Editing Holocene extinction (section)

===Anthropocene===
{{Main|Anthropocene}}
[[File:Ecological Processes Coral Reefs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A diagram showing the ecological processes of [[coral reef]]s before and during the [[Anthropocene]]]]
The abundance of species extinctions considered [[human impact on the environment|anthropogenic]], or due to human activity, has sometimes (especially when referring to hypothesized future events) been collectively called the "Anthropocene extinction".<ref name="SpecialIssue"/><ref name="wooldridge2008">{{cite journal|doi=10.5194/bgd-5-2401-2008|last=Wooldridge|first=S. A.|date=9 June 2008|title=Mass extinctions past and present: a unifying hypothesis|journal=Biogeosciences Discussions|volume=5|pages=2401–2423|issue=3|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298014/file/bgd-5-2401-2008.pdf|bibcode=2008BGD.....5.2401W|s2cid=2346412|doi-access=free|access-date=2 September 2019|archive-date=2 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902164730/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298014/file/bgd-5-2401-2008.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="jackson2008">{{Cite journal|issn=0027-8424 |pmid=18695220|pmc=2556419|doi=10.1073/pnas.0802812105|date=Aug 2008 |title=Colloquium paper: ecological extinction and evolution in the brave new ocean |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=105|issue=Suppl 1|pages=11458–11465|last1=Jackson|first1=J. B. C. |bibcode=2008PNAS..10511458J|doi-access=free}}</ref> ''[[Anthropocene]]'' is a term introduced in 2000.<ref name="Crutzen-2000">{{cite journal|last1=Crutzen|first1=Paul J.|last2=Stoermer|first2=Eugene F.|title=The 'Anthropocene'|journal=Global Change NewsLetter|issue=41|date=May 2000|publisher=[[IGBP]]|url=http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf|issn=0284-5865|page=17|access-date=2021-11-23|archive-date=2015-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418122558/http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NatGeo-2019">{{cite web|author=National Geographic Society|title=Anthropocene|url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/anthropocene/|date=June 7, 2019|website=National Geographic|access-date=23 November 2021|quote=coined and made popular by biologist Eugene Stormer and chemist Paul Crutzen in 2000.|archive-date=31 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531233810/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/anthropocene/|url-status=live}}</ref> Some now postulate that a new geological epoch has begun, with the most abrupt and widespread extinction of species since the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]] 66 million years ago.<ref name="Kolbert-2014" />

The term "anthropocene" is being used more frequently by scientists, and some commentators may refer to the current and projected future extinctions as part of a longer Holocene extinction.<ref name="Zalasiewicz"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Elewa|first=Ashraf M. T.|chapter=Current mass extinction |title=Mass Extinction|pages=191–194 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-75916-4_14|year=2008|isbn=978-3-540-75915-7}}</ref> The Holocene–Anthropocene boundary is contested, with some commentators asserting significant human influence on climate for much of what is normally regarded as the [[Holocene]] [[Epoch (geology)|Epoch]].<ref name="Ruddiman-2003"/> Some experts mark the transition from the Holocene to the Anthropocene at the onset of the [[Industrial Revolution|industrial revolution]]. They also note that the official use of this term in the near future will heavily rely on its usefulness, especially for Earth scientists studying late Holocene periods.

