{"id":8170,"date":"2015-03-24T10:13:10","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T15:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/?p=8170"},"modified":"2021-06-14T07:40:58","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T12:40:58","slug":"the-orbis-spike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2015\/03\/24\/the-orbis-spike\/","title":{"rendered":"The Orbis spike"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an article in Nature<\/em> entitled “Defining the Anthropocene<\/a>,” geographers and climate scientists Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin provide a new\u00a0approach to dating this era that focuses on an event they call the “Orbis spike,” a dip in atmospheric CO2\u00a0<\/sub>occurring around 1610. Effectively, what their proposal does it to allow geologists to harmonize their work with historical and social\u00a0scientific scholarship on the Columbian\u00a0encounter and the spread of European colonialism across the planet. (I’m thinking especially of world-systems theorists<\/a>, environmental historians like Alfred Crosby<\/a>\u00a0and Jason W. Moore<\/a>,\u00a0and the Latin American modernity\/coloniality research program<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"orbis-spike\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Summarizing the article in context of the debates over dating as well as naming the Anthropocene<\/a>, Dana Luciano notes that<\/p>\n

“Lewis and Maslin\u2019s proposal is compelling because it is, as far as I know, the first proposal for an Anthropocene \u201cgolden spike\u201d to recognize genocide as part of the cause of epochal division.”<\/p>\n

(See Scientific American<\/a> for another summary, and Richard Monastersky’s piece<\/a> for Nature<\/em>‘s own contextualization.)<\/p>\n

Lewis and Maslin are well aware that the science of the Anthropocene is not just a matter of observation, but also of social construction and political efficacy. Their concluding paragraphs are worth reprinting in full (emphasis and paragraph breaks added):<\/p>\n

“The choice of either 1610 or 1964 as the beginning of the Anthropocene would probably affect the perception of human actions on the environment. The Orbis spike implies that colonialism, global trade and coal brought about the Anthropocene. Broadly, this highlights social concerns, particularly the unequal power relationships between different groups of people, economic growth, the impacts of globalized trade, and our current reliance on fossil fuels.\u00a0<\/strong>The onward effects of the arrival of Europeans in the Americas also highlights a long-term and large-scale example of human actions unleashing processes that are difficult to predict or manage.<\/p>\n

“Choosing the bomb spike [favored by the mid-20th century “Great Acceleration” dating approach] tells a story of an elite-driven technological development that threatens planet-wide destruction. The long-term advancement of technology deployed to kill people, from spears to nuclear weapons, highlights the more general problem of \u2018progress traps\u2019111<\/a><\/sup>. Conversely, the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty and later agreements highlight the ability of people to collectively successfully manage a major global threat to humans and the environment. The event or date chosen as the inception of the Anthropocene will affect the stories people construct about the ongoing development of human societies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Past scientific discoveries have tended to shift perceptions away from a view of humanity as occupying the centre of the Universe. In 1543 Copernicus\u2019s observation of the Earth revolving around the Sun demonstrated that this is not the case. The implications of Darwin\u2019s 1859 discoveries then established that Homo sapiens<\/i> is simply part of the tree of life with no special origin.<\/p>\n

