"Science is recognising humans as a geological force to be reckoned with." This is a good read on why the Anthropocene is a useful way of thinking about the why and hows people are changing the ("natural") world.

"the impact of humans on the earth since the early 19th century has been so great, and so irreversible, that it has created a new era similar to the Pleistocene or Holocene. Nobel Prize winner Paul J. Crutzen even proposed the name Anthropocene, and it’s begun to catch on."

'global warming could change the planet for the next 100,000 years, which is how long it may take for igneous rocks to "breathe" back in all the carbon dioxide we've released over just a few centuries'