Humans started dominating the planet causing irreversible damage around the year 1610 , scientists claim . Experts have been divided on when mankind caused a lasting impact on the Earth 's geology with some suggesting 1964 when the fallout from atomic testing became apparent . But British researchers have now pinpointed 1610 because of the impact felt by an irreversible transfer of crops and species between the New and Old Worlds . British researchers have now pinpointed 1610 because of the impact felt by an irreversible transfer of crops and species between the New and Old Worlds . The Anthropocene is the name of a proposed geological epoch that may soon enter the official Geologic Time Scale . It refers to a time in which human permanently changed the planet . According to the International Union of Geological Sciences ( IUGS ) , we are officially in the Holocene epoch , which began 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age . Some experts argue we should now change the name to 'Anthropocene ' . This is from from anthropo , for 'man , ' and cene , for 'new ' . But up until now , experts have been divided on when mankind caused a lasting impact on the Earth 's geology with some suggesting 1964 when the fallout from atomic testing became apparent . Researchers at UCL said that 1610 - when William Shakespeare 's Cymbeline was first performed - marked the start of the human-dominated geological epoch known as the Anthropocene . Previous epochs began and ended due meteorite strikes , sustained volcanic eruptions and the shifting of the continents . The study , published in Nature , said human actions are now changing the planet producing a new geological epoch . But to define an epoch scientists must pinpoint and date a global environmental change that has been captured in natural material , such as rocks , ancient ice or sediment from the ocean floor . Such a marker - like the chemical signature left by the meteorite strike that wiped out the dinosaurs - is called a golden spike . Comparing the major environmental impacts of human activity over the past 50,000 years against these two formal requirements just two dates were in the running - 1610 when the impact of the discovery of The Americas began to be felt and 1964 . Scientists said the 1492 arrival of Europeans in the Americas , and subsequent global trade , moved species to new continents and oceans on an unprecedented level , resulting in a global re-ordering of life on Earth . They also found a golden spike that can be dated to the same time - a pronounced dip in atmospheric carbon dioxide centred on 1610 and captured in Antarctic ice-core records . Geologists have named the 1610 dip in carbon dioxide the 'Orbis Spike ' . They chose the Latin word for 'world ' because this golden spike was caused by once-disconnected peoples becoming globally linked . According to the International Union of Geological Sciences ( IUGS ) , we are officially in the Holocene epoch , which began 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age . Humans started dominating the planet causing irreversible changes during the reign of King James I ( right ) and the era of Shakespeare ( left ) , scientists claim . Dr Simon Lewis said : 'In a hundred thousand years scientists will look at the environmental record and know something remarkable happened in the second half of the second millennium . 'They will be in no doubt that these global changes to Earth were caused by their own species . 'Today we can say when those changes began and why . 'The Anthropocene probably began when species jumped continents , starting when the Old World met the New . 'We humans are now a geological power in our own right - as Earth-changing as a meteorite strike . 'Historically , the collision of the Old and New Worlds marks the beginning of the modern world . 'Many historians regard agricultural imports into Europe from the vast new lands of the Americas , alongside the availability of coal , as the two essential precursors of the Industrial Revolution , which in turn unleashed further waves of global environmental changes . 'Geologically , this boundary also marks Earth 's last globally synchronous cool moment before the onset of the long-term global warmth of the Anthropocene . ' He added while 1964 saw a peak in radioactive fallout following nuclear weapons testing , it was not - in geological terms - an Earth-changing event . An official decision on whether to formally recognise the Anthropocene , including when it began , will be triggered by a recommendation of the Anthropocene Working Group of the Subcommission of Quaternary Stratigraphy , due in 2016 . Scientists said the 1492 arrival of Europeans in the Americas ( pictured ) , and global trade , moved species to new continents and oceans on an unprecedented level , resulting in a global re-ordering of life on Earth .
Date was decided on because of the impact felt by the transfer of crops . Comment: A dip in atmospheric carbon dioxide centred on 1610 was also found . Scientists argue this should now be regarded as start of Anthropocene . ' We humans are now a geological power in our own right - as Earth-changing as a meteorite strike , ' the researchers said .