Cited by 1,658Geology and Paleoclimatology ResearchClimate variability and modelsArchaeology and ancient environmental studies

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The Anthropogenic Greenhouse Era Began Thousands of Years Ago

Ruddiman, William F.·2003·Climatic Change

DOI 10.1023/b:clim.0000004577.17928.fa

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Stratigraphy of the Anthropocene
Zalasiewicz, J., Williams, M., Fortey, R. A., Smith, A. Р., Barry, T. L., Coe, A. L., Bown, P. R., Rawson, P. F., Gale, A. S., Gibbard, P. L., et al. (2011) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences · doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0315 · Cited by 229
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“Scientific evidence suggests the Earth’s climate has recently been rapidly changing, largely due to increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Ruddiman 2003; IPCC 2006).”
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On the merits of plant-based proteins for global food security: Marrying macro and micro perspectives
de Boer, J., & Aiking, H. (2011) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.03.001 · Cited by 223
“With the introduction of early agriculture about 10,000 years ago humans started to make a unique imprint on the Earth (Ruddiman, 2003).”
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Conservation in the Anthropocene
Caro, T., Darwin, J., Forrester, T. D., et al. (2011) · Conservation Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01752.x · Cited by 205
“Indeed, the current epoch is now being referred to as the Anthropocene (Crutzen & Stoermer 2000), which has led geologists to formally debate stratigraphic evidence for this new phenomenon (Zalasiewicz et al. 2011) and to argue over not if but when it began (Ruddiman 2003).”
Background
The REVEALS model, a new tool to estimate past regional plant abundance from pollen data in large lakes: validation in southern Sweden
Hellman, S., Gaillard, M., Broström, A., et al. (2007) · Journal of Quaternary Science · doi:10.1002/jqs.1126 · Cited by 203
Human–environment interactions: learning from the past
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“While there is no question that humans have strongly influenced the environment for millennia prior (Ruddiman, 2003), impacting both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (Birks, 1986; Renberg et al.”
Background
Planetary Boundaries guide humanity’s future on Earth
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The Anthropocene as rupture
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“…Ruddiman published a paper arguing that the Holocene–Anthropocene shift occurred not at the end of the 18th century with the Industrial Revolution but 5000–8000 years ago with the onset of forest clearing and farming, which led to enhanced levels of CO2 and CH4 in the atmosphere (Ruddiman, 2003).”
Background
Historical soil erosion by water in Germany: Scales and archives, chronology, research perspectives
Dreibrodt, S., Lubos, C., Terhorst, B., et al. (2009) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.06.014 · Cited by 189
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“Land-use changes result in biogeophysical climatic effects through modifications of surface albedo and roughness (Brovkin et al. 2006) and biogeochemical effects through, for example, alterations in vegetation and soil carbon pools (Houghton and Goodale 2004), which influence atmospheric greenhouse gas levels and glob…”
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“Such evidence supports calls for an ‘early anthropogenic era’ (Ruddiman, 2003, 2013).”
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First human impacts and responses of aquatic systems: A review of palaeolimnological records from around the world
Dubois, N., Saulnier‐Talbot, É., Mills, K., Gell, P., Battarbee, R. W., Bennion, H., Chawchai, S., Dong, X., Francus, P., Flower, R. J., et al. (2017) · The Anthropocene Review · doi:10.1177/2053019617740365 · Cited by 185
“…catchments with fertile soils have the longest history of human impact, dating from the start of primitive agriculture (following forest clearance), which is typically reflected by a decrease in tree pollen relative to herb and crop taxa (Birks et al., 1988; Räsänen et al., 2006; Ruddiman, 2003).”
Background
Soil carbon management and climate change
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Background
Spheroidal Carbonaceous Fly Ash Particles Provide a Globally Synchronous Stratigraphic Marker for the Anthropocene
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“At the other extreme, if all the seasonal forests of Amazonia were burning, there would have been significant impacts on both biodiversity and climate, i.e. contributing to the medieval warm period (sensu Ruddiman 2003).”
Background
Vegetation and climate dynamics during the Holocene and Eemian interglacials derived from Lake Baikal pollen records
Tarasov, P. E., Bezrukova, E. V., Karabanov, E. B., et al. (2007) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.05.002 · Cited by 171
“8000 years already (Ruddiman, 2003) provides a temptation to find a relationship between the cultural periods and the phases with a more pronounced role of the steppe and meadow communities also around Lake Baikal.”
