The researchers were able to mark the new epoch due to a radiocarbon peak

This was found in the heartwood of a strange and singular tree, a Sitka Spruce

The spike was created by the culmination of mostly Northern Hemisphere atmospheric thermonuclear bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s

The planet entered a new geological epoch known as the Anthropocene in 1965, according to new research.

The Anthropocene has become a term used by scientists all over the world, seeking to put a marker on when humans began to leave a significant impact on the planet.

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Until now there has been no definitive 'global' signal to enable scientists to officially declare a new epoch.

Now researchers have found the signal for the change by using the accumulation of radiocarbon in tree wood from nuclearbomb tests.

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This Sitka Spruce on Campbell Island is the only tree in a 125 miles (200km) radius. Dubbed 'the loneliest tree in the world' it has been used as a biological marker to show the dawn of the Anthropocene and the signal was fixed in the wood by photosynthesis

The study, led by UCL and University of New South Wales alongside members of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013-2014, provides the first precise global signal for the Anthropocene from the Southern Hemisphere.

The researchers were able to mark the new epoch due to a radiocarbon peak or 'golden spike' found in the heartwood of a strange and singular tree, a Sitka Spruce found on Campbell Island, a World Heritage site in the middle of the Southern Ocean.

The spruce