Investigating Anthropogenic Mammoth Extinction with Mathematical Models Michael Frank North Carolina State University

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Investigating Anthropogenic Mammoth Extinction with Mathematical Models Michael Frank North Carolina State University Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics Volume 1 | Issue 1 Article 3 2015 Investigating Anthropogenic Mammoth Extinction with Mathematical Models Michael Frank North Carolina State University Anneliese Slaton Mary Baldwin College Teresa Tinta University of Maryland Eastern Shore Alex Capaldi Valparaiso University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/spora Recommended Citation Frank, Michael; Slaton, Anneliese; Tinta, Teresa; and Capaldi, Alex (2015) "Investigating Anthropogenic Mammoth Extinction with Mathematical Models," Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics: Vol. 1: Iss.1, . DOI: https://doi.org/10.30707/SPORA1.1Frank Available at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/spora/vol1/iss1/3 This Mathematics Research is brought to you for free and open access by ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics by an authorized editor of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Investigating Anthropogenic Mammoth Extinction with Mathematical Models Cover Page Footnote Research was conducted during the 2013 Valparaiso Experience in Research by Undergraduate Mathematicians, which was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF DMS-1262852). We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. This mathematics research is available in Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/spora/vol1/iss1/3 Investigating Anthropogenic Mammoth Extinction with Mathematical Models Michael Frank1, Anneliese Slaton2, Teresa Tinta3, Alex Capaldi4,* *Correspondence: Abstract Prof. Alex Capaldi, Dept. of One extinction hypothesis of the Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi), called Mathematics and Statistics, overkill, theorizes that early humans overhunted the animal. We employ two different ap- Valparaiso University, proaches to test this hypothesis mathematically: analyze the stability of the equilibria of a 1900 Chapel Dr., Valparaiso, 2D ordinary differential equations (ODE) system and develop a metapopulation differential IN 46383, USA equations model. The 2D ODE system is a modified predator-prey model that also includes [email protected] migration. The metapopulation model is a spatial expansion of the first model on a rectan- gular grid. Using this metapopulation system, we model the migration of humans into North America and the response in the mammoth population. These approaches show evidence that human-mammoth interaction would have affected the extinction of the Columbian mammoth during the late Pleistocene. Keywords: mammoth, extinction, predator-prey model, metapopulation, population dynam- ics, differential equations, mathematical modeling, ecology 1 Introduction mastodons by humans was enough to affect the extinction of other species in the ecosystem [13]. The Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi), a rel- We have chosen to study the Columbian mammoth ative of modern day elephants (genera Elephas and Lox- specifically because its range was completely contained odonta), lived in North America during the Pleistocene, within North America and encompassed nearly all of the an era of time that spanned from approximately 1.8 mil- continental United States. In contrast, the woolly mam- lion to 11,700 years ago. The Columbian mammoth went moth (Mammuthus primigenius), while found in North extinct at the end of the last ice age (in the Late Pleis- America, was also found outside it, predominantly in tocene) about 13,000 years ago. At this time, there was a Siberia [15]. In this manner, we can treat the human mass extinction of megafauna on every continent except migration into North America as an invasive species. Africa and Southeast Asia [9, 10, 15]. In North America, In 2001, Alroy conducted a stochastic difference equa- 32 out of 41 large prey species went extinct during this tion simulation of the end-Pleistocene megafaunal extinc- event [1]. tion which incorporated the population dynamics of in- There are four dominant hypotheses as to why vading humans and 41 large mammalian herbivores. He the megafaunal extinction took place: disease, climate found that, using some realistic combinations of parame- change, a meteorite shower, and overkill. It is likely that ter values, the model accurately predicted as many as 32 a combination of these factors (whether in series or paral- of the fates (extinction vs survival) of the prey species. In lel) lead to the extinction [2, 17]. Our project focuses on most instances, extinction of species occurred in multiple overkill, a theory first proposed by Martin in 1973 [14]. temporal waves, and interestingly, proboscideans (includ- Martin proposed that the migration of modern humans ing Columbian mammoth) did not die off in the primary (Homo sapiens) from Asia into North America (over the wave. Alroy concludes that anthropogenic extinction was Bering land bridge) around 13,500 years ago was the lead- unavoidable for many of the megafauna [1]. We hope ing cause of megafaunal extinction. Despite the argument to strengthen this conclusion through additional evidence that the lack of kill-sites discovered in North America dis- from deterministic differential equation models. proves this theory [12], it has continued to remain a valid Previous models of prehistoric scenarios have used dif- extinction theory. Some supporters of Martin's theory ferential equations to model the interaction and competi- have even theorized that the extinction of mammoths and tion between early Homo sapien and Neanderthal (Homo 1Department of Mathematics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 