This special issue of the Annals of the American Association of Geographers is devoted to the Anthropocene, the period of unprecedented human impacts on Earth’s environmental systems. The articles contained in this special issue illustrate that geographers have a diverse perspective on what the Anthropocene is and represents. The articles also show that geographers do not feel it necessary to identify only one starting point for the temporal onset of the Anthropocene. Several starting points are suggested, and some authors support the concept of a time-transgressive Anthropocene. Articles in this issue are organized into six sections, but many of them transcend easy categorization and could easily have fit into two or even three different sections. Geographers embrace the concept of the Anthropocene while defining it and studying it in a variety of ways that clearly show the breadth and diversity of the discipline.

本期美国地理学家协会年刊致力于人类世，这是人类对地球环境系统造成前所未有的影响的时期。本期特刊中的文章说明，地理学家对人类世是什么和代表什么有不同的看法。文章还表明，地理学家认为不必为人类世的短暂发作确定一个起点。建议了几个起点，一些作者支持时变人类学的概念。本期文章分为六个部分，但其中许多都超越了易于分类的范畴，可以轻松地分为两个甚至三个不同的部分。地理学家在定义和研究人类世的概念时会采用人类世的概念，这些方式清楚地表明了人类学科的广度和多样性。