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You lot are now living in a new era of geological history, but it didn't simply get-go. Scientists accept (mostly) agreed on a new way to divide up Globe's recent history that includes additions to the accepted geological charts. According to the latest version of the International Chronostratigraphic Nautical chart from the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), nosotros are living in the Meghalayan Age.

In that location are several different ways of breaking up the iv.half-dozen billion yr geological history of Earth. We currently live in the Holocene Epoch, which is not a new concept. This period started 11,700 years ago at the end of the concluding water ice age. What is new is the sectionalization of the Holocene Epoch into iii distinct periods. The primeval block is now known as the Greenlandian Historic period (11,700 to 8,300 years ago), and following that was the Northgrippian (8,300 to 4,200 years ago). The electric current Meghalayan Age began iv,200 years agone and runs to this very day.

Each division in the International Chronostratigraphic Nautical chart corresponds to some distinctive alter in the strata of Earth. For example, the end of the Cretaceous is marked by iridium sediments most likely deposited past an asteroid bear on. The Meghalayan Age is indicated past a much more subtle change, which has naturally led to some disagreement in the scientific community.

The concept of the Meghalayan Age was only proposed vi years ago past the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). The IUGS recently ratified that proposal. Scientists point to shifts in oxygen isotopes caused past a massive global drought effectually 4,200 years ago. Researchers believe this drought may have lasted up to a century and caused the plummet of many early civilizations, including the Former Kingdom of Egypt, the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, and the Liangzhu civilization of China. The few contemporary sources from this era study drastically reduced rainfall.

Those who oppose the change fence that the shifts used as markers of the Meghalayan Age may not have been truly global in nature. From that perspective, it doesn't belong on the International Chronostratigraphic Chart. They besides complain that the IUGS moved unusually fast to make this change and didn't take the time to consider opposing viewpoints.

There may be even more changes coming, likewise. Some researchers think the chart should recognize an even newer slice of time known as the Anthropocene Epoch. That would recognize the global changes precipitated past human activity. That modification is even so far from official, though.