Cartography of the Athropocene

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 23 Aug 2011, 16:16

Here's an atlas of the Athropocene (with rather nice pictures)

http://www.globaia.org/en/anthropocene/

ujoni08 · Post by **ujoni08** » 23 Aug 2011, 16:33

Like it! Notice the graph of the number of McDonald's restaurants (next to paper use)...

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 23 Aug 2011, 16:54

Very good. Some of those graphs should be the other way up though; the biodiversity is misleading at first glance.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 24 Aug 2011, 08:41

Actually I'm rather doubtful as to whether the Anthropocene will turn out to merit the status of a geological epoch. It may not last long enough and should therefore be regarded as an end Holocene boundary layer associated with a mass extinction event.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 24 Aug 2011, 13:14

Here's a bit of news which will help narrow that boundary.

Denmark this week launched its first formal strategy for the Arctic region, a plan intended to facilitate private investment and help international companies enter the far north as the ice melts and vast natural resources become accessible, the country’s foreign minister said in an interview.

Chinese interest in mining in Greenland—with its wealth of copper, nickel, zinc, gold, diamonds and platinum, among other minerals— offers financial hope for the island, which receives 40% of its state budget in Danish subsidies.

The biggest Danish Arctic asset, however, is the vast oil and gas reserves off the coast of Greenland. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates reserves of 31 billion barrels of oil equivalent yet to be tapped off the west coast, while another 17 billion are estimated to sit under the seabed off the island’s east coast.