Question The Meghalayan - our new age

Nov 18, 2019
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I missed this when it first came out, but wow. Interestingly, this period starts in biblical times - yes I know that's very western-judeo-christian-centric of me - corresponding with a massive, worldwide drought that we are still in.

It was always odd to me to see that vast ancient civilizations arose and fell in arid, bone-dry scrubland and deserts, and clearly they were not always thus. Perhaps the great drought drove a change in our civilizations as well as the flora and fauna distribution of our planet.

Pity about the name though. Meghalayan does not trip off the tongue, but at least it's melodic, unlike "Northgrippian," the previous age, also newly named, along with "Greenlandian." The Earth needs a better marketing team, haha.*

Anyway, the original news release that I somehow missed is here:
Of course the experts are still arguing these designations back and forth, and our knowledge continues to evolve.

Is it too early to really classify this as an official age? What constitutes a true geological shift as opposed to the normal variations over hundreds of years? Hoping we have an expert or three here that can chime in.




*(All these names are the creation of https://www.livescience.com/38105-anthropocene-period-humanity-effect-earth.html - so we have only ourselves to blame for the names.)
 
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Reactions: Carol Cleon
Oct 9, 2020
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"The Earth needs a better marketing team, haha.* "

What intelligent life form would want to visit a planet the inhabitant's name for roughly translated out to "Dirt"???