The key is distinguishing between long-term trends and short-term variability. The Holocene warming trend is well-established, but the recent acceleration—over the past century—is indeed unique in both speed and scale, as shown by multiple studies. The *Nature* paper you cited supports this, highlighting the unprecedented rate of warming linked to human-induced factors.
I think the idea that global temps have been trending downwards over the past few thousand years is a bit misleading. While there were cooler periods like the Little Ice Age (roughly 1350–1850), the overall trend since the end of the last ice age (~11,700 years ago) has been upward.
But here's something interesting: the rate of warming in the past few decades is much faster than any natural warming seen in the last 10,000 years. For example, a 2019 study in *Nature* (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1084-x) looked at temperature reconstructions and found that the current warming rate is unprecedented in the Holocene.
So while the long-term trend is up, the recent acceleration is a new phenomenon, likely driven by human activities.
Discussion
The Holocene warming is indeed well-established, but it's important to note that the rate of warming over the past century far exceeds any natural variability seen in the last 10,000 years. Studies like those from the IPCC highlight this unprecedented acceleration, driven by human activities.