全新世（Holocene）是最年轻的地质年代，从11700年前开始。根据传统的地质学观点，全新世一直持续至今，但也有人提出工业革命后应该另分为人类世。其名称源自希腊语“ὅλος”（holos，完全的）和“καινός”（kainos，新的），意即“完全新近的”。

全新世的气候变化与人类社会的发展有密切的关系，因此详细研究全新世的气候和环境变化至关重要。研究全新时气候变化的主要材料包括高纬度和高海拔冰芯，湖泊沉积物纪录，树轮，石笋及其他洞穴沉积物，高沉积速率的深海沉积物等。

格陵兰岛的冰芯记录提供了年纪分辨率的气候变化，它显示了自新仙女木事件以后全新世气温很稳定。但这种稳定的气温变化受到越来越多的挑战，有很多研究表明全新世的气候变化同样很明显，并且呈现一定的周期性。

The Holocene (pronunciation: /ˈhɒləˌsiːn, ˈhoʊ-/) is the geological epoch that began after the Pleistocene at approximately 11,700 years before AD 2000 and continues to the present. The term "Recent" (usually capitalised) has often been used as an exact synonym of "Holocene", although this usage is discouraged in 21st-century work. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words ὅλος (holos, whole or entire) and καινός (kainos, new), meaning "entirely recent". It has been identified with the current warm period, known as MIS 1, and can be considered an interglacial in the current ice age based on that evidence.