Pyrocene

We have come to talk about this latest period of the Holocene as the Anthropocene epcoh, that is, the period where the effects of human activity on the environment are marked.  Now a fire historian, Stephen J Pyne, has suggested a new term, the Pyrocene.  This is the epoch which is characterised by the effects of the use of fire by human beings to generate energy, as in the burning of wood for agricultural or domestic use, and the combustion of fossil fuels, both of which have significantly affected the climate.  The prefix pyro- is from the Greek word pyr for fire.  The term is not intended to replace Holocene but to put a different slant on this part of it.  Given the frequency with which fire is destroying parts of the globe we may well have some use for it.