In Canada, the slightest nook has a story of what the world has looked like for humans at once.

This, the most unlikely place has been crucial to scientists in figuring out the instant mankind took over as the dominant sculptor of the Earth.

Natural Time capsule

Ontario’s Crawford Lake — at first glance, Crawford Lake is pretty normal. However, lay beyond its visual lie: a singular feature one can find in perfectly conserved layers of sediment called varves. Every year, a new layer is created and records the environment with a living history book.

The lake has suffered so little in between, that sediment builds up year to year capturing the aqueous environment, vegetation, and human attempts to alter them almost with millennial resolution.

What is Evidence to Belong in the Anthropocene

As scientists are starting to learn a layer by layer story at Crawford Lake, they found a sharp, clear signal for radioactive particles from the atmospheric bombs of the 50s. For the first time we are now using an universal indicator to mark the advent of “Anthropocene,” the proposed new geological era where human activities outweigh planetary processes.

Together with radioactive elements, there have been identified spikes in pollution and changes in the vegetation and other hallmarks of industrialization never before seen in natural patterns.

Why This Matters

Accurately locating a clear beginning of the Anthropocene is not just for pin pointing the past, but understanding our present and future. It demonstrates the way that our innovations, whether industrialization or nuclear testing have indelibly etched the planet. Acknowledging this time only goes a little way in helping us decide how to manage Earth´s resources and ecosystems for the future.

And the findings from Crawford Lake are inescapable — they show pretty convincingly that we have now passed from a legacy to the era in which human decisions will decisively shape destiny of our planet.

A Lasting Call to Responsibility

Knowing means to be responsible. Understanding our impact in full, societies of all kinds can do better when it comes to sustainability and conservation. The layers in Crawford lake are more then a chronicle of the past, but a call to reflect on the times demands we make future protection a priority.

Conclusion

A Canadian lake tells a real loud story: we’re now the dominant geological force.

The more we enter the Anthropocene, the more understanding our place in earth’s story can become a keystone for building a world ready for all of our children.