2Department of Mathematics, Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, VA, 3Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD, 4Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN www.sporajournal.org 2015 Volume 1(1) page 8 Investigating Anthropogenic Mammoth Extinction with Mathematical Models Frank, Slaton, Tinta, Capaldi neanderthalensis) populations and were able to conclude accounts for the predators being generalists with alterna- that even a competitive advantage as small as 1% would tive food supplies [7]. lead to the demise of the Neanderthal [11]. Mathematical A migration term in each equation was included to research into population dynamics has resulted in the cre- reflect the movement of both species into and out of the ation and analysis of models of invading species as well as patch. This migration term assumes that humans will im- conditions for extinction or assimilition [4]. Other work migrate into an area with a high population of mammoths with models of interacting populations analyzed multi- (when M > NM ) and emigrate out of an area with a stability and extinction of various forms of predator-prey lower mammoth population (when M < NM ). Similarly, systems of differential equations [5, 6]. mammoths will emigrate out of an area with a large pop- In this paper, we attempt to determine if human over- ulation of humans (when H > NH ) and immigrate into hunting alone could have caused the extinction of the areas where there are few humans (when H < NH ). Columbian mammoth. To do this, we use two different Our model is given by the equations approaches to mathematically model human-mammoth interactions. First, we use an ordinary differential equa- dH H = rH H 1 − tions system to model the two populations interacting dt KH in a relatively small area, a single \patch." We analyze a M 2H M + H + c H − 1 ; (1a) the stability of the single-patch model's equilibria to de- M 2 + b2 H N termine the long-term behavior of the system. Second, M we expand the single-patch model into a metapopulation dM M M differential equations model to describe the two species = rM M 1 − − 1 interacting across a larger area. dt KM A 2 This paper is organized as follows: In Section 2 we aM M H H − 2 2 + cM M 1 − : (1b) present and analyze the single-patch differential equation M + b NH model. We expand the 2D system into a metapopulation model with migration between the patches in Section 3. Each of the twelve model parameters and the assumed Section 4 outlines our results. We conclude with a dis- ranges of their values are given in Table 1. We obtained cussion in Section 5. literature values for appropriate ranges for the first seven model parameters. Five parameters values required as- sumptions on their ranges. The predation saturation 2 Single-Patch ODE Model constant b was assumed to be between 1 and 10 mam- moths, as a small human population is likely to be easily 2.1 Model sustained for a long time by very few mammoths. The relative migration rates cH and cM were assumed to be We begin by modeling the human-mammoth interac- generally on the same order of magnitude as birth rates tion in a single sufficiently small area as a Rosenzweig- for humans and an order of magnitude higher for mam- MacArthur predator-prey ordinary differential equation moths. Finally, the external population sizes NH and NM system [21]. Thus, the model is composed of two first- had their assumed ranges chosen such that the mammoths order ODEs, one describing the changes in the human would leave the patch when humans were at least halfway population H(t) and another describing the dynamics of to their carrying capacity and humans would leave the the mammoth population M(t). patch when mammoths were at most below the Allee The growth term for each population incorporates lo- threshold A. gistic growth
Recommended publications
  • Apocalypse Now? Initial Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic for the Governance of Existential and Global Catastrophic Risks
    journal of international humanitarian legal studies 11 (2020) 295-310 brill.com/ihls Apocalypse Now? Initial Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic for the Governance of Existential and Global Catastrophic Risks Hin-Yan Liu, Kristian Lauta and Matthijs Maas Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Abstract This paper explores the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic through the framework of exis- tential risks – a class of extreme risks that threaten the entire future of humanity. In doing so, we tease out three lessons: (1) possible reasons underlying the limits and shortfalls of international law, international institutions and other actors which Covid-19 has revealed, and what they reveal about the resilience or fragility of institu- tional frameworks in the face of existential risks; (2) using Covid-19 to test and refine our prior ‘Boring Apocalypses’ model for understanding the interplay of hazards, vul- nerabilities and exposures in facilitating a particular disaster, or magnifying its effects; and (3) to extrapolate some possible futures for existential risk scholarship and governance. Keywords Covid-19 – pandemics – existential risks – global catastrophic risks – boring apocalypses 1 Introduction: Our First ‘Brush’ with Existential Risk? All too suddenly, yesterday’s ‘impossibilities’ have turned into today’s ‘condi- tions’. The impossible has already happened, and quickly. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, both directly and as manifested through the far-reaching global societal responses to it, signal a jarring departure away from even the © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/18781527-01102004Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 12:13:00AM via free access <UN> 296 Liu, Lauta and Maas recent past, and suggest that our futures will be profoundly different in its af- termath.
