Astronomers have been telling us for nearly 500 years that humanity is not the most important thing in the universe. Evolutionary biologists established long ago that we're not even the greatest show on earth.
Now, geologists—the scientists who literally decide what on earth is going on—may reach the opposite conclusion: Humanity is the most powerful force on the planet, shaping the environment more than water, wind, or plate tectonics.
When did the epoch of human global domination, or "Anthropocene," begin? A study in the journal Nature suggests nine points at which humanity changed the world forever:
10,000-50,000 years ago - Megafauna extinction
11,000 years ago - Origin of farming
8,000 years ago - Extensive farming
6,500 years ago - Rice production
3,000-500 years ago - Anthropogenic soils
1492-1800 - New-Old World collision
About 1750 - Industrial Revolution
Post-1945 - Nuclear weapon detonation
Post-1950 - Persistent industrial chemicals
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-11/the-year-humans-started-to-ruin-the-world
And clearly we're not done yet.
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