iPlayer Radio What's New?
Speaker icon LISTEN
Show more Show less
ON NOW : The Documentary
Egypt’s Challenge – Far From Cairo

The Documentary What impact has the revolution had on rural life outside of Cairo?

ON NEXT : 05:00 Newsday

Discovery

Image for The Age We Made - Part 2

Play now 18 mins

The Age We Made - Part 2

Duration:
18 minutes
First broadcast:
Monday 29 October 2012

Humanity’s impact on the atmosphere with fossil fuel burning is so profound that we’re creating a new geological time period, say geologists. They’ve named it, the Anthropocene.

In this part of her journey into the Anthropocene, Gaia Vince explores how fossil fuel burning will leave enduring marks in geological record forming on the Earth in current times.

Climate change and ocean acidification are in the process of transforming the planet on such a scale that humanity has shifted Earth history into a new geological epoch. Millions of years from now, scientists will be able to read the rocks forming now and see that something profound and unprecedently rapid – from sea level rise to dissolving coral reefs.

Drawing from similar episodes in Earth history, leading geoscientists warn of a global blanket of oxygen-starved muds, extinctions of much marine life and a sea level 20 metres higher than today’s.

  • Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz

    Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz

    Geologist  Jan Zalasiewicz points to the start of a 180 million year old global warming event, as it’s written in the Jurassic age rocks in Leicestershire, England.  What geological signatures will our fossil fuel burning leave behind?

    Credit: Andrew Luck Baker

Free downloads

  1. Image for Discovery

    Discovery

    An in-depth look at the most significant ideas, discoveries and trends in science, from the smallest...

  2. Image for Science Hour

    Science Hour

    Science news and highlights of the week. The Science Hour is a weekly digest of BBC World Service's...

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.