Anthropocene

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Related to Anthropocene: Holocene

An·thro·po·cene

(ăn′thrə-pə-sēn′)

The period of time during which human activities are thought to have had a significant impact on the global environment, regarded as having begun sometime between eight thousand years ago, with the spread of agriculture, and two hundred years ago, with the advent of industrialization. The Anthropocene has been proposed as a new epoch of geologic time, following the Holocene.

adj.

Of or relating to the Anthropocene.

[anthropo- + -cene.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Anthropocene

(ænˈθrɒpəˌsiːn)

(Geological Science) the Anthropocene a proposed term for the present geological epoch (from the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards), during which humanity has begun to have a significant impact on the environment

[C21: from anthropo- and -cene, coined by Paul Crutzen (born 1933), Nobel-winning Dutch chemist]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

References in periodicals archive ?

However, we have already entered an epoch that is unlike any in human history - The Anthropocene, an age where human activity has a direct impact on the geological sphere.

New political age?

Human activity has been responsible for substantial declines in biodiversity at the global level, to such an extent that there are calls to describe the modern epoch as 'The Anthropocene'.

University of York: Climate change 'disrupts' local plant diversity, study reveals

The arrival of the Anthropocene may lead to a global tipping point

Where will evolution take us in the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

Counter-Desecration: A Glossary for Writing in the Anthropocene, edited by Linda Russo and Marthe Reed (2018), a collective glossary of terms, both invented and redefined, offers that, as well as a model for literary cooperative action."

READERS RESPOND

Since The Economist declared 'Welcome to the Anthropocene' on its cover in May 2011, the concept has steadily crept into mainstream discourse.

The Anthropocene is here

Among his topics are landscaping the continent: the Holocene and Anthropocene, freezing the continent: Pleistocene glaciation of the Great Lakes region, rifting the continent: the Mesoproterozoic midcontinent rift and Grenville Province, making the crust: solidification of the Hadean Magma Ocean, and sustaining the continent: our geologic future.

Great Lakes Rocks: 4 Billion Years of Geologic History in the Great Lakes Region

ANTHROPOCENE A group of 20 pupils enjoyed an evening at the opera on Thursday night.

School news

The End of Sustainability: Resilience and the Future of Environmental Governance in the Anthropocene. By Melinda Harm Benson 6c Robin Kundis Craig.

The End of Sustainability: Resilience and the Future of Environmental Governance in the Anthropocene

In order to meet the daunting challenges of environmental sustainability in this epoch of human domination -- known as the Anthropocene -- ecologists have begun to think differently about the interdependencies between humans and the natural world.

What We Are Reading Today: The New Ecology

This is surely the case for the most influential environmental policy concept of our time: the "Anthropocene".

Earth System Governance--Beyond Traditional Environmental Policy

Summary: We have entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, in which human activity - in particular, economic activity - has been the dominant...