The Guardian: Anthropocene: is this the new epoch of humans?

This article in today's Guardian newspaper caught my eye.

The story concerns the conference of the Working Group on the Anthropocene which is meeting in Berlin this week to consider the definition and the time-frame of the Anthropocene geological unit. Geological units have a boundary which is visible in the geological record called a Global Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP) or "Golden Spike". For the Anthropocene to be recognised, it too should manifest a global stratigraphic marker. Commentators from within the group argue for various start dates for the Anthropocene, the start of industrialisation still being favourite but the start of atomic era is also suggested. These dates are usefully supported by stratigraphic markers.

Have humans truly displaced volcanoes and plate tectonics as the key agent of geological change on our world? Probably not; all signs of our civilisation will one day be erased as they slide under an adjacent plate in the earth's crust. But this conference, it seems, is not considering that argument; it appears to be considering when the impact of human behaviour started to affect the planet as a whole and how the start of that impact may be detected in the stratigraphic record. It is debating which start date to adopt.

This comment from Mike Ellis of the British Geological Survey is unequivocal: "The principal process of change on the planet is us, so the name of our epoch should reflect that. It’s as simple as that."

Might the Working Group consider the emergence of farming as another option for the start of the Anthropocene? What is the geological marker from farming that would provide the Golden Spike?

I await the outcome with interest.