Abstract The term Anthropocene first appeared in 2000 when scientists Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer attempted to define the environmental effects of anthropic activities. Since then, it has become a widespread, but also controversial, term in the academic community. As environmental discourses increasingly permeate our lives, it has trespassed the borders of scholarly traditions, becoming acknowledged in popular culture. Bearing in mind the pivotal role the press has in the popularization, dissemination and consequent understanding of given topics, the aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it assesses the popularity of the term Anthropocene in online and printed newspapers around the world. Secondly, it examines the degree of scientificity of the articles included in our analysis to understand the type of discourses journalists are relying on in discussing the Anthropocene. Exploring these questions, through a corpus-based discourse analysis, enabled us to assess the weight of the term ‘Anthropocene’ in contemporary popular debates and its future horizons. The findings highlight a lack of a consistent discussion of the Anthropocene stemming not only from a poor scientific understanding of its ecological drives, but also from the lack of political awareness and a general unpreparedness to face the socio-environmental implications of the Age of Humankind.

中文翻译：

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人类世：一个术语的起源和在新闻界的普及

摘要 人类世一词于 2000 年首次出现，当时科学家 Paul Crutzen 和 Eugene Stoermer 试图定义人类活动对环境的影响。从那时起，它在学术界成为一个普遍但也有争议的术语。随着环境话语越来越多地渗透到我们的生活中，它已经超越了学术传统的边界，在流行文化中得到了认可。考虑到新闻界在特定主题的普及、传播和随之而来的理解中的关键作用，本文的目的是双重的。首先，它评估了“人类世”一词在全球在线和印刷报纸中的流行程度。第二，它检查了我们分析中包含的文章的科学程度，以了解记者在讨论人类世时所依赖的话语类型。通过基于语料库的话语分析探索这些问题，使我们能够评估“人类世”一词在当代流行辩论及其未来视野中的重要性。研究结果强调了缺乏对人类世的一致讨论，这不仅源于对其生态驱动力的科学认识不足，还源于缺乏政治意识和普遍没有准备好面对人类时代的社会环境影响。使我们能够评估“人类世”一词在当代流行辩论及其未来视野中的重要性。研究结果强调了缺乏对人类世的一致讨论，这不仅源于对其生态驱动力的科学认识不足，还源于缺乏政治意识和普遍没有准备好面对人类时代的社会环境影响。使我们能够评估“人类世”一词在当代流行辩论及其未来视野中的重要性。研究结果强调了缺乏对人类世的一致讨论，这不仅源于对其生态驱动力的科学认识不足，还源于缺乏政治意识和普遍没有准备好面对人类时代的社会环境影响。