Background
Covariability of the Southern Westerlies and atmospheric CO2 during the Holocene
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“, 2003), and land use changes (Ruddiman, 2003); however, no single mechanism has been able to account for the timing and structure of natural atmospheric CO2 changes during the Holocene.”
Background
Studies of modern pollen assemblages for pollen dispersal- deposition- preservation process understanding and for pollen-based reconstructions of past vegetation, climate, and human impact: A review based on case studies in China
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Late Holocene methane rise caused by orbitally controlled increase in tropical sources
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“Specifically, our study addresses the issues of (1) whether natural processes explain the late-Holocene methane increase and the pre-Holocene methane record, (2) the main location of increased methane emissions during the late Holocene, and (3) the relative importance of different natural processes in producing glacia…”
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Allegories of the Anthropocene
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Arnaud, F., Poulenard, J., Giguet‐Covex, C., Wilhelm, B., Révillon, S., Jenny, J., Revel, M., Enters, D., Bajard, M., Fouinat, L., et al. (2016) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.09.018 · Cited by 166
“It was argued that human-triggered erosion changes (Poirier et al., 2011), soil transformation (Certini and Scalenghe, 2011) or the effect of land-use on the carbon cycle (Ruddiman, 2003) could de ﬁ ne the Anthropocene period itself.”
Land surface temperature changes in Northern Iberia since 4000yrBP, based on δ13C of speleothems
Martín‐Chivelet, J., Muñoz-García, M. B., Edwards, R. L., Jiménez, M. J. T., & Martínez, A. I. O. (2011) · Global and Planetary Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2011.02.002 · Cited by 160
“, Robock, 1979; Crowley, 2000) and anthropogenic changes in forestation (Ruddiman, 2003).”
Background
Soil Science and the Carbon Civilization
Lal, R. (2007) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj2007.0001 · Cited by 166
“…(i) Will soil amplify climate change (Powlson, 2005) through positive feedback such as temperature sensitivity of organic matter decomposition (Ruddiman, 2003, 2005; Argen and Wetterstedt, 2007; Davidson and Janssens, 2006), increase in sensitivity of non-labile C (Briones et al., 2007), and…”
Background
Distinguishing the Roles of Natural and Anthropogenically Forced Decadal Climate Variability
Solomon, A. B., Goddard, L., Kumar, A., Carton, J. A., Deser, C., Fukumori, I., Greene, A. M., Hegerl, G. C., Kirtman, B. P., Kushnir, Y., et al. (2010) · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · doi:10.1175/2010bams2962.1 · Cited by 159
Holocene changes in vegetation composition in northern Europe: why quantitative pollen-based vegetation reconstructions matter
Marquer, L., Gaillard, M., Sugita, S., Trondman, A., Mazier, F., Nielsen, A. B., Fyfe, R., Odgaard, B. V., Alenius, T., Birks, H. J. B., et al. (2014) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.02.013 · Cited by 158
“Recent geochemical and modelling studies have suggested that the onset of significant anthropogenic impacts through forest clearance in some areas started even earlier, perhaps as long as 8000 years ago (Ruddiman, 2003; Kaplan et al., 2011; Ruddiman et al., 2011).”
Background
Coral Reefs
Riegl, B., Bruckner, A., Coles, S. L., Renaud, P. G., & Dodge, R. E. (2009) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04493.x · Cited by 166
“There is general debate concerning exactly when the Anthropocene began (Crutzen and Steffen 2003; Ruddiman 2003), and for reefs we certainly do not know.”
Background
Holocene climatic change and the nomadic Anthropocene in Eastern Tibet: palynological and geomorphological results from the Nianbaoyeze Mountains
Schlütz, F., & Lehmkuhl, F. (2009) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.01.009 · Cited by 158
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Recarbonization of the Biosphere
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“Increase in atmospheric CO 2 concentration may have begun about 8,000 years ago and that of methane (CH 4 ) about 5,000 years ago corresponding with start of forest clearance and cultivation of irrigated rice paddies, respectively (Ruddiman 2003 ) .”
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Marine Isotope Stage 11: Palaeoclimates, palaeoenvironments and its role as an analogue for the current interglacial
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“Here, we also wish to question the notion that such a date should be determined by particular observable environmental impacts of the mode of human operation, as for example Ruddiman (2003, 2013) argues.”
