What’s behind the decision by the International Union of Geological Sciences not to recognize the Anthropocene as a formal geological epoch?
How did the organization undermine the conclusions of top scientists to oppose the establishment of the Anthropocene?
What are the implications for the public debate about the planetary crisis?
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HAS THE ANTHROPOCENE BEEN CANCELLED?
By Ian Angus
Monthly Review, October 2025
Excellent article in MR, Ian.
It’s clear from reading Zalasiewicz and other authors of the AGW that the Anthropocene is real. That the ICS and IUGS rejects this reality is both shocking and predictable. The stench of fossil fuel interests is difficult to mask. Braje and Erlandson are surely right to conclude that accepting the Anthropocene as a new epoch fundamentally different from the Holocene has the “potential to influence public opinions and policies related to critical issues such as climate change”, but as you and other eco-socialists have repeatedly pointed out, looming over all is a socio-economic system – capitalism – that is rapidly destroying both human society and the biosphere, making Earth evermore inhospitable for humans and countless other organisms.