It has been suggested that human activity has made the period starting from the mid-20th century different enough from the rest of the Holocene to consider it a new [[geological epoch]], known as the Anthropocene,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Syvitski|first1=Jaia|last2=Waters|first2=Colin N.|last3=Day |first3=John |last4=Milliman |first4=John D. |last5=Summerhayes |first5=Colin |last6=Steffen |first6=Will |last7=Zalasiewicz |first7=Jan |last8=Cearreta |first8=Alejandro |last9=Gałuszka |first9=Agnieszka |last10=Hajdas |first10=Irka |last11=Head |first11=Martin J. |last12=Leinfelder |first12=Reinhold |last13=McNeill |first13=J. R. |last14=Poirier |first14=Clément |last15=Rose |first15=Neil L. |last16=Shotyk |first16=William |last17=Wagreich |first17=Michael |last18=Williams |first18=Mark |date=2020|title=Extraordinary human energy consumption and resultant geological impacts beginning around 1950 CE initiated the proposed Anthropocene Epoch |journal=Communications Earth & Environment|volume=1|issue=1 |at=32|doi=10.1038/s43247-020-00029-y |bibcode=2020ComEE...1...32S|s2cid=222415797 |doi-access=free|hdl=20.500.11850/462514 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene|journal=Science|date=2016-01-08|issn=0036-8075|pmid=26744408|at=aad2622 |volume=351|issue=6269 |doi=10.1126/science.aad2622|first1=Colin N.|last1=Waters|first2=Jan |last2=Zalasiewicz|first3=Colin|last3=Summerhayes|first4=Anthony D. |last4=Barnosky|first5=Clément |last5=Poirier|first6=Agnieszka|last6=Gałuszka |first7=Alejandro|last7=Cearreta|first8=Matt |last8=Edgeworth|first9=Erle C.|last9=Ellis|bibcode=2016Sci...351.2622W |s2cid=206642594}}</ref> a term which was considered for inclusion in the timeline of Earth's history by the [[International Commission on Stratigraphy]] in 2016, but the proposal was rejected in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Working Group on the 'Anthropocene'|publisher=Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy|url=http://quaternary.stratigraphy.org/workinggroups/anthropocene/|access-date=21 January 2016|archive-date=17 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217014924/http://quaternary.stratigraphy.org/workinggroups/anthropocene/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/29/declare-anthropocene-epoch-experts-urge-geological-congress-human-impact-earth|title=The Anthropocene epoch: scientists declare dawn of human-influenced age|first=Damian|last=Carrington|date=August 29, 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=August 30, 2016|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611230701/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/29/declare-anthropocene-epoch-experts-urge-geological-congress-human-impact-earth|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="IUGS-ICS-2024">"[https://www.iugs.org/_files/ugd/f1fc07_ebe2e2b94c35491c8efe570cd2c5a1bf.pdf The Anthropocene]": IUGS-ICS Statement. March 20, 2024.</ref> To constitute the Holocene as an [[extinction event]], scientists must determine exactly when anthropogenic [[greenhouse gas emissions]] began to measurably alter natural atmospheric levels on a global scale, and when these alterations caused changes to global climate. Using chemical proxies from Antarctic ice cores, researchers have estimated the fluctuations of [[carbon dioxide]] (CO<sub>2</sub>) and [[methane]] (CH<sub>4</sub>) gases in the Earth's atmosphere during the [[Late Pleistocene]] and Holocene epochs.<ref name="Ruddiman-2003">{{Cite journal|last=Ruddiman|first=W. F.|date=2003|title=The anthropogenic greenhouse gas era began thousands of years ago|url=http://www.arp.harvard.edu/sci/climate/journalclub/Ruddiman2003.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903232016/http://www.arp.harvard.edu/sci/climate/journalclub/Ruddiman2003.pdf|archive-date=2006-09-03|url-status=dead|journal=Climatic Change|volume=61|issue=3|pages=261–293 |doi=10.1023/b:clim.0000004577.17928.fa|bibcode=2003ClCh...61..261R |citeseerx=10.1.1.651.2119|s2cid=2501894}}</ref> Estimates of the fluctuations of these two gases in the atmosphere, using chemical proxies from Antarctic ice cores, generally indicate that the peak of the Anthropocene occurred within the previous two centuries: typically beginning with the [[Industrial Revolution]], when the highest greenhouse gas levels were recorded.<ref name="Cruzten-2002">{{Cite journal |last=Cruzten|first=P. J.|date=2002|title=Geology of mankind: The Anthropocene|journal=Nature|volume=415|issue=6867|page=23|doi=10.1038/415023a|pmid=11780095 |bibcode=2002Natur.415...23C|s2cid=9743349|doi-access=free |s2cid-access=free |bibcode-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=Will|last1=Steffen |first2=Åsa|last2=Persson|first3=Lisa|last3=Deutsch|first4=Jan|last4=Zalasiewicz|first5=Mark |last5=Williams|first6=Katherine|last6=Richardson|first7=Carole|last7=Crumley|first8=Paul |last8=Crutzen |first9=Carl|last9=Folke|first10=Line|last10=Gordon|first11=Mario|last11=Molina|first12=Veerabhadran |last12=Ramanathan|first13=Johan|last13=Rockström|first14=Marten|last14=Scheffer|first15=Hans Joachim |last15=Schellnhuber|first16=Uno|last16=Svedin|year=2011|title=The Anthropocene: From Global Change to Planetary Stewardship|journal=Ambio|volume=40|issue=7|pages=739–761|doi=10.1007/s13280-011-0185-x |pmc=3357752 |pmid=22338713|bibcode=2011Ambio..40..739S }}</ref>