    [Show full text]
  • Phillip STILLMAN, the Narrative of Human Extinction and the Logic Of
    Phillip Stillman Two Nineteenth- Century Contributions to Climate Change Discourse: The Narra- W e a tive of Hu- t h e r man Extinction S c a and the p e g o Logic of Eco- a t 8 sys- tem Management 92 The Narrative of Human Extinction ... Consider the following passage from Oscar Wilde’s “Decay of Lying” (1891): Where, if not from the Impressionists, do we get those wonderful brown fogs that come creeping down our streets, blurring the gas-lamps and changing the houses into monstrous shadows? [...] The extraordinary change that has taken place in the climate of London during the last ten years is entirely due to a particular school of Art. [...] For what is Nature? Nature is no great mother who has borne us. She is our creation. It is in our brain that she quickens to life. Things are because we see them, and what we see, and how we see it, depends on the Arts that have influenced us.1 The speaker is Vivian, a self-consciously sophistical aesthete, and his argument is that “Nature” is the causal consequence of “Art.” Not long ago, a literary critic might have quoted such a passage with unmitigated approbation: “Things are because we see them, and what we see, and how we see it, depends on the Arts that have influenced us.” The post-structural resonance of that kind of claim is strong, and the Jamesonian tradition of treating art as a means through which ideology reproduces itself depends heavily on the conviction that between the knower and the known, there must be some determining symbolic mediation.2 Now, however, it is difficult not to hesitate over the assertion that the “extraordinary change that has taken place in the climate of London during the last ten years is entirely due to a particular school of Art.” Now we tend to take referential 1 Oscar Wilde, “The Decay of Lying,” in The claims about “Nature” very seriously, especially with regard to Artist as Critic: Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Catastrophic Risks Survey
    GLOBAL CATASTROPHIC RISKS SURVEY (2008) Technical Report 2008/1 Published by Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University Anders Sandberg and Nick Bostrom At the Global Catastrophic Risk Conference in Oxford (17‐20 July, 2008) an informal survey was circulated among participants, asking them to make their best guess at the chance that there will be disasters of different types before 2100. This report summarizes the main results. The median extinction risk estimates were: Risk At least 1 million At least 1 billion Human extinction dead dead Number killed by 25% 10% 5% molecular nanotech weapons. Total killed by 10% 5% 5% superintelligent AI. Total killed in all 98% 30% 4% wars (including civil wars). Number killed in 30% 10% 2% the single biggest engineered pandemic. Total killed in all 30% 10% 1% nuclear wars. Number killed in 5% 1% 0.5% the single biggest nanotech accident. Number killed in 60% 5% 0.05% the single biggest natural pandemic. Total killed in all 15% 1% 0.03% acts of nuclear terrorism. Overall risk of n/a n/a 19% extinction prior to 2100 These results should be taken with a grain of salt. Non‐responses have been omitted, although some might represent a statement of zero probability rather than no opinion. 1 There are likely to be many cognitive biases that affect the result, such as unpacking bias and the availability heuristic‒‐well as old‐fashioned optimism and pessimism. In appendix A the results are plotted with individual response distributions visible. Other Risks The list of risks was not intended to be inclusive of all the biggest risks.
