anthropogenic

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

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of anthropogenic

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

anthropogenic pollutants

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anthropogenically

play \-ni-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Recent Examples of anthropogenic from the Web

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
Livestock are responsible for 14.5% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gases, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

— The Economist, "How to provide a protein-rich diet to a growing population," 31 Aug. 2017
But how confidently can scientists attribute these extreme weather events to anthropogenic climate change?

— kyle frischkorn, Smithsonian, "Does Climate Change Cause Extreme Weather Events?," 15 Aug. 2017
Around half of Republicans do not believe in evolution or anthropogenic climate change.

— The Economist, "LexingtonSuperstition helps explain how people think about gun laws," 5 Oct. 2017
But even as science is ever more certain that human activity has intensified hurricanes themselves, there are a slew of other anthropogenic problems that have intensified their horrific effects.

— vann r. newkirk ii, The Atlantic, "The Looming Superfund Nightmare," 12 Sep. 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.