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Some people just don’t get it when it comes to conservation Re: Clotheslines poll has support in Stoujfuille, Ian. 26. Like those who continue to not slow down on icy roads and who still drink and drive, some people just aren’t getting it when it comes to drying clothes. Mother Nature is‘in frouble, as is evident everywhere. A ‘ The old adage, “If you’re not part of the solution, you're part of the problem" applies as much today a§ it evgr (Ed. ' ‘0bjecting to clotheslines baffles me. I wish I had one, the deluxe kind. It’s the kind that gives clothes lots of space in which to absorb sunlight and dance and flap in a breeze. My clotheé are hung outside on clothes- lines that are not the deluxe variety. They me made from rope and hang from hooks on both sides of my apartment’s bal- cony. They are barely a metre high. A _ The clbthes I hang out on my balcony are never touched by sunlight and seldom catch a breeze. I'm proud to say I’m a conservationist, in this and other respects. ell, it seems we’ve finally done it. Humanity has finally made its mark, our own little place in his- tory. Even if we, as a species, snuff ourselves out now, the next hyperâ€" intelligent creature that emerges from the muck or one that finds our little planet drifting through space, will know we were here. Mil- lions of years from now, a scientist with six arms will sift through compressed layers of our collec- tive detritus and ponder the most compelling question about our era: Who the heck was Britney Spears? You see, it seems we’ve entered a new epoch: a period of geological time usually reserved for guishing between massive periods of change on the planet. In this case, we have moved from the era geologists call the Holocene, which has been this relatively stable peri- od since the last ice age 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, to the Anthropoâ€" The Sunâ€"Tribune welcomes your letters All submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime tolephnno number. name and addrvss. The Suanrihunorvwrvm tln right to publish or not publisl' and m «In for rlar lETTERS POLICY Sun-Tribune I Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 6290 Main St. StoufMllo, 0N L“ 167 imasonermg. com Letters to the Edimr The Sun-Tribune fly and Who the heck is Britney Spears? “Y BARBARA BRASS DUNCAN SifOUHVlLLE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR '1‘: thr publish for elm INTERACTIVE MEDIA Marketing 81 Advertising Manager Dawn!) Andrvws inndmu [mason @yrmg. mm Ennonw Editor Iim Mason cene, a time when human activities have become the dominating force of change on the planet. Changing epochs is not the same as changing your socks. In scientific terms, this is a big deal Epochs tend to be delineated by periods of upheaval. Think ice ages and mass extinc- tions. When Nobel-prize-winning chemist Dr. Paul Krutzen brought up the idea back in 2000 and again in 2002, it was still considered pretâ€" ty radical and somewhat impetu- ous for our little species to have its own epoch. But a team of scientists writing in a new paper in the journal GSA Today, published by the Geological Society of America, now argues it’s becoming increasingly difficult to deny humanity’s growing influence on a planetary scale. In their paper. they examine the case for change and conclude it’s time to accept the obvious. we are in the Anthro- pocene. According to the researchers, Depresssing to even consider destroying piece of our history Re: Fight on to preserve Stouffuille grain elevator, Feb. 7. I read with interest Hannelore Volpe’s article reporting on the fight to preserve Stouflville’s grain elevator. l was moved to tell you how I feel about its potential demolition. In a word? Depressed. I sincerely hope GO "fiansit and town council can find a way to restore and pre- serve this historical vestige and reminder of Stoufiville’s past. Surely, there’s some cultural use for this building, perhaps as an agricultural muse- um, with special displays on the historical roles played by the railway, lumber mills, Mennonite families and, yes, even the old farmers market, in the lives of Stouffville residents. It would be a great pity to destroy our last agricultural building. Would you like to comment on a letter. story or column in The Sun-'Mbune? e~mail jmason@yrmg. com Classified Manager Ann (hmphell ADVERTISING Retail Manager Stacey Allen sullen @ynmz. mm '2 m phrl I 'Sfifli'fi'ibune PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot mg. (1)") 6290 Main St Stouflviue, ON. L4A lG7 www.yoflueg|0n.oom SAL AMENTA S T( )UFFVILLE just about every natural process on the planet now bears a human signature. For example, if you look at the soils, humans are now the dominant force behind changes to physical sedimentation. Dramatic increases in erosion from agricul- ture. road and urban development and dams have pushed people to be the largest producer of sedi- ment by an order of magnitude over nature. Assistant Classified Manager Bonnie Rondmu bmndmufiyrmg‘mm Pnonucmm Team Leader Shrrrv Dav David Suzuki Mth Faisal Moola m; Chum "ISIS! BUSINESS MANAGER Robert Lazurlw Emma IN Cmu Debora Kelly If you look at the air, humans are rapidly changing the composi‘ tion of the atmosphere by burning vast amounts of oil, coal and gas. As a result, carbon dioxide lev- els are oneâ€"third higher now than they were 200 years ago â€" higher, in fact, than they have been in the past 900,000 years â€" and they are expected to double this century. If you look at life on the planet, human activities are causing the extinction of many species, pos- sibly leading to a “major extinction event” that rivals others, such as the demise of the dinosaurs. Humans are also rapidly replacâ€" ing vast areas of natural vegetation with agricultural crops. As the researchers point out: “These effects are permanent. as future evolution will take place from surviving (and frequently anthropogenically relocated) stocks.” If you look at the oceans. sea levels have risen slightly due to melting ice and thermal expan- EDITORIAL 905-640-261 ‘ 905-640-87 )ISTRHN 905-640 "HM 905 ’)\’!iR'l'l\\l )5~640‘2( I: 1-800-7 905‘640» Dumcmn [mm Mwu I: 'I‘ncuuowcv lohn Futhey 2M A York Region Media (imup wmmunitv newspaper The Suanribune. published every Thursday and Saturday. is a division oi the Metroland Media Group Ltd. a whoiiy ow subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. Metroiand is comprised t 100 community publications across Ontario The York Reg" Newspaper Group includes The Liberal, sewing Richmond Hm Thornhili, Vaughan Citizen. The EraBanner (Newmar’ket/Aurr Markham Economist Sun, Georgina AdvocateYork Regir Business Times. North of the City. yorkregion mm and York Region Printing Duuacmu, CIRCULATION Sysnms Lynn Pushko Dumcma, ADVERTISING You REGION PRINTING n. DISTRIBUTION (Janum MANAGER Barry Black Bob Dean sion (water expands as it warms) and these levels are expected to continue to rise through the cenâ€" tury. Our oceans are also notice- ably more acidic now, again due to the human release of so much carbon into the atmosphere, with “potentially severe effects in both benthic (especially coral reef) and planktonic settings," according to the researchers. SEW-Tribune So, there you have it, the case for the Anthropocene. We've done it. We've written our name on the wall. We’re the king of the hill, lord of the sandbox. We're now the most powerful force of change on the planet - so much that we actually get our own epoch. A pretty big responsibility for a naked ape that emerged on the plains of Africa only 150,000 years ago. So what now, little human? What now? Take the Suzuki challenge at davidsuzuk/