    [Show full text]
  • Modern Technology and Human Extinction
    Proceedings of Informing Science & IT Education Conference (InSITE) 2016 Cite as: Schultz, R. A. (2016). Modern technology and human extinction. Proceedings of Informing Science & IT Edu- cation Conference (InSITE) 2016, 131-145. Retrieved from http://www.informingscience.org/Publications/3433 Modern Technology and Human Extinction Robert A. Schultz Woodbury University, Burbank, CA, USA [email protected] Abstract [Note: Portions of this paper were previously published in Schultz, 2014.] The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain a central property of modern technology that makes it an important potential contributor to human extinction. This view may seem strange to those who regard technology as an instrument of human growth. After discussing modern tech- nology and two important candidates for extinction, other technological candidates for serious contribution to human extinction will be examined. The saving contribution of information tech- nology is also discussed. Keywords: technology, classical technology, modern technology, information technology, gradu- al extinction, sudden extinction. Introduction Helping to further human extinction is not a feature of all technology, but rather of technology we can call modern. In this paper, modern technology is considered to be technology since the in- dustrial revolution. Its distinctive feature is that it regards everything as resources for its own processes. Serious conflicts with the ecosystems that support all life are inevitable and not easily preventable. A Very Brief History of Technology Technology can be thought of as having four stages: >> Proto-technology, early tool development before civilization, one million, possibly 2 million years old. >> The classical technology of agriculture and cities that enabled the rise of civilization, roughly 10,000 years old.
    [Show full text]
  • Resilience to Global Catastrophe
    Resilience to Global Catastrophe Seth D. Baumi* Keywords: Resilience, catastrophe, global, collapse *Corresponding author: [email protected] Introduction The field of global catastrophic risk (GCR) studies the prospect of extreme harm to global human civilization, up to and including the possibility of human extinction. GCR has attracted substantial interest because the extreme severity of global catastrophe makes it an important class of risk, even if the probabilities are low. For example, in the 1990s, the US Congress and NASA established the Spaceguard Survey for detecting large asteroids and comets that could collide with Earth, even though the probability of such a collision was around one-in-500,000 per year (Morrison, 1992). Other notable GCRs include artificial intelligence, global warming, nuclear war, pandemic disease outbreaks, and supervolcano eruptions. While GCR has been defined in a variety of ways, Baum and Handoh (2014, p.17) define it as “the risk of crossing a large and damaging human system threshold”. This definition posits global catastrophe as an event that exceeds the resilience of global human civilization, potentially sending humanity into a fundamentally different state of existence, as in the notion of civilization collapse. Resilience in this context can be defined as a system’s capacity to withstand disturbances while remaining in the same general state. Over the course of human history, there have been several regional-scale civilization collapses, including the Akkadian Empire, the Old and New Kingdoms of Egypt, and the Mayan civilization (Butzer & Endfield, 2012). The historical collapses are believed to be generally due to a mix of social and environmental causes, though the empirical evidence is often limited due to the long time that has lapsed since these events.
    [Show full text]
  • Finding Hope in the End: an Ecocritical Analysis of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement
    Finding Hope in the End: An Ecocritical Analysis of The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement Angie McAdam Georgia State University ~ [email protected] Abstract Our planet is experiencing climate change, drastic losses in biodiversity, and many other environmental issues. While many individuals may be struggling to find ways in which they can do something to help address the current ecological crisis, one movement presents a radical option. The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, which advocates for extinction of humankind by simply choosing not to reproduce, represents a resolute and surprising spirit of hopefulness in the face of environmental crisis. For this paper, I studied The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHMET) website and identified the organization’s beliefs and values. I then analyzed them from an ecocritical perspective, drawing on deep ecology and ecofeminist thought. To do this, I performed a discourse analysis of the website to locate language that expressed values and beliefs. After conducting my analysis, I discovered that VHMET clearly expresses several core values, including: biocentrism, freedom, voluntariness, unity, responsibility, and hope. I conclude that VHEMT does reflect the ecological values and takes these values to a radical, but nonviolent, conclusion. The sincerity of its biocentrism perspective allows members to see positivity and hope in the vision of a human-free planet. Ultimately, I do not think VHEMT will ever reach its goal. I believe that VHEMT members know and accept this. However, I argue that this social movement organization represents a sincere and passionate response to climate change that our society desperately needs, offering a fresh, albeit challenging, perspective on what the actions of humanity should be in the face of climate change.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Challenges Foundation
