anthropogenic

adjective an·thro·po·gen·ic \ -pə-ˈje-nik \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Definition of anthropogenic

: of, relating to, or resulting from the influence of human beings on nature

anthropogenic pollutants

—

anthropogenically

play \-ni-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Recent Examples of anthropogenic from the Web

What with anthropogenic climate change, more and more people are trading in combustion motors for an electric model.

— ellen airhart, WIRED, "Alternatives to Cobalt, the Blood Diamond of Batteries," 7 June 2018
Even more dramatically, the 2015-16 marine heatwave in the Tasman Sea that persisted for more than eight months and disrupted Tasmanian fisheries and aquaculture industries was over 300 times more likely, thanks to anthropogenic climate change.

— Smithsonian, "Ocean Heatwaves Are Getting Longer and More Intense," 2 June 2018
Other debris included metal (26 percent), rubber (1.8 percent), fishing gear (1.7 percent), glass (1.4 percent), cloth/paper/lumber (1.3 percent), and and other anthropogenic items (35 percent).

— david grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Plastic Bag Found at the Bottom of the Mariana Trench," 15 May 2018
The same ingenuity that allowed humans to hit home runs with evolution’s curveballs has arguably created the risk of environmental destruction, resource exhaustion, anthropogenic climate change and thermonuclear war.

— nathan h. lents, WSJ, "The Botch of the Human Body," 13 Apr. 2018
The study was not able to factor in the influence of anthropogenic climate change effects, though, leaving open the question of how much rising flood levels are driven by engineering and how much by a warming climate.

— stephanie pappas, Scientific American, "Taming the Mighty Mississippi May Have Caused Bigger Floods," 10 Apr. 2018
Instead, Williamson literally makes no mention at all of Pruitt’s skepticism of the theory of anthropogenic global warming.

— jonathan chait, Daily Intelligencer, "National Review Shows Why Conservatives Outsourced Environmental Policy to Lobbyists and Kooks," 7 Jan. 2018
What was beginning to happen was anthropogenic soil subsidence—the sinking of the land by human action.

— richard campanella, The Atlantic, "How Humans Sank New Orleans," 6 Feb. 2018
But scientists have found a clear link between anthropogenic climate change and certain extreme-weather events.

— annie lowrey, The Atlantic, "The Most Expensive Weather Year Ever," 20 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'anthropogenic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of anthropogenic

circa 1883

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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Other Ecology Terms

Malthusian, biomass, carbon footprint, crepuscular, niche, sere, symbiosis, taiga, tundra

Medical Dictionary

anthropogenic

adjective an·thro·po·gen·ic \ -pə-ˈjen-ik \

medical Definition of anthropogenic

: of, relating to, or resulting from the influence of human beings on nature

anthropogenic sources of pollution

Learn More about anthropogenic

Nglish: Translation of anthropogenic for Spanish speakers

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anthropogenic

Definition of anthropogenic

anthropogenically

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First Known Use of anthropogenic

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anthropogenic

medical Definition of anthropogenic

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anthropogenic

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anthropogenically

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