Thanks, too, Lex, for your comment.

Looking at our influence on the planet on a geological time scale may be one of the better ways to convey how “earth-shattering” our presence has been.

The concept of a new geological epoch was first brought to my attention by Alan Weisman who wrote “The World Without Us” (I still need to read that book). In an interview he imagined the strata from this era being a thin layer of white from all of the plastics we use. And that is if we all disappear from the face of the earth right now. I wonder what the future geologist/archeologist will see a million years after our species has run its course.

Oh and another fascinating justification point to add to the other five you put up (from the same link):

The mass of all motor vehicles is roughly 1,000 megatons. “Machines now need more carbon every year than humans do. The global food harvest now amounts to about 1.3 gigatons of carbon per year, whereas almost 1 gigaton of fossil carbon is used annually to produce metals and plastic from which machines are assembled, and about 4 gigatons of carbon are used each year to power them.” Smil (2002: 269).

Please don’t apologize. That was fascinating.

Brian: Thanks as always for the immense amount of work you do on Carboholic. It’s a great education.

This week: human-dominated geology, aka the Anthropocene, may replace Holocene; global heating shifts USDA horticultural zones higher in elevation, latitude; House GOP leaders lie about gas prices, OCS, ANWR, and shale oil production….

It’s not all good news for gardeners though. Warmer winters are one thing, but spring freezes/frosts are another. That hydrangea that you’ve always wanted to grow will come up but likely get zapped back. And the unpredictability of weather in a changing climate is a real test for horticulturists.

As for the combination of higher nutrient levels and increased CO2, well, any dope grower could have told them that. It’s a shame that some of the best horticulturists of going on two generations now are completely unknown because they hide in basements, attics, and closets. Those guys will push a plant to many times normal CO2 concentrations. Though it should be noted that they work in completely controlled environments and so have the ability to evacuate the CO2. Which makes me wonder how many environmentalist hippy dope growers blithely pump CO2 into the atmosphere on purpose…

Full disclosure: i’m legit, but have a serious interest in indoor food cultivation. Most of the information on it has to be adapted from marijuana growing. Those folks are light-years ahead of the hydro gardens at Epcot. Their knowledge and application of plant/soil chemistry is simply amazing. It could be a boon to society, but they aren’t going to share what they know openly because they don’t want to go to jail. And it’s a shame, because their knowledge could help feed the world. Using their techniques, i’ve brought tomatoes (yes, real tomatoes) to harvest a month early and beaten the stated yield of the variety. (organically and without C02 i might add). Sorry for the essay in a comment thread.