    Artificial Extreme Future Bad Global Global System Major Asteroid Intelligence Climate Change Global Governance Pandemic Collapse Impact Artificial Extreme Future Bad Global Global System Major Asteroid Global Intelligence Climate Change Global Governance Pandemic Collapse Impact Ecological Nanotechnology Nuclear War Super-volcano Synthetic Unknown Challenges Catastrophe Biology Consequences Artificial Extreme Future Bad Global Global System Major Asteroid Ecological NanotechnologyIntelligence NuclearClimate WarChange Super-volcanoGlobal Governance PandemicSynthetic UnknownCollapse Impact Risks that threaten Catastrophe Biology Consequences humanArtificial civilisationExtreme Future Bad Global Global System Major Asteroid 12 Intelligence Climate Change Global Governance Pandemic Collapse Impact Ecological Nanotechnology Nuclear War Super-volcano Synthetic Unknown Catastrophe Biology Consequences Ecological Nanotechnology Nuclear War Super-volcano Synthetic Unknown Catastrophe Biology Consequences Artificial Extreme Future Bad Global Global System Major Asteroid Intelligence Climate Change Global Governance Pandemic Collapse Impact Artificial Extreme Future Bad Global Global System Major Asteroid Intelligence Climate Change Global Governance Pandemic Collapse Impact Artificial Extreme Future Bad Global Global System Major Asteroid Intelligence Climate Change Global Governance Pandemic Collapse Impact Artificial Extreme Future Bad Global Global System Major Asteroid IntelligenceEcological ClimateNanotechnology Change NuclearGlobal Governance
    [Show full text]
  • Robots, Extinction, and Salvation: on Altruism in Human–Posthuman Interactions
    religions Article Robots, Extinction, and Salvation: On Altruism in Human–Posthuman Interactions Juraj Odorˇcák * and Pavlína Bakošová Centre for Bioethics UCM, Department of Philosophy and Applied Philosophy, University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Posthumanism and transhumanism are philosophies that envision possible relations between humans and posthumans. Critical versions of posthumanism and transhumanism examine the idea of potential threats involved in human–posthuman interactions (i.e., species extinction, species domination, AI takeover) and propose precautionary measures against these threats by elaborating protocols for the prosocial use of technology. Critics of these philosophies usually argue Citation: Odorˇcák, Juraj, and Pavlína against the reality of the threats or dispute the feasibility of the proposed measures. We take this Bakošová. 2021. Robots, Extinction, and Salvation: On Altruism in debate back to its modern roots. The play that gave the world the term “robot” (R.U.R.: Rossum’s Human–Posthuman Interactions. Universal Robots) is nowadays remembered mostly as a particular instance of an absurd apocalyptic Religions 12: 275. https://doi.org/ vision about the doom of the human species through technology. However, we demonstrate that Karel 10.3390/rel12040275 Capekˇ assumed that a negative interpretation of human–posthuman interactions emerges mainly from the human inability to think clearly about extinction, spirituality, and technology. We propose Academic Editor: Takeshi Kimura that the conflictual interpretation of human–posthuman interactions can be overcome by embracing Capek’sˇ religiously and philosophically-inspired theory of altruism remediated by technology. We Received: 1 April 2021 argue that this reinterpretation of altruism may strengthen the case for a more positive outlook on Accepted: 12 April 2021 human–posthuman interactions.
    [Show full text]
  • Existential Risk Prevention As Global Priority
    Global Policy Volume 4 . Issue 1 . February 2013 15 Existential Risk Prevention as Global Priority Nick Bostrom Research Article University of Oxford Abstract Existential risks are those that threaten the entire future of humanity. Many theories of value imply that even relatively small reductions in net existential risk have enormous expected value. Despite their importance, issues surrounding human-extinction risks and related hazards remain poorly understood. In this article, I clarify the concept of existential risk and develop an improved classification scheme. I discuss the relation between existential risks and basic issues in axiology, and show how existential risk reduction (via the maxipok rule) can serve as a strongly action-guiding principle for utilitarian concerns. I also show how the notion of existential risk suggests a new way of thinking about the ideal of sustainability. Policy Implications • Existential risk is a concept that can focus long-term global efforts and sustainability concerns. • The biggest existential risks are anthropogenic and related to potential future technologies. • A moral case can be made that existential risk reduction is strictly more important than any other global public good. • Sustainability should be reconceptualised in dynamic terms, as aiming for a sustainable trajectory rather than a sus- tainable state. • Some small existential risks can be mitigated today directly (e.g. asteroids) or indirectly (by building resilience and reserves to increase survivability in a range of extreme scenarios) but it is more important to build capacity to improve humanity’s ability to deal with the larger existential risks that will arise later in this century. This will require collective wisdom, technology foresight, and the ability when necessary to mobilise a strong global coordi- nated response to anticipated existential risks.
