Annihilation

The ANTHROPOCENE is an unofficial, debated term between geologists and environmentalists that describes the epoch (time period) we are living in. It assumes that we have moved out of the Holocene (the epoch that began 11,700 years ago after the last Ice Age) and into a new epoch where humankind has caused significant changes to the environment, such as mass extinctions of plant and animal species, polluting the oceans and altering the atmosphere, among other lasting impacts. It has sometimes been linked to the start of the atomic age (1950s) or the start of the Industrial Revolution (1800s). 

Meaning:

Anthro-man 

Cene-new 

Vandermeer: "I wanted to provide a glimpse of mid-Collapse in the Anthropocene—a transitional state in which those affected may not even realize the progression of decay in the moment."  

Vandermeer talks further about how weird fiction in particular can help us to understand a concept like climate change, because climate change is so big and coming at us from so many different directions, that we have trouble conceiving of it in its entirety. 

He says, "Rather than creating escapism, mapping elements of the Anthropocene via weird fiction may create a greater and more visceral understanding (render more visible)—precisely because so many of the effects of this era are felt in and under the skin, as well as in the subconscious (whether manifesting as a denial of civilization’s death or in a more personal manner)." 

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