Field notes from the Anthropocene

Henry Fountain notes estimates that some 25 billion tons of valuable agricultural soil is eroded every year, making human activity is as erosive as glaciers or the fastest rivers.

Oliver Morton (2007) mentions an estimate that the overall rate of sediment loss from the continents due to human activity is about three times the long term average due to geology alone.

An NYT editorial mentions that the potentially toxic effects of plastic in the ocean are only beginning to be appreciated.

Meanwhile,observes Cornelia Dean, the consequences of the release of large numbers of artificial nanoparticles into the environment is almost totally unknown.