"Environmental history is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time, emphasising the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs and vice versa."
Covers topics such as human-environment interactions throughout history, environmental impacts of colonization, and environmental movements.
Climate: The study of changes in Earth's climate over time and their impact on human populations and ecosystems.
Landscapes: The study of how landscapes have emerged and transformed over time, including the impact of human activities like agriculture, mining, and urbanization.
Biodiversity: The study of the variety of life on Earth, including the factors that affect it and the implications of changes in biodiversity.
Pollution: The study of how human activities have polluted the environment over time, including the impacts of industrialization and waste disposal practices.
Water: The study of water systems and how they have been affected by human activities, including water quality issues and water scarcity.
Energy: The study of the various sources of energy, their transformation, and their impact on the environment.
Conservation: The study of the efforts to conserve natural resources and protect wildlife, including the history of conservation movements and the policies and laws that govern them.
Environmental Governance: The study of the institutional frameworks and regulations governing the environment, including international agreements, national laws, and local policies.
Agriculture: The study of the history of agriculture and how it has shaped the environment and human societies.
Urbanization: The study of how cities and urban growth have impacted the environment, including the loss of natural habitats and the impact on air and water quality.
Globalization: The study of how globalization has affected the environment, including the movement of people, goods, and ideas, and the impact on natural resources and ecosystems.
Conservation biology: The study of the scientific principles which dictate conservation efforts.
Natural Resource Management: The study of how natural resources such as forests, oceans, and minerals, are managed and maintained.
Anthropogenic climate change: The study of how humans contribute to climate change in modern society.
Environmental philosophy: The study of ethical and moral issues concerning the relationship between humans and the natural world.
Eco-history: This approach examines the history of human interactions with the environment, emphasizing the ecological consequences of these activities.
Cultural Landscape Studies: This approach investigates how humans have transformed and interacted with their environment. It highlights the symbolic and cultural meanings that are attached to landscapes.
Climate History: This approach investigates how the climate has changed over time and how humans both adapted to and caused climate change.
Water History: This approach investigates how water resources have been managed, used and abused over time.
Forest History: This approach investigates how forests have been used and managed over time and how humans have intervened with them.
Wilderness Studies: This approach examines the history of wilderness preservation and the various cultural, social, and environmental values attached to it.
Disaster Studies: This approach investigates how natural disasters have impacted humans and their environment and how societies have coped with these events over time.
Urban Environmental History: This approach examines how urbanization has impacted the natural environment and how cities interact with their surroundings.
Agricultural History: This approach investigates how humans have modified the natural environment for agricultural purposes, and how agricultural practices have impacted the environment.
Animal History: This approach investigates how humans have interacted with and impacted animal populations over time.
"Environmental history first emerged in the United States out of the environmental movement of the 1960s and 1970s."
"Much of its impetus still stems from present-day global environmental concerns."
"The field was founded on conservation issues."
"but has broadened in scope to include more general social and scientific history and may deal with cities, population or sustainable development."
"It is also a strongly multidisciplinary subject that draws widely on both the humanities and natural science."
"The subject matter of environmental history can be divided into three main components."
"The first, nature itself and its change over time, includes the physical impact of humans on the Earth's land, water, atmosphere, and biosphere."
"The second category, how humans use nature, includes the environmental consequences of increasing population, more effective technology, and changing patterns of production and consumption."
"Other key themes are the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer communities to settled agriculture in the neolithic revolution, the effects of colonial expansion and settlements, and the environmental and human consequences of the industrial and technological revolutions."
"Finally, environmental historians study how people think about nature - the way attitudes, beliefs, and values influence interaction with nature, especially in the form of myths, religion, and science."
"Environmental history tends to focus on particular time-scales, geographic regions, or key themes."
"Emphasising the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs and vice versa."
"The physical impact of humans on the Earth's land, water, atmosphere, and biosphere."
"The environmental consequences of increasing population, more effective technology, and changing patterns of production and consumption."
"The transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer communities to settled agriculture in the neolithic revolution."
"The effects of colonial expansion and settlements, and the environmental and human consequences of the industrial and technological revolutions."
"The way attitudes, beliefs, and values influence interaction with nature, especially in the form of myths, religion, and science."
"The field was founded on conservation issues."
"Much of its impetus still stems from present-day global environmental concerns."