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Abstract

Considering the hitherto short duration of the Anthropocene, it’s possible that the most suitable golden spike for geologically marking the epoch’s beginning does not yet exist. Physicist and historian Benjamin Johnson argues that if Earth-human interaction is to endure and eventually merit recognition as a geological age, one necessary development is for humans to close the biogeochemical cycles they have fundamentally perturbed. Such an intentional closing would be linked to human action and could be precisely marked in time, presenting a clear sign of a stabilizing Anthropocene. Born and raised in Alaska, Johnson accompanies his contribution with images from the state’s northernmost point, Point Barrow, or Nuvuk, where the changing carbon concentration in the atmosphere has been tracked since the 1970s. Nuvuk acts as a reminder that even the most remote regions of the globe are impacted by anthropogenic action.