Anthropocene
Climate Change 2021, The Physical Science Basis, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2021, defines anthropocene as: ‘A proposed new geological epoch resulting from significant human-driven changes to the structure and functioning of the Earth System, including the climate system.’
Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis, Annex VII: Glossary, written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press in 2023, defines anthropocene as: ‘A proposed new geological epoch resulting from significant human-driven changes to the structure and functioning of the Earth System, including the climate system. Originally proposed in the Earth system science community in 2000, the proposed new epoch is undergoing a formalization process within the geological community based on the stratigraphic evidence that human activities have changed the Earth system to the extent of forming geological deposits with a signature that is distinct from those of the Holocene, and which will remain in the geological record. Both the stratigraphic and Earth system approaches to defining the Anthropocene consider the mid-20th century to be the most appropriate starting date (Steffen et al., 2016), although others have been proposed and continue to be discussed. The Anthropocene concept has already been informally adopted by diverse disciplines and the public to denote the substantive influence of humans on the Earth system.’
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