地质学家强调人类处于翻天覆地“人类纪元”

伤我心太深

专家希望人类在地质学记录里留下的痕迹能作为一个新的纪元——人类世(Anthropocene)获得认可

Our footprint could be visible as radioactive material from bomb tests like those at Bikini Atoll in the 1950s, increased CO2 and mass extinction. Photograph: Corbis

人类的痕迹可以像1950年代在比基尼环礁（Bikini Atoll）实施的导弹试验释放出的辐射性物质、上升的二氧化碳浓度和大范围生物灭绝一样显而易见。图片：科比斯（Corbis）

These are epoch-making times. Literally. There is now "compelling evidence", according to an influential group of geologists, that humans have had such an impact on the planet that we are entering a new phase of geological time: the Anthropocene.

字面上讲，这是创造新世纪的时代。据一个颇具影响力的地质学家小组的研究，现在有“不得不信的证据”表明由于人类巨大的影响力，地球正进入一个新的地质年代：人类世。

Millions of years from now, they say, alien geologists would be able to make out a human-influenced stripe in the accumulated layers of rock, in the same way that we can see the imprint of dinosaurs in the Jurassic, or the explosion of life that marks the Cambrian. Now the scientists are pushing for the new epoch to be officially recognised.

他们说，数亿年后，外星球地质学家能根据岩层痕迹绘制出一条人类活动线，其方式就跟人类能分辨出侏罗纪时期恐龙的痕迹或者寒武纪时期生命大爆发的标志一样。科学家们现在正督促权威机构承认这个新的世纪。

"We don't know what is going to happen in the Anthropocene," says geographer Professor Erle Ellis of the University of Maryland. "But we need to think differently and globally, to take ownership of the planet."

“我们不知道在人类世里会发生什么事情，”马瑞兰大学（University of Maryland）地理学教授厄尔·伊利斯（Erle Ellis）如是说。“但是我们要从不同的角度，以全球化的观点来思考，从而取得地球的所有权。”

Anthropocene, a term conceived in 2002 by Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen, means "the Age of Man", recognising our species' ascent to a geophysical force on a par with Earth-shattering asteroids and planet-cloaking volcanoes. Geologists predict that our geological footprint will be visible, for example, in radioactive material from the atomic bomb tests, plastic pollution, increased carbon dioxide levels and human-induced mass extinction.

人类世是诺贝尔奖得主保罗·克鲁岑（Paul Crutzen）2002年提出的，其意思是“人类的时代”，承认人类的能力上升到了同小行星和火山这些撼天动地的自然力同一级别。地质学家预测人类的地质学痕迹将会变得很明显，例如，原子弹试验产生的核辐射，高浓度的二氧化碳和人为导致的大规模生物灭绝。

"Geologists and ecologists are already using the term 'Anthropocene', so it makes sense to have an accepted definition," says geologist Dr Jan Zalasiewicz of the University of Leicester. "But, in this unusual case, formal recognition of the epoch could have wider significance beyond the geology community. By officially accepting that human actions are having an effect on the makeup of the Earth, it may have an impact on, say, the law of the sea or on people's behaviour."

“地质学家们和生物学家们早已经开始使用‘人类世’这个术语，所以给它一个可接受的定义是情理之中的事，”类赛斯特大学（University of Leicester）地质学博士简·匝拉斯维奇（Jan Zalasiewicz）如是说。“但是这是个独特的个案，因为对这个时代的正式认可所产生的重要影响要超出地质学领域范围。正式接受人类行为正在改变地球地貌的事实会对例如海洋法则或人们的举止产生影响。”

In the past, geological changes on a scale big enough to merit a new epoch have been the result of events such as the eruption of a supervolcano or a catastrophic meteor strike – things a lawyer might describe as acts of God. Now, instead of being just another one of the millions of species on our planet, humans have become the determining factor – the guiding, controlling species – and many of our changes will leave a permanent mark in the rocks.

