Anthropocene

English 2018 February 12 thumb|Pieces of plastic waste fouling a beach in Hawaii, USA. The profound impact that the activities of human beings are having on the environment have led to the word Anthropocene being used to describe the current age. Etymology From a combination of en anthropo cene modeled on en Holocene, en Pleistocene, and similar. First attested in the 1960s in the translations of Russian-language scientific articles, possibly with a different meaning. Supposedly coined independently in the 1980s by en 1 1 American biologist Eugene Stoermer and later popularized by Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul J. Crutzen in 2000.Andrew C. Revkin Andrew Revkin Confronting the ‘Anthropocene’ https://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/confronting-the-anthropocene/ https://web.archive.org/web/20170823072233/https://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/confronting-the-anthropocene/ 23 August 2017 The New York Times 11 May 2011. Pronunciation en /ˈæn.θɹə.pəˌsiːn/ RP en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Anthropocene.wav Southern England en /ˈæn.θɹə.pəˌsin/ /ænˈθɹɑp.əˌsin/ GA en An thro po cene Proper noun 1 en proposed but rejected geological epoch, strictly en geology formal strictly A proposed but rejected geological en epoch geology, in which the effect of human activities on the global environment has disrupted the natural variability of the Holocene, ending the Holocene. (It was rejected as formal scientific nomenclature in 2024 owing to not meeting a bar for how a geological epoch is formally defined.) from 1960s en Quaternary<qq:current period> Age of Man<qq:dated> en Holocene<qq:as separate epoch> en Doklady. Biological Sciences Sections Washington, D.C. w:American Institute of Biological Sciences 1960 132–135 640 2 0012-4966 501426146 The tempo of evolution in South American hamsters was very rapid – in the course of the Pliocene and Anthropocene 40 genera were formed here, at which time a series of them attained the level of tribe and subtribe (Oxymycteri, Phyllotiini, Ichthyomyini). en Doklady of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R.: Earth Sciences Sections Washington, D.C. American Geological Institute 1967 172–177 62 2 0012-494X 828201306 The above palynologic data indicate that the evolutionary history of vegetation in the upper reaches of the Indigirka during the Holocene was much more complex than has been thought and than is reflected in the existing stratigraphic maps of the Anthropocene of the Northeast USSR. en Paul J[ozef] Crutzen; w:Eugene F. Stoermer The ‘Anthropocene’ http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20171009161225/http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf 9 October 2017 w:Will Steffen Global Change Newsletter Stockholm, Sweden IGBP Secretariat, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences May 2000 41 17 http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf#page=17 0284-5865 Considering these and many other major and still growing impacts of human activities on earth and atmosphere, and at all, including global, scales, it seems to us more than appropriate to emphasize the central role of mankind in geology and ecology by proposing to use the term "anthropocene" for the current geological epoch. en w:Donald Worster A Drier and Hotter Future [review of A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest (2011) by William deBuys] https://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/a-drier-and-hotter-future https://web.archive.org/web/20170501182654/http://www.americanscientist.org:80/bookshelf/pub/a-drier-and-hotter-future 1 May 2017 w:American Scientist January–February 2012 100 1 70 Phoenix [in Arizona] and Lubbock [in Texas] are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force. en Welcome to the Plastisphere: What is Pollution to Some is Opportunity to Others https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21581981-what-pollution-some-opportunity-others-welcome-plastisphere https://web.archive.org/web/20130731140040/http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21581981-what-pollution-some-opportunity-others-welcome-plastisphere 31 July 2013 w:The Economist 20 July 2013 408 8845 Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field. en 2020-04-09 Richard Horton (editor) Richard Horton Coronavirus is the greatest global science policy failure in a generation w:The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/09/deadly-virus-britain-failed-prepare-mers-sars-ebola-coronavirus We’re supposed to be living through the Anthropocene, an era where human activity has become the dominant influence on the environment. The idea of the Anthropocene conjures notions of human omnipotence. en-GB Damian Carrington Geologists reject declaration of Anthropocene epoch The Guardian 2024-03-22 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/22/geologists-reject-declaration-of-anthropocene-epoch 0261-3077 The guardians of the world’s official geological timescale have firmly rejected a proposal to declare an Anthropocene epoch, after an epic academic row. en era of human impact on environment, loosely en loosely informally The era of human impact on the environment, irrespective of its nomenclatural status as a geological event or epoch; especially, the era of large impact (i.e., on industrial and postindustrial scale). en Holocene<qq:current epoch> < Quaternary<qq:current period> Age of Man<qq:dated> en assholocene<qq:informal> Usage notes The term has not been adopted in the official geological nomenclature. Defining the time of human impact on the environment as a geological event within the Holocene (rather than a separate epoch) has also been proposed. It is widely acknowledged that a loose and informal sense of the term lives on in popular usage, irrespective of nomenclatural status as a geological event or epoch. Derived terms en Oliganthropocene Related terms en anthropocenic<pos:adj> anthropogenic Translations the current geological period Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 人類世 Rénlèishì Czech: cs antropocén Dutch: nl antropoceen n Estonian: et antropotseen Finnish: fi antroposeeni French: fr anthropocène m Galician: gl antropoceno m German: de Anthropozän n Greek: el Ανθρωπόκαινο n Japanese: ja 人新世 じんしんせい,jinshinsei, ja アントロポセン antoroposen, ja アンソロポシーン ansoroposhīn Korean: ko 인류세 Persian: fa آنتروپوسین ânterupusin Polish: pl antropocen m-in Portuguese: pt Antropoceno m Russian: ru Антропоце́н m Slovak: sk antropocén Spanish: es Antropoceno m Swedish: sv antropocen c See also en Appendix:Geologic timescale climate denial ecocrisis Pyrocene sozology References Further reading en Climate change Geological periods