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https://www.sciencealert.com/its-time-scientists-urge-the-world-to-declare-a-new-epoch-on-the-moon>
'The Moon is no longer pristine. We humans have been messing about up there for
over half a century now, and our prints, dead equipment, crashed spacecraft,
art, and even feces is speckled across its gray and cratered surface.
The time has now come, scientists say. Humans have become the dominant force
acting on the geography of the Moon. And it's only going to get worse in the
years ahead, as more and more missions head for Earth's fascinating satellite.
We need to put words to this, and actions to words, researchers say. They
argue, in a new paper, that we need to declare a new epoch on the Moon – the
Lunar Anthropocene – starting with the landing of Russia's Luna 2 spacecraft in
1959.
"The idea is much the same as the discussion of the Anthropocene on Earth — the
exploration of how much humans have impacted our planet," says planetary
geoarchaeologist Justin Holcomb of the Kansas Geological Survey at the
University of Kansas.
"The consensus is on Earth the Anthropocene began at some point in the past,
whether hundreds of thousands of years ago or in the 1950s. Similarly, on the
moon, we argue the Lunar Anthropocene already has commenced, but we want to
prevent massive damage or a delay of its recognition until we can measure a
significant lunar halo caused by human activities, which would be too late."
Humans are brilliant at inserting themselves into, and thriving in, the diverse
and strange environments the world has to offer. We've spread out and just made
ourselves right at home wherever we happen to wander. It's definitely more
comfortable for us in some places than others, but we find a way. And then we
leave evidence of our existence everywhere we go.'
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
