humans don’t influence climate change. That would be hogwash. Luckily, there are people in Iowa doing something to mitigate the effects of human influences on the climate. People like the Iowa Environmental Council who announced this free webinar:
Communities near coal plants operated by Iowa’s power companies see higher rates of asthma, COPD, cancer, and other pollution-related diseases. A new report from the Iowa Environmental Council, written in partnership with the American Lung Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska’s Comprehensive Healthcare System, highlights how two coal-fired power plants outside of Sioux City affect the health of the region.
Join us Wednesday, July 24 for a lunch hour webinar about this new report examining the relationship between pollution from coal plants and lung disease in Woodbury County.
Coal in Siouxland Health Impacts – free webinar
Wednesday July 24
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Online (Register Here)The report finds that the two MidAmerican Energy coal plants have been associated with causing at least 1,400 premature deaths since 1999 and the region’s rates of asthma and lung cancer outpace statewide averages. Despite these impacts, MidAmerican Energy claims they will operate these plants for an additional 25 years.
Can’t make it for the live event? Register to attend and a recording will be made available to view later at your convenience. Contact us with any questions at iecmail@iaenvironment.org. We hope to see you there!
– Your friends at IEC
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