过去能引起足够大规模的地质改变从而产生新世纪的原因都是像超级火山爆发或灾难性的流星撞击等类似事件——法学家们称它们为上帝的法律。现在，人类不仅仅只是地球数亿种生物的一种而已经成为一股决定性力量——主导性的和主宰性的物种，而且我们引起的大多数变化会在岩石上留下长久的印记。

The Anthropocene Working Group of the International Commission on Stratigraphy, which is the body charged with formally designating geological time periods, met at Burlington House, London, last month, to discuss evidence for the planet having crossed into a new geological epoch.

曾因正式认可地质学时间段而被指控的组织国际地层学委员会（International Commission on Stratigraphy）下分的人类世工作小组（The Anthropocene Working Group）上月在伦敦伯灵顿馆（Burlington House）召开会议，讨论证明地球进入新地质学世纪的证据。

The geological signal will be clear from industrial-scale mining, damming, deforestation and agriculture, as well as the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere and nitrates in the oceans. Even the presence of the first human-produced chemicals like PCBs, radioactive fallout and the humble plastic bag could be measured millions of years hence.

工业规模采矿、建水坝、砍伐和农业，以及大气中的碳浓度上升和海洋中的氮浓度增高都是明显的地质学标记。甚至像多虑化联苯（PCBs）这些人类最早生产出的化学物、放射性坠尘和寒酸的塑料袋都会从此后数亿年内测量得出。

Putting humans at the centre of our planet's activity represents a paradigm shift in the way geologists usually think of our species – as a mere blip on the long timescale of Earth.

将人类放在地球活动的中心位置这一做法很典范地代表了地质学家看待人类观念的改变——不再是地球长长的时间轴上微小的一点。

There have been seven epochs since the dinosaurs died out around 65m years ago. The last time we passed a geological boundary, entering the Holocene around 12,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, we were an insignificant species, just one of a couple of hominids struggling to survive in a world where so many of our cousins, like Homo erectus, had failed to make it.

大约在六千五百万年前恐龙灭绝之后，地球经历了七个世纪。上个世纪之后人类穿越地质学界限，在大约一万两千年前——上一个冰川期末期进入全新世（Holocene）。当时我们还无足轻重，只是众多原始人中的一种，挣扎着生存下来，而我们众多表亲都失败了，例如直立猿人。

Now our effect on the climate and our fellow species is having a global impact. "The fossil record will reveal a massive loss of plant and animal species, and also the scale of invasive species – how we've distributed animals and plants across the globe," Zalasiewicz says.

现在我们对气候和其他种族的影响是全球性的。“化石记录将揭示植物和动物物种的大范围灭绝，以及物种入侵的范围——人类在全球范围内散布动植物的方式，”匝拉斯维奇如是说。

The working group still has some more evidence to gather before it presents its findings to the stratigraphy committee, "and then the real battle will commence", says Zalasiewicz. "These are slow, nit-picky debates, fraught with acrimony and issues of nationalism. Some members are very cautious and think it's premature to define the Anthropocene, because the Holocene has only been around for a short period in geological terms. Other epochs have lasted millions of years."

工作小组仍然有一些进一步证据要收集，之后再把研究结果呈交给地层学委员会，“而之后真正的战役就将打响，”匝拉斯维奇说。“这些是拖沓缓慢的、吹毛求疵的辩论，充斥着尖酸刻薄和民族主义。一些委员谨小慎微，认为给人类世下定义为时尚早，因为全新世在地质学概念里出现还不长时间。其他世纪都延续了上亿年。”

Others feel that the new epoch is upon us and we should come to terms with its implications for the planet. "We broke it, we bought it, we own it," Ellis says. "Now we've got to take responsibility for it."

其他委员认为新的世纪即将到来，我们应该把它应用在处理人与地球关系上。“我们损坏了地球，因为我们已将其购买，我们有拥有权，”伊利斯说，“现在我们要对它负责。”

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