BackgroundInfluential
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Constraints on the Late Holocene Anthropogenic Contribution to the Atmospheric Methane Budget
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How old is the human footprint in the world's largest alpine ecosystem? A review of multiproxy records from the Tibetan Plateau from the ecologists' viewpoint
Miehe, G., Miehe, S., Böhner, J., Kaiser, K., Hensen, I., Madsen, D. B., Liu, J., & Opgenoorth, L. (2014) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.12.004 · Cited by 151
Towards quantification of Holocene anthropogenic land-cover change in temperate China: A review in the light of pollen-based REVEALS reconstructions of regional plant cover
Li, F., Gaillard, M., Cao, X., Herzschuh, U., Sugita, S., Tarasov, P. E., Wagner, M., Xu, Q., Ni, J., Wang, W., et al. (2020) · Earth-Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103119 · Cited by 150
“…quantification of anthropogenic landcover change (mainly deforestation) over the Holocene and its feedback effects on past climate remains a matter of debate (e.g. Ruddiman, 2003, 2005; Tarasov et al., 2006; Gaillard et al., 2010; Kleinen et al., 2011; Wagner et al., 2013; Ruddiman et al., 2016).”
Background
Fire and human evolution: The deep-time blueprints of the Anthropocene
Glikson, A. Y. (2013) · Anthropocene · doi:10.1016/j.ancene.2014.02.002 · Cited by 147
Comparison between Holocene and Marine Isotope Stage-11 sea-level histories
Rohling, E. J., Braun, K., Grant, K., Kučera, M., Roberts, A. P., Siddall, M. E., & Trommer, G. (2010) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.12.054 · Cited by 150
“…should also be investigated in terms of changes in these feedback responses due to processes other than insolation, including controversial suggestions concerning man's long-term impacts from deforestation and CH4 and CO2 emissions (Ruddiman, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007; Hansen et al., 2008).”
Background
Effect of per-capita land use changes on Holocene forest clearance and CO2 emissions
Ruddiman, W. F., & Ellis, E. C. (2009) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.05.022 · Cited by 141
“house-gas trends thousands of years ago because of emissions from early agriculture ( Ruddiman, 2003,”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citation
The Quaternary Period
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Pyrogeography and the Global Quest for Sustainable Fire Management
Bowman, D. M. J. S., O'Brien, J. A., & Goldammer, J. G. (2013) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-082212-134049 · Cited by 152
THE ANTHROPOCENE: ARE HUMANS NOW OVERWHELMING THE GREAT FORCES OF NATURE?
Steffen, W., Crutzen, P. J., & McNeill, J. R. (2019) · University of California Press eBooks · doi:10.1525/9780520964297-051 · Cited by 142
Formal subdivision of the Quaternary System/Period: Past, present, and future
Head, M. J., & Gibbard, P. L. (2015) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.06.039 · Cited by 142
“This was originally highlighted by Ruddiman (2003) and recently re-emphasized by the same author (Ruddiman et al. 2015), who questioned the wisdom of selecting 1945 as the start of the “Anthropocene” when this would exclude extensive agricultural and early-industrial modifications such as…”
Background
Evidence from wavelet analysis for a mid-Holocene transition in global climate forcing
Debret, M., Sebag, D., Crosta, X., Masséi, N., Petit, J., Chapron, E., & Bout‐Roumazeilles, V. (2009) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.06.005 · Cited by 140
Global Peak in Atmospheric Radiocarbon Provides a Potential Definition for the Onset of the Anthropocene Epoch in 1965
TURNEY, C. S. M., Palmer, J., Maslin, M. A., Hogg, A. G., Fogwill, C. J., Southon, J. R., Fenwick, P., Helle, G., Wilmshurst, J. M., McGlone, M. S., et al. (2018) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-20970-5 · Cited by 136
The genic view of hybridization in the Anthropocene
Ottenburghs, J. (2021) · Evolutionary Applications · doi:10.1111/eva.13223 · Cited by 148
Science with Society in the Anthropocene
Seidl, R., Brand, F. S., Stauffacher, M., Krütli, P., Le, Q. B., Spörri, A., Meylan, G., Moser, C., González, M. B., & Scholz, R. W. (2013) · AMBIO · doi:10.1007/s13280-012-0363-5 · Cited by 140
“Paul Crutzen proposes that the Anthropocene Age started with the industrial revolution, and that phenomena such as the ozone hole and climate change now demonstrate that the human species can be regarded as a geological factor modifying the earth system (Ruddiman 2003, 2007).”
