welcome
Guardian

Guardian

Entertainment

Entertainment

Plastic bags and chicken bones: the fossils scientists believe will become our eternal legacy

Guardian
Summary
Nutrition label

75% Informative

Prof Sarah Gabbott and Prof Jan Zalasiewicz say plastic will be our signature technofossil.

Chicken bones, aluminium drinks cans and cheap clothes will also be part of our legacy.

Sinking cities, such as New Orleans , are where colossal concrete fossils are likely to be formed.

Fossils are not just objects left behind, but also the traces of life’s activity written into the rocks.

For ever is a long time and all fossils will only last as long as the planet does, but it will take about 5bn years for the sun to engulf the Earth .

Geologists conclude: “Our throwaway plastics look likely to persist on Earth pretty much for ever”.

“This stuff is going to last millions of years, some releasing its toxins and chemicals into the natural world,” she says, raising serious questions for us all: “Do you need that? Do you really need to buy more?”.

Small business owner?

Otherweb launches Autoblogger—a revolutionary way to bring more leads to any small business, using the power of AI.