J
John Robert McNeill
Researcher at Georgetown University
Publications - 112
Citations - 11880
John Robert McNeill is an academic researcher from Georgetown University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Environmental history & Anthropocene. The author has an hindex of 35, co-authored 102 publications receiving 10343 citations. Previous affiliations of John Robert McNeill include Western Carolina University & University of Washington.
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The Anthropocene: are humans now overwhelming the great forces of Nature?
TL;DR: This work uses atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration as a single, simple indicator to track the progression of the Anthropocene, the current epoch in which humans and the authors' societies have become a global geophysical force.
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The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives
TL;DR: In this article, the Anthropocene epoch has been formally recognized as a new epoch in Earth history, arguing that the advent of the Industrial Revolution around 1800 provides a logical start date for the new epoch.
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The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene
Colin N. Waters,Jan Zalasiewicz,Colin Summerhayes,Anthony D. Barnosky,Clément Poirier,Agnieszka Gałuszka,Alejandro Cearreta,Matt Edgeworth,Erle C. Ellis,Michael A. Ellis,Catherine Jeandel,Reinhold Leinfelder,John Robert McNeill,Daniel Richter,Will Steffen,James P. M. Syvitski,Davor Vidas,Michael Wagreich,Mark Williams,An Zhisheng,Jacques Grinevald,Eric O. Odada,Naomi Oreskes,Alexander P. Wolfe +23 more
TL;DR: C climatic, biological, and geochemical signatures of human activity in sediments and ice cores, Combined with deposits of new materials and radionuclides, as well as human-caused modification of sedimentary processes, the Anthropocene stands alone stratigraphically as a new epoch beginning sometime in the mid–20th century.
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The geological cycle of plastics and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene
Jan Zalasiewicz,Colin N. Waters,Juliana A. Ivar do Sul,Patricia L. Corcoran,Anthony D. Barnosky,Alejandro Cearreta,Matt Edgeworth,Agnieszka Gałuszka,Catherine Jeandel,Reinhold Leinfelder,John Robert McNeill,Will Steffen,Colin Summerhayes,Michael Wagreich,Mark Williams,Alexander P. Wolfe,Yasmin Yonan +16 more
TL;DR: In a recent study, this paper found that plastic particles are abundant and widespread in marine sedimentary deposits in both shallow and deep-water settings, and their distribution in both the terrestrial and marine realms suggests that they are a key geological indicator of the Anthropocene, as a distinctive stratal component.
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Something New under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World
TL;DR: McNeill argues that the environmental dimension of 20th century history will overshadow the importance of its world wars, the rise and fall of communism, and the spread of mass literacy as mentioned in this paper.