What’s on : Other

John and Anne Phillips 2019 Lecture “Mapping the Anthropocene impact on the biosphere”

Other
Date
14 Mar 2019
Start time
6:00 PM
Venue
University of Hull
Speaker
Professor Mark Williams, University of Leicester
John and Anne Phillips 2019 Lecture "Mapping the Anthropocene impact on the biosphere"

Event Information

Mapping the Anthropocene impact on the biosphere

Mark Williams
School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, UK

Most species on planet Earth have ecological ranges defined by factors such as latitudinal changes in surface temperature and rainfall, or geographical isolation. These patterns have evolved over millions, sometimes tens of millions of years. This natural pattern is being overprinted by the actions of Homo sapiens, which has made the whole Earth its ecological range. The human ancestral pattern of gradually increasing influence on the Earth can be traced in the stratigraphic record for nearly 3 million years, as a time transgressive pattern beginning in Africa, and gradually extending throughout the world by the late Pleistocene. However, in its later and more pervasive stages, particularly from the mid to late 20th century onwards, it provides intercontinental patterns of species distributions with clearly identifiable biostratigraphical signatures that may help to define an isochronous stratigraphical boundary for the Anthropocene. Moreover, these biostratigraphical patterns map a profoundly human-changed biosphere.

This free lecture will be held at 6pm in the Allam Lecture Theatre, Esk Building, University of Hull, HU6 7RX.

There will be a reception from 4pm in the Cohen Building Map Room, where our final year students will hopefully show off some of their mapping posters. YPS members are welcome to join us here.

At 2pm Catherine Brophy, YPS Chair, will be meeting interested YPS members at the Hull Maritime Meeting before continuing to the reception at the University of Hull.