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科学家近日投票决定，地球已进入新地质时代——“人类世”，并指出20世纪中叶是“人类世”的起点。人类活动已经对地球造成了重大影响，甚至可能改变地球的演化发向。 Last week, a panel of scientists voted in favor of classifying the age we are living in as a new geological epoch—the “Anthropocene”—after reviewing available evidence on the issue. 上周，一组科学家在审阅了现有证据之后，投票赞成将我们所处的时代划分为一个新的地质时代——人类世。 Anthropocene /ænˈθrɒpəˌsiːn/：人类世 Since it was first formally proposed more than a decade ago, the name has been the subject of intense debate among experts. But the 34-member Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) chaired by Jan Zalasiewicz, of the University of Leicester in the UK, decided that humans are having such a profound impact on our planet that the term is a valid one, Nature.com reported. 自从十多年前这个术语首次被正式提出以来，专家们一直为此进行激烈的争论。据自然杂志网站报道，人类世工作组（AWG）确定，人类对地球产生了如此深远的影响，这一说法是有理有据的。人类世工作组由英国莱斯特大学的简·扎拉塞维奇担任主席，共有34名成员。 The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS)—which oversees the geological time chart—has yet to approve the new term. But in the wake of the latest vote, the AWG will submit a formal proposal to the ICS by 2021 in a bid to formally define our current era, where mankind is the dominant influence on the planet's climate and environment. | 