Background
Paleoecological Perspectives on Fire Ecology: Revisiting the Fire-Regime Concept
Whitlock, C. L., Higuera, P. E., McWethy, D. B., & Briles, C. E. (2010) · The Open Ecology Journal · Cited by 139
Geomorphic and Sedimentary Effects of Modern Climate Change: Current and Anticipated Future Conditions in the Western United States
East, A. E., & Sankey, J. B. (2020) · Reviews of Geophysics · doi:10.1029/2019rg000692 · Cited by 156
The impact of land use and climate change on late Holocene and future suspended sediment yield of the Meuse catchment
Ward, P. J., van Balen, R. T., Verstraeten, G., et al. (2008) · Geomorphology · doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.07.006 · Cited by 138
“In reality some centuries will have seen faster/slower rates of land use change, and the long-term deforestationmay at times even have been checked by external influences such as the bubonic plague (e.g. Lang et al., 2003; Ruddiman, 2003).”
Background
Climate-human-environment interactions: resolving our past
Dearing, J. A. (2006) · Climate of the past · doi:10.5194/cp-2-187-2006 · Cited by 136
“Ruddiman (2003) used archaeological, palaeoecological and historical records to support his hypothesis that the apparently anomalous www.clim-past.net/2/187/2006/ Clim.”
Influential
Fire in ice: two millennia of boreal forest fire history from the Greenland NEEM ice core
Zennaro, P., Kehrwald, N., McConnell, J. R., Schuepbach, S., Maselli, O. J., Marlon, J. R., Vallelonga, P., Leuenberger, D., Zangrando, R., Spolaor, A., et al. (2014) · Climate of the past · doi:10.5194/cp-10-1905-2014 · Cited by 147
“…practices (FAO, 2007) – practices which may have affected ﬁre regimes during the entire past millennia (Bowman et al., 2009; Kaplan et al., 2011; Ruddiman, 2003) The observable impact of humans on ﬁre regimes differs by geographic region (McWethy et al., 2009; Marlon et al., 2012; Power et…”
Man made deltas
Maselli, V., & Trincardi, F. (2013) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep01926 · Cited by 136
A reconstruction of atmospheric carbon dioxide and its stable carbon isotopic composition from the penultimate glacial maximum to the last glacial inception
Schneider, R., Schmitt, J. H. M. M., Köhler, P., Joos, F., & Fischer, H. (2013) · Climate of the past · doi:10.5194/cp-9-2507-2013 · Cited by 146
Quaternary Sea-Level Changes: A Global Perspective
Murray‐Wallace, C. V., & Woodroffe, C. D. (2014) · Research Online (University of Wollongong) · Cited by 136
Measurement and prediction of enteric methane emission
Sejian, V., Lal, R., Lakritz, J., & Ezeji, T. C. (2010) · International Journal of Biometeorology · doi:10.1007/s00484-010-0356-7 · Cited by 136
“Release of CH4 into the atmosphere has been directly linked with the domestication of livestock 5,000 years ago (Ruddiman 2003).”
Background
Per-capita estimations of long-term historical land use and the consequences for global change research
Goldewijk, K. K., Dekker, S. C., & van Zanden, J. L. (2017) · Journal of Land Use Science · doi:10.1080/1747423x.2017.1354938 · Cited by 135
“As long as humans have walked the Earth, they have been altering the global landscape (Kaplan et al., 2011; Ruddiman, 2003).”
A movable trigger: Fossil fuel CO2 and the onset of the next glaciation
Archer, D. E., & Ganopolski, A. (2005) · Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems · doi:10.1029/2004gc000891 · Cited by 134
“Paillard’s i0 was a somewhat arbitrary choice within a wide range of acceptable values, however, and a slight change in i0 could easily tip the simulation into the onset of glaciation now rather than in 50 kyr.”
Background
The Columbian Encounter and the Little Ice Age: Abrupt Land Use Change, Fire, and Greenhouse Forcing
Dull, R. A., Nevle, R. J., Woods, W. I., Bird, D. K., Avnery, S., & Denevan, W. M. (2010) · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · doi:10.1080/00045608.2010.502432 · Cited by 141
“Although the pollen record is crucial to our understanding of prehistoric land use practices, as are studies of stable carbon isotopes of organic matter in sediments (Dull 2004; Lane et al. 2009), we contend that the most compelling suite of available evidence in support of the pre-Columbian Anthropocene hypothesis co…”
BackgroundInfluential
Responses of Temperate Forest Productivity to Insect and Pathogen Disturbances
Flower, C. E., & Gonzàlez‐Meler, M. A. (2015) · Annual Review of Plant Biology · doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-043014-115540 · Cited by 150
The importance of northern peatland expansion to the late-Holocene rise of atmospheric methane
Korhola, A. A., Ruppel, M. M., Seppä, H., Väliranta, M., Virtanen, T. A., & Weckström, J. (2010) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.12.010 · Cited by 141
“In contrast, it has also been suggested that anthropogenic activities, namely rice cultivation and biomass burning, drove much of this increase (Ruddiman, 2003).”
