Holocene Epoch
Present Day Epoch
The Holocene Epoch (11.7 Ka - present) is in the Quaternary Period of the Cenozoic Era. It occurs after the Pleistocene Epoch, and is the current epoch.
Geologic Age
11.700 years ago–present
Subdivisions
Meghalayan: 4.2 Ka - present
Northgrippian: 8.2 - 4.2 Ka
Greenlandian: 11.7 - 8.2 Ka
Eon / Era / Period
What happened during this time?
Period since the last ice age to the present.
Holocene has been a relatively warm period in between ice ages with small-scale climate shifts.
Holocene is sometimes called the Anthropocene, the "Age of Man."
All of Homo sapiens recorded history and the rise and fall of all its civilizations.
Humanity has greatly influenced the Holocene environment, including global pollution such as global warming, ocean acidification, fertilizer run-off, habitat destruction, and mass extinction of other species.
Some refer to this time as the Sixth Extinction Event
Additional Reading
No 'human era' in Earth's geological history, scientists say (Phys.org 22Mar2024)
Why did geologists reject the “Anthropocene” epoch? (Vox 7Mar2024)
The Anthropocene is not an epoch − but the age of humans is most definitely underway (The Conversation 5Mar2024)
Defaunation in the Anthropocene (Dirzo et al. 2014)
The biodiversity of species and their rates of extinction, distribution, and protection (Pimm et al. 2014)
Are we in the Anthropocene? (Washington Post 20June2023)
Welcome to the Anthropocene (Phys.org 10Jul2023)