Kate Shaw Anthropocene

The Anthropocene is a proposed geologic chronological term for an epoch that begins when human activities have had a significant global impact on the Earth’s ecosystems.

Walking along the beach at Phillip Island, I came across some small rocks with plastic fused to them. On further research I found that every single piece of synthetic plastic manufactured since 1950 still exists, as each takes thousands of years to break down. A recent study indicated that plastic litter can become fused with rocks and other materials to form a new material: plastiglomerate. This could well become a permanent part of the geological record, forever marking humanity’s impact on the world.

Are we already in the Anthropocene?

- Kate Shaw, 2015