Background
Increases of population and expansion of rice agriculture in Asia, and anthropogenic methane emissions since 5000BP
Li, X., Dodson, J., Zhou, J., & Zhou, X. (2008) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2008.02.009 · Cited by 129
Early Anthropogenic Transformation of the Danube-Black Sea System
Giosan, L., Coolen, M. J. L., Kaplan, J. O., et al. (2012) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep00582 · Cited by 131
Celebrating the End of Enlightenment: Organization Theory in the Age of the Anthropocene and Gaia (and why neither is the solution to our ecological crisis)
Banerjee, S., & Arjaliès, D.-L. (2021) · Organization Theory · doi:10.1177/26317877211036714 · Cited by 126
“The Early Anthropocene hypothesis dates the period to about 8,000 years ago, when farming and agriculture became widespread (Ruddiman, 2003).”
Background
Early rice farming and anomalous methane trends
Ruddiman, W. F., Guo, Z., Zhou, X., Wu, H., & Yu, Y. (2008) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.03.007 · Cited by 132
“The rising methane trend of the last 5000 years is anomalous compared to the downward CH4 trends during previous early interglacial intervals (Ruddiman and Thomson, 2001; Ruddiman, 2003, 2007).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citation
Carbon footprint of spring wheat in response to fallow frequency and soil carbon changes over 25 years on the semiarid Canadian prairie
Gan, Y., Liang, C., Campbell, C. A., Zentner, R. P., Lemke, R., Wang, H., & Yang, C. (2012) · European Journal of Agronomy · doi:10.1016/j.eja.2012.07.004 · Cited by 128
The Anthropocene Divide: Obscuring Understanding of Social-Environmental Change
Bauer, A. M., & Ellis, E. C. (2018) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/697198 · Cited by 127
“This correspondence has allowed a growing cadre of climate scientists to convincingly argue that “the anthropogenic greenhouse era began thousands of years ago,” as per Ruddiman’s increasingly well-supported “Early Anthropogenic” hypothesis (Ruddiman 2003).”
Background
Land system architecture: Using land systems to adapt and mitigate global environmental change
Turner, B. L., Janetos, A. C., Verburg, P. H., & Murray, A. T. (2013) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.12.009 · Cited by 127
Fire-free land use in pre-1492 Amazonian savannas
Iriarte, J., Power, M. J., Rostain, S., Mayle, F. E., Jones, H. T., Watling, J. G., Whitney, B. S., & McKey, D. (2012) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1201461109 · Cited by 122
Untitled work
(2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · Cited by 125
Can humans force a return to a ‘Cretaceous’ climate?
Hay, W. W. (2010) · Sedimentary Geology · doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2010.04.015 · Cited by 124
Holocene agriculture in the Guanzhong Basin in NW China indicated by pollen and charcoal evidence
Li, X., Shang, X., Dodson, J., & Zhou, X. (2009) · The Holocene · doi:10.1177/0959683609345083 · Cited by 128
Carbon and Climate System Coupling on Timescales from the Precambrian to the Anthropocene
Doney, S. C., & SCHIMEL, D. S. (2007) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev.energy.32.041706.124700 · Cited by 127
Mapping of the spatial and temporal distribution of archaeological sites of northern China during the Neolithic and Bronze Age
Wagner, M., Tarasov, P. E., Hosner, D., Fleck, A., Ehrich, R., Chen, X., & Leipe, C. (2012) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.06.039 · Cited by 122
Methane Emissions from Large Dams as Renewable Energy Resources: A Developing Nation Perspective
de Lima, I. B. T., Ramos, F. M., Bambace, L. A. W., & Rosa, R. R. (2007) · Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change · doi:10.1007/s11027-007-9086-5 · Cited by 123
“In fact, the practice of flooding terrestrial ecosystems might be altering atmospheric CH4 since the past five thousand years (Ruddiman 2003; Ruddiman et al. 2005).”
