Lecture: The Earth after us. What legacy will humans leave in the rocks?
Speaker:
Entry Fee
Members: Free
Visitors: £5.00
Date and Time
19:30 -
Location
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Lecture Description
Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz will take you on a fascinating trip one hundred million years into the future – long after the human race becomes extinct – to explore what will remain of our brief but dramatic sojourn on Earth. He will describe how geologists in the far future might piece together the history of the planet, and slowly decipher the history of humanity from the traces we will leave impressed in the rock strata. What story will the rocks tell of us? What kind of fossils will humans leave behind? What will happen to cities, cars, and plastic cups? The trail leads finally to the bones of the inhabitants of petrified cities that have slept deep underground for many millions of years. As thought-provoking as it is engaging, this lecture will simultaneously explain the geological mechanisms that shape our planet, from fossilization to plate tectonics, illuminate the various ingenious ways in which geologists and paleontologist work, and offer a final perspective on humanity and its actions that may prove to be more objective than any other.