<p>Geoscientists have been debating the issue of recognizing the Anthropocene as an era for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00675-8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">15 years</a>.</p>
<p>On 20 March 2024, the International Union of Geological Sciences - the final arbiter in the matter - <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00868-1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">decided to uphold a decision made on 4 March 2024</a>, by a group of geoscientists to reject the proposal to establish the current era of human planet altering activity as a formal epoch.</p>

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2024-06-29T07:09:43.567Z
2024-06-29T07:09:43.567Z
Fred
<p>I am looking for a statement from the ISC as to why they reject the Anthropocene as a geochronological epoch, but this is <a href="https://stratigraphy.org/news/152" rel="nofollow noreferrer">all</a> I can find:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is with the delegated authority of the IUGS President and Secretary General and on behalf of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) that the vote by the ICS Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) to reject the proposal for an Anthropocene Epoch as a formal unit of the Geologic Time Scale is approved. The voting members of SQS have extensive experience and broad expertise in Quaternary stratigraphy and chronology. The ICS executive approved their vote, which was overwhelmingly supported by the chairs of the ICS subcommissions. Despite its rejection as a formal unit of the Geologic Time Scale, the Anthropocene will continue to be used not only by Earth and environmental scientists but also by social scientists, politicians and economists, as well as by the public. It will remain an invaluable descriptor of human impact on the Earth system.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is there another statement? Which also gives reasons why we are still in the Holocene.</p>

<earth-history><geochronology>
What is the ISC's justification for rejecting the Anthropocene as a geological epoch?
Weiss
# What is the ISC's justification for rejecting the Anthropocene as a geological epoch?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-06-28)

I am looking for a statement from the ISC as to why they reject the Anthropocene as a geochronological epoch, but this is [all](https://stratigraphy.org/news/152) I can find:

> It is with the delegated authority of the IUGS President and Secretary General and on behalf of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) that the vote by the ICS Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS) to reject the proposal for an Anthropocene Epoch as a formal unit of the Geologic Time Scale is approved. The voting members of SQS have extensive experience and broad expertise in Quaternary stratigraphy and chronology. The ICS executive approved their vote, which was overwhelmingly supported by the chairs of the ICS subcommissions. Despite its rejection as a formal unit of the Geologic Time Scale, the Anthropocene will continue to be used not only by Earth and environmental scientists but also by social scientists, politicians and economists, as well as by the public. It will remain an invaluable descriptor of human impact on the Earth system.

Is there another statement? Which also gives reasons why we are still in the Holocene.

**Tags:** earth-history, geochronology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-06-29. Score: 1

Geoscientists have been debating the issue of recognizing the Anthropocene as an era for [15 years](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00675-8).

On 20 March 2024, the International Union of Geological Sciences - the final arbiter in the matter - [decided to uphold a decision made on 4 March 2024](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00868-1), by a group of geoscientists to reject the proposal to establish the current era of human planet altering activity as a formal epoch.


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