Background
Science for Global Sustainability: Toward a New ParadigmPreprint
Clark, W. C., Crutzen, P. J., & Schellnhuber, H. J. (2005) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.702501 · Cited by 125
Anthropogenic modification of vegetated landscapes in southern China from 6,000 years ago
Cheng, Z., Weng, C., Steinke, S., & Mohtadi, M. (2018) · Nature Geoscience · doi:10.1038/s41561-018-0250-1 · Cited by 119
The Politics of Climate Activism in the UK: A Social Movement Analysis
North, P. (2011) · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · doi:10.1068/a43534 · Cited by 121
“Why did activists begin to be concerned about anthropogenic climate change when they did given that we now know that humanity has been changing the climate since the dawn of the industrial revolution, if not before (Ruddiman, 2003)?”
Background
Sensitivity of Holocene atmospheric CO 2 and the modern carbon budget to early human land use: analyses with a process-based model
Stocker, B. D., Strassmann, K., & Joos, F. (2011) · Biogeosciences · doi:10.5194/bg-8-69-2011 · Cited by 125
“This has stimulated a debate about the underlying causes and mechanisms (e.g., Inderm̈uhle et al. , 1999; Broecker et al. , 2001; Brovkin et al., 2002; Ruddiman, 2003; Joos et al. , 2004; Elsig et al. , 2009).”
BackgroundInfluential
Disentangling the effect of farming practice from aridity on crop stable isotope values: A present-day model from Morocco and its application to early farming sites in the eastern Mediterranean
Styring, A., Ater, M., Hmimsa, Y., Fraser, R., Miller, H., Neef, R., Pearson, J. A., & Bogaard, A. (2016) · The Anthropocene Review · doi:10.1177/2053019616630762 · Cited by 121
“Agriculture has had a major role in shaping landscapes, soils and vegetation, and the beginning of agriculture is one of the candidates for the onset of the Anthropocene (Ruddiman, 2003).”
Background
People, Plants and Genes
Murphy, D. J. (2007) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207145.001.0001 · Cited by 146
Last Interglacial palaeovegetation, palaeoenvironments and chronology: a new record from Lago Grande di Monticchio, southern Italy
Allen, J. R. M., & Huntley, B. J. (2009) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.02.013 · Cited by 120
High- and low-latitude forcing of the Nile River regime during the Holocene inferred from laminated sediments of the Nile deep-sea fan
Blanchet, C., Tjallingii, R., Frank, M., Lorenzen, J., Reitz, A., Brown, K., Feseker, T., & Brückmann, W. (2013) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.01.009 · Cited by 119
“However, environmental and hydrological reconstructions have revealed that subtropical regions have drastically changed during the course of the Holocene (Haug et al., 2001; Ruddiman, 2003).”
Background
Methane emissions from newly created marshes in the drawdown area of the Three Gorges Reservoir
Chen, H., Wu, Y., Yuan, X., et al. (2009) · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · doi:10.1029/2009jd012410 · Cited by 118
Archeology and the Anthropocene
Erlandson, J. M., & Braje, T. J. (2013) · Anthropocene · doi:10.1016/j.ancene.2014.05.003 · Cited by 119
Vegetation, climate and human impact since 20 ka in central Yunnan Province based on high-resolution pollen and charcoal records from Dianchi, southwestern China
Xiao, X., Yao, A., Hillman, A. L., Shen, J., & Haberle, S. G. (2020) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106297 · Cited by 114

Authors: Ruddiman, W. F.
Affiliations: University of Virginia (US)
Corresponding author: Ruddiman, William F.
Venue: Climatic Change
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2003-12
Volume: 61
Issue: 3
Pages: 261-293
ISSN: 0165-0009 (ISSN-L)
1573-1480
DOI: 10.1023/b:clim.0000004577.17928.fa
OpenAlex: W2139562946
Semantic Scholar: 83a526a6d579874795e7852a395c3e44637efead
Cited by: 1,658
References: 62
Citations by year: 2026: 37 · 2025: 97 · 2024: 80 · 2023: 72 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 115 · 2020: 79 · 2019: 102 · 2018: 80 · 2017: 78 · 2016: 58 · 2015: 70 · 2014: 96 · 2013: 87 · 2012: 56
FWCI: 39.15
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/text-and-data-mining (tdm)
www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/text-and-data-mining (vor)
Locations: Climatic Change (publishedVersion)
Topics: Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
Keywords: anthropogenic greenhouse effect, atmospheric CO2, methane, Holocene, ancient agriculture, forest clearing, rice irrigation, Little Ice Age, bubonic plague, farm abandonment, forest regeneration, carbon sequestration, orbital forcing, paleoclimate, Industrial Revolution, global warming

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