    [Show full text]
  • Renewable Resources Journal
    RENEWABLE RESOURCES JOURNAL VOLUME 34 NUMBER 4 CONTENTS Youth Mobilization to Stop Climate Change: Narratives and Impact......................2 Heejin Han and Sang Wuk Ahn How Development of America’s Water Infrastructure Has Lurched Through History..........................................................................................................13 David Sedlak Vertebrates on the Brink as Indicators of Biological Annihilation and the Sixth Mass Extinction....................................................................................................17 Gerardo Ceballos, Paul R. Ehrlich, and Peter H. Raven Lessons Learned from U.S. Cities’ Climate Adaptation Implementation Methods...............................................................................................27 Lykke Leonardsen News and Announcements..................................................................................32 Youth Mobilization to Stop Global Climate Change: Narratives and Impact Heejin Han and Sang Wuk Ahn Galvanized by Greta Thunberg’s idea for Friday school The international community recognized the strikes, “climate strikes” emerged in 2018 and 2019 as importance of engaging various societal groups in a form of youth social movement demanding far- environmental policymaking early on. During the U.N. reaching action on climate change. Youths have taken Conference on Environment and Development (known various actions to combat climate change, but as the Earth Summit) in 1992 and in the subsequent academics have not paid sufficient attention
    [Show full text]
  • The Humanized Earth System
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Digital.CSIC The Holocene (Forum paper) – accepted 17-02-2016 The Humanized Earth System Valentí Rull Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera (ICTJA-CSIC), C. Solé I Sabarís s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Abstract A number of informal terms (e.g., Anthropocene, Anthropozoic, Psychozoic, Noozoic, and Technogene) have been used to designate the rock unit and time interval where the impact of collective human action on the Earth system is clearly recognizable (called here the Humanized Earth System or HES). Presently, Anthropocene is the most commonly used, and the International Commission on Stratigraphy is considering its acceptance as a formal stratigraphic unit. In spite of their informal character, all of these terms contain suffixes (i.e., -cene, -zoic, or -gene) that define formal chronostratigraphic/geochronologic (C/G) units (e.g., series/epoch, erathem/era, and system/period), which is misleading. In addition, the use of these terms involves unsupported evolutionary assumptions and may lead to conflicting stratigraphic settings. Therefore, it is recommended that these terms are avoided until there is sufficient scientific support to unequivocally define its C/G rank, which is not expected to occur in the near future. Keywords: Anthropocene, anthropogenic forcing, chronostratigraphy, geochronology, terminology 1 Introduction Almost a century and a half ago, the Italian geologist Antonio Stoppani (1873) coined the term Anthropozoic to designate a new era characterized by the global impact of human activities on the Earth. Stoppani argued that humankind had become “a new element, a new telluric force that for its strength and universality does not pale in the face of the greatest forces of the globe”.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Reviews
    BOOK REVIEWS Lynteris, Christos 2019. Human Extinction and the Pandemic Imaginary. Routledge Studies in Anthropology. London & New York: Routledge. 177 p. ISBN: 9780367338145 (hardcover); ISBN: 9780429322051 (E-book). he last twenty years have seen a growing plague to popular videogames like The Last of Tinterest in pandemics from a social scientific Us, without ignoring communication campaigns perspective. The programmatic article published by institutions like the United States Centers for by Collier, Lakoff, and Rabinow (2004) served Disease Control and Prevention. Such a vision as starting point through its call for a social helps us broaden our focus from presentist analysis of biosecurity processes. Although understandings of pandemics, drawing con- biosecurity is not concerned exclusively with nections that an exclusive analysis of ongoing pandemic threats, these have in practice been scientific and governmental interventions the common way to explore the topic. The would not allow for. The approach also bridges collection of articles that have discussed the the contemporary modes of human existence topic during the last two decades have given to a redefinition of what is to be human as especial attention to the governmental and a result of a pandemic outbreak. Although the scientific aspects of pandemic governance. title of the book reads ‘human extinction’, the Lynteris’ book brings attention to the cultural book takes that expression to mean something dimension of pandemics, without forgetting to somewhat more complex than the disappearance draw connections between this and the already of the human species. Rather, the extinction mentioned and widely-explored scientific and of humanity is an event whereby humanity governmental aspects.
    [Show full text]