A new geological era?

The environmentalists who blame human over-population for the state of our planet were given a boost recently when scientists proclaimed that humanity’s irreversible impact on Earth may have pushed us into a new geological era.

It has been suggested that humans may have changed the Earth system sufficiently to produce a stratigraphic signature in sediments and ice which dates from the mid twentieth century.  This new geological time unit has been dubbed the Anthropocene, though it’s still unofficial.  Apparently, in contrast to the last epoch, the Holocene, there are now increased amounts of aluminium, plastics and concrete in the sedimentary rocks.  Nuclear weapons have also left a significant fingerprint on the planet, causing atoms with excess nuclear energy to be deposited across the globe.

There’s no doubt that technological and scientific advances since the industrial revolution have been the cause of much pollution on our planet.  Those of us who live in highly industrial areas, or are old enough to remember the London smog (for example), are well aware of pollution affecting the atmosphere in the UK, let alone around the world.

However, whether or not man-made flotsam and jetsam of various kinds are enough to mark the move to a new geological era, it’s concerning to note that popular opinion is calling for a reduction in human population as the means of curbing the problem.

This raises serious concerns.  Surely it’s the way man has failed to steward the earth well which needs to be addressed.  This was God’s mandate to Adam. 

Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Genesis 1:28)

The environmental problems we’re facing today have arrived because of man’s failure to fulfil the mandate.  It has resulted in selfish consumerism in the West, and life below the bread line in much of the Two-Thirds world.  Now arrogant influential elites are taking to themselves the role of managing the earth – by population control and perpetrating the rights of animals in line with, or over, humans.

Man has created the mess, but the answer doesn’t lie solely in scientific and environmental programmes.  Ultimately, man has ousted God from his thinking and is ruling the earth godlessly, hence pollution in the First World and poverty in the rest.  The only one who can put things right with due regard to the sanctity of human life is the creator of the earth himself.  When Jesus returns, and his righteous kingdom is established, the earth will be restored.  Not only will man live at peace with his fellow man, but man will also live at peace with his environment.  Creation is, even now, longing for this time:

Creation waits in eager expectation . . . the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God (Romans 8:19-21)

That day is not far off! 

For more, see The Huffington Post UK, 8 January 2016

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