“Adopting the Anthropocene may reverse this trend by asserting that humans are not passive observers of Earth\u2019s functioning. To a large extent the future of the only place where life is known to exist is being determined by the actions of humans. Yet, the power that humans wield is unlike any other force of nature, because it is reflexive and therefore can be used, withdrawn or modified. More widespread recognition that human actions are driving far-reaching changes to the life-supporting infrastructure of Earth may well have increasing philosophical, social, economic and political implications over the coming decades.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an article in Nature entitled “Defining the Anthropocene,” geographers and climate scientists Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin provide a new\u00a0approach to dating this era that focuses on an event they call the “Orbis spike,” a dip in atmospheric CO2\u00a0occurring around 1610. Effectively, what their proposal does it to allow geologists to harmonize their work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[688615],"tags":[123667,123507,123610,619,123609,123607,123608],"class_list":["post-8170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anthropo_scene","tag-anthropocene","tag-capitalocene","tag-environmental-history","tag-geology","tag-modernitycoloniality-research-program","tag-orbis-spike","tag-world-systems-theory"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IC4a-27M","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11838,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2021\/05\/18\/manthropocene-vs-the-pluriverse\/","url_meta":{"origin":8170,"position":0},"title":"(M)anthropocene vs. the pluriverse","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Those interested in the Anthropo(S)cene thread (technically, a \"category\") of this blog may be interested in the call for proposals for a special issue of Radical History Review on Alternatives to the Anthropocene. (Hat tip to Jeremy Schmidt at The Anthropo.Scene.) The call reads, in part: By \u201calternatives to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropocene"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropocene","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/anthropo_scene\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7645,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2014\/06\/12\/on-naming-the-anthropocene\/","url_meta":{"origin":8170,"position":1},"title":"On naming the Anthropocene","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"June 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The following are the comments I prepared for the roundtable \"The Arts and Humanities Respond to the Anthropocene.\" They follow in the line of critical thinking on the Anthropocene initiated by\u00a0gatherings like the Anthropocene Project (see here, here, and here, and some of the posts\u00a0at A(S)CENE) and journals like Environmental\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropocene"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropocene","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/anthropo_scene\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HABITUS-9-medium-1024x682","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2014\/06\/HABITUS-9-medium-1024x682-275x183.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8265,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2015\/07\/21\/bandwagocene\/","url_meta":{"origin":8170,"position":2},"title":"Bandwagocene","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"July 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"These days, it takes a course release for an academic to keep up with the avalanche of books\u00a0being published with titles that feature the word \"Anthropocene.\" To read them would take a sabbatical. Doing anything approximating a \"slow read\" would require, well, retirement. But that's no reason not to try.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropocene"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropocene","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/anthropo_scene\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11691,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2021\/03\/25\/the-traumatic-kernel-of-the-unfolding-storm\/","url_meta":{"origin":8170,"position":3},"title":"The traumatic kernel of the unfolding storm","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"March 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are a few thoughts coming out of the five weeks of readings in decolonial theory that I\u2019m doing with my Advanced Environmental Humanities class (which has been online and open to the interested public). The course is centrally concerned with the present \"global moment,\" and the following can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Manifestos & auguries"","block_context":{"text":"Manifestos & auguries","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/manifestos-and-auguries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2021\/03\/hurricane-1200-x-628px.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2021\/03\/hurricane-1200-x-628px.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2021\/03\/hurricane-1200-x-628px.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2021\/03\/hurricane-1200-x-628px.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2021\/03\/hurricane-1200-x-628px.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13546,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2024\/03\/22\/anthropocene-dust-up-what-it-means\/","url_meta":{"origin":8170,"position":4},"title":"Anthropocene dust-up: what it means","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"March 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The recent International Union of Geological Sciences decision to reject the proposed \"Anthropocene epoch\" might seem confusing. Here's a piece of draft material from my forthcoming book-in-progress, The New Lives of Images: Digital Ecologies and Anthropocene Imaginaries in More-than-Human Worlds, that attempts to bring the situation up to date. Comments\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropocene"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropocene","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/anthropo_scene\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/03\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/03\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/03\/image-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/03\/image-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/03\/image-2.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/03\/image-2.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13077,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2022\/12\/19\/the-event-that-might-be-big\/","url_meta":{"origin":8170,"position":5},"title":"The event that might be big","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"December 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York Times' Raymond Zhong summarizes the latest deliberations on the Anthropocene in an article called \"For Planet Earth, This Might Be the Start of a New Age.\" The article features some good implicit sociology-of-science: Like the zoologists who regulate the names of animal species or the astronomers who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropocene"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropocene","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/anthropo_scene\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/12\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/12\/image-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/12\/image-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/12\/image-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8170"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8180,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8170\/revisions\/8180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}