Curious Cook: A more sustainable year?

Switching one serving of beef to a serving of chicken just once a week has been estimated to save 0.71 tonnes of CO2 per person per year. — HARRY DONA/Pexels

Many people are now aware that last year, 2023, was the hottest year in known human history. It had been proposed for some time that the current geological period should be called the Anthropocene epoch (derived from the Greek “anthropo”, for “man”, and “cene” for “new”). The Anthropocene is meant to define the period from when humans began having a significant impact on the Earth’s climate, geography, and ecosystems.

Originally, the suggested beginning date for the Anthropocene was over 10,000 years ago, when humans started agriculture, but the latest proposal from the Anthropocene Working Group in 2016 defined the start year to be just 74 years ago in 1950. This year marked the onset of what was termed the “Great Acceleration,” a period characterised by exponential growth in human industrial activity and population.