Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The term Anthropocene is increasingly being used to describe the geological epoch in which we
now live. The term is actually a neologism (or new word) made from a combination of the prefix
anthropo-(of humankind) and the suffix -cene(from the ancient Greek for 'new': this term is regularly
used to denote new geological era such as the Cenozoic, Pleistoceneand the Holocene).
It was the atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen and his colleague Eugene Stoermer (an ecologist)
who first coined the term Anthropocene. Although the word Anthropocene is relatively new, the
idea of a geological era of humankind has actually been with us for some time. Back in 1873, for
example, the Italian geologist Antonio Stoppani used the term 'anthropozoic era' to convey the
increasing impact that human beings (and the broader processes of agricultural development and
industrialization) were having on the global environment (see Crutzen, 2002).
Plate 1.1
Paul Crutzen
Source: Wikimedia Creative Commons, Biswarup Ganguly
Key readings
Biermann, F. et al (2012) 'Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving earth system governance', Science 335:
1306-1307
Crutzen, P.J. (2002) 'Geology of mankind', Nature 415.3: 23
Economist(2011) 'The Anthropocene: A man-made world', The Economist26 May
Rohe, R.E. (1983) 'Man as geomorphic agent: Hydraulic mining in the American west', Pacific Historian27: 5-16
Steffen, W. Crutzen, P.J. and McNeill, J.R. (2007) 'Are humans now overwhelming the great forces of nature?'
Ambio 36(8): 614-621
Zalasiewicz, J. et al (2008) 'Are we now living in the Anthropocene?', GSA Today18: 4-8
