© Activedia
© Activedia

Human impact on global energy flow revealed

The way humans produce and consume resources has resulted in a ‘striking new pattern’ in the Earth’s global energy flow, according to researchers from the University of Leicester, UK.

Their findings suggest that the planet is now characterised by a geologically unprecedented pattern of global energy flow that is influenced by humans and necessary for maintaining the complexity of modern human societies.

The team, headed by Professors Mark Williams and Jan Zalasiewicz of Leicester’s Department of Geology, analysed the Anthropocene phenomenon – a proposed epoch where humans dominate the Earth’s surface geology – and identified that human patterns of production and consumption are a key factor characterising the epoch. When measured against the billion-year old patterns of the Earth, they form a striking new pattern.

“Very big changes in our planet’s pattern of biological production and consumption do not happen very often,” explained Zalasiewicz. “The appearance of photosynthesis was one, about two and a half billion years ago. Then, a little over half a billion years ago, animals like trilobites appeared, to add scavengers and predators into a food web of increasing complexity.

“Other major events have happened since, such as five major mass extinctions, but even measured against these events, human-driven changes to production and consumption are distinctly new.”

The new pattern will not only signal a new biological stage in Earth’s evolution, say the researchers, it will also leave a lasting impression of humans’ existence on the planet.

In 2016, Zalasiewicz’s Anthropocene Working Group will gather more evidence on the Anthropocene, which will help inform recommendations on whether this new time unit should be formalised and, if so, how it might be defined and characterised.