Scientists have classified an entirely-new phase of geological history - the Meghalayan Age

We are living through an entirely new era of geological history known as the Meghalayan Age, scientists have announced.
According to geologists, the period started around 4,200 years ago after a worldwide drought wiped out a significant portion of human civilisations.

The classification of a new era by the International Union of Geological Sciences splits the Holocene into three distinct subsections, Greenlandian, Northgrippian and Meghalayan. The decision appears to have ruled out the possibility of an official classification for the Anthropocene Epoch, a proposed geological era that encompassed the advent of mankind and human success in colonising the planet.

Anthropocene, which would span the last 10,000 years, was never completely accepted by the scientific community. As well as the Meghalayan Age, the overhaul of the classification system introduces the subsections Greenlandian and Northgrippian, which spanned from 11,700 to 8,326 years ago and 8,326 to 4,200 years ago, respectively. The newly-defined time frames will now feature on all official charts that depict Earth's geological past.

Proof of the Meghalayan was found while studying the chemical make-up of a stalagmite in the Meghalayan state of India. A similar analysis of ice cores from Greenland laid the foundation for the acceptance of distinct Greenlandian and Northgrippian ages.