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Anthropocene

Anthropocene

1 9.7
A suggested time when people change Earth's climate and environment
  • noun
  • /ˌænθrəˈpoʊsiːn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Antropoceno
  • They will find what geologists, scientists and other experts are increasingly calling the Anthropocene, or New Age of mankind.
  • Anthropocene era
  • Anthropocene crisis

How poor people get rich will strongly shape the Anthropocene.

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Examples

  • The question is whether past trends of increasing prosperity can be broadened and sustained as the Anthropocene matures.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The term Anthropocene refers to the era in which human activities are the dominant influence on the climate and environment.

  • What are the main challenges of being a researcher and teacher in the age of the Anthropocene?

    Academic text (2017)
  • Writing about climate change and the Anthropocene, however, confronts writers with formal challenges.

    Academic text (2018)
  • People call this the Anthropocene right now, where we've managed to really disrupt the, the, you know, the, the world that we live in.

  • I just wonder how far the Anthropocene extends considering the fact that man's landed on the moon.

  • There is debate among scientists who endorse the Anthropocene epoch about when precisely it began.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Imagining the Anthropocene means imagining "the end of social memory, hence the loss of social mourning."

    Academic text (2018)
  • Scientists are studying the Anthropocene to understand how human actions have changed the planet.

  • The Anthropocene marks a significant shift in geological time, highlighting the impact of human civilization on Earth.

Synonyms

Age of Man
vsAnthropocene
  • Specialized
1 9.4

A time in Earth's history about the last two million years when humans lived and changed the world

is the proposed shorter period when people are the main environmental force
assholocene era
vsAnthropocene
  • Offensive
9.9

A rude slang name for the present time that shows how people harm the planet

is a scientific neutral name for the period of human environmental dominance

Surface Forms

Anthropocene singular
Anthropocenes plural

Morphology

Anthropocene = anthropo + cene

The word is built from Greek combining forms meaning 'human' + an epoch-forming suffix; the parts map clearly to the concept but are not productive standalone English words for average learners, so the relation is only partially accessible.

Etymology

Anthropocene joins two Greek parts: anthropos ('human') and -cene ('new era'), the same anthro- you see in anthropology and the -cene in Holocene. So Anthropocene means a 'new' geological time shaped mainly by people.