Up until the Middle Anthropocene, some of the worst impacts of global warming were being held back by the powerful rulers of the time, by increasing the Earths reflectivity in order to reduce incoming thermal radiation from the sun. Furthermore, some elements of ecosystem collapse were being mitigated by human interventions, particularly the promulgation of modified organisms to slot into exposed niches. However, these schemes were only partially successful, and by the Middle Anthropocene had begun to collapse, leading to rapid and unpredictable changes in the biosphere. This highlighted the weakness of these solutions as the complex technical infrastructure required to support them was unable to sustain itself without a stable basis. Global systems began to unravel, and many poorly planned solutions were unleashed in desperation. Many lineages of records may have become extinct during this period. However, as more monolithic systems disintegrated, the widely spread and resilient record-based storage culture was able to survive. The turbulence of this period is evidenced by the variegated expressions of colour, layering and weathering of the records.