Search
Close this search box.

Climate Lit

Topic: Deep Time

Deep Time (origin: John McPhee)

Deep time is the measurement of Earth’s chronology on the scale of geologic events and epochs. Based on Earth’s 4.54-billion-year history, deep time is almost unimaginably vast – far more so than conceptualizations of time based on the human lifetime. This means that, much like “deep space,” deep time can be a difficult idea to fully grasp.

The term itself was introduced by American author John McPhee in reference to the work of Scottish geologist James Hutton, who is often considered the “Father of Modern Geology.” During his study of the landscape in the Scottish Lowlands, Hutton theorized that geological formations endured continuing transformations over long periods of time. This work, along with that of other early geologists, suggested that the earth was far older than previously thought, leading Hutton to tell the Royal Society of Edinburgh in a 1785 lecture that “with respect to human observation, this world has neither a beginning nor an end.”

In context of climate literacy, the concept of deep time can be used to understand the profound impact that humans have had on the planet in the short amount of time we have existed (see the Anthropocene). While most alterations to Earth’s climate have been made gradually over millions of years, human-induced climate change is currently occurring at a rapid rate, meaning that many ecosystems are unable to adapt quickly enough. Using deep time thinking can help us comprehend the magnitude of our actions and the long-term consequences they entail.

©2024 ClimateLit (Brandon Storlie)

Related terms: Anthropocene, Slow Violence

Sources:

Denby, D. (2004, October 3). Northern Lights: How modern life emerged from eighteenth-century Edinburgh. New Yorker. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/10/11/northern-lights-3.

McPhee, J. A. (1983). Annals of the Former World. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

7 of 7 items found.

Sort by
Big Tree

by Brian Selznick

“Merwin. All life is in danger. Remember, life began as a gift, and it must always be treated as such. No matter how unstoppable the danger seems, no matter how unavoidable, there’s always something you can do.”

Learn More
Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years

by Stacy McAnulty

“You can call me Planet Awesome.”

Learn More
Hello, Earth! Poems to Our Planet

by Joyce Sidman

“Earth, we know you can’t answer all our questions in words. You answer in other ways.”

Learn More
Only One

by Deborah Hopkinson

“Earth is our one and only planet to care for, love, and preserve”

Learn More
Sapiens: A Graphic History, The Birth of Humankind Vol. 1

by Yuval Noah Harari

“Homo Sapiens has grown so accustomed to being the only human species that it’s … eas[y] for us to imagine we’re the pinnacle of creation, separated from the rest of the animal kingdom by an unbridgeable chasm”

Learn More
Tales from the Inner City
Tales from the Inner City

by Shaun Tan

“It’s hard to convey how natural it all seemed, and how even the first conversations began without us really noticing.”

Learn More
Unstoppable Us, Vol. 1

by Yuval Noah Harari

“Animals and plants depend on one another, so if something happens to one kind of creature, it usually influences many others. And this law even applies to you”

Learn More
Climate Lit

Earth is in a state of climate emergency. Our mission is to promote climate literacy as a means to transition to an ecological civilization. We offer you the resources to teach about climate change with literature, film, and other media for young people.

Contact Us

Connect With Us

Climate Lit is an initiative of the Center for Climate Literacy at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development.

Copyright © 2024 Climate Lit. All rights reserved.