Lecture 1
Environmental History ?
Introduction
- environment is one of the most pressing concerns in the 21st century
- highly complex with cultural, social, economic, moral, political and scientific dimensions
- Environmental History which provides an valuable long-term perspective on environmental change is very crucial in this debate
- Historians provides fascinating insights into the relations between humans and their environments in the past
- Throughout history, humans have affected the natural environment-
in a sustainable
manner & often in a
destructive manner
Origins
new discipline
came into being during the 1960's & 1970's
direct
consequence of the growing awareness of worldwide environmental
problems
pollution of
water and air by pesticides
depletion of the ozone layer
the enhanced greenhouse effect caused by human
activity
historians
started to look for the origins of the contemporary problems, drawing upon the
knowledge of a whole field of scientific disciplines and specializations which
had been developed during the preceding century
two important
19th century origins of environmental history:
ecology and
geography:-
¡
In modern
environmental history, ecological concepts are used to analyse past environments
¡
and geography
used to study the ever-changing face of the earth
Two other roots
of environmental history are
¡
archaeology and anthropology of which the
latter introduced ecology into the human sciences
The emergence of
world history, with works by McNeill and Thomas among others, introduced
interdisciplinary and continental wide, even world scale studies into
history
Ecology and the
interdisciplinary method became later two important features of environmental
history
Rodrick
Nash coined the term
environmental history in 1972
the works of
Worster, Pfister, Brimblecombe, Ponting and others made environmental history mature
Now
environmental history is an international and interdisciplinary
undertaking
What is
environmental history?
always about
human interaction with the natural world (interaction between culture and
nature)
goal of
environmental history is to deepen our understanding of how humans has been
affected by the natural environment in the past and also how they have affected
that environment and with what results
(bilateral approach of environmental history )
environmental
history is studying the interaction between humans and the environment in the
past
To study the
relationships between humans and the surrounding world, we must try to
understand how the interaction between the two works
Donald Worster
has recognised three clusters of issues to be addressed by environmental
historians
The first
cluster deals with the human intellectual realm consisting of perceptions,
ethics, laws, myth and the other mental constructions related to the natural
world.
Ideas about the
world around us influence the way we deal with the natural
environment
the
socio-economic realm
Ideas have an
impact on politics, policies and the economy through which ideas materialise in
the natural world
the natural
realm (deals with understanding nature itself)
world is not
static, it reacts on our actions to influence the material world
The impact of
human actions on the natural world is causing a feedback that changes our ideas,
policies, economy etc
Envi Hi: is
about
includes
analysis of data on tides, winds, ocean currents, the position of continents in
relation to each other and geology
the history of
climate and weather
the pattern of
diseases
the story of
human exploitation of the natural world
impact of
agriculture on soil and landscape
the history of
forests
the effects of
hunting and grazing
the
environmental impact of mining, transportation, urbanisation and
industrialisation.
last, but not
least, environmental history is about unmasking myths and distorted perceptions
of the past
Myths and false
perceptions are not based on historical facts and can be highly
influential
It is an important task of environmental
history to correct these misconceptions of the past
The subject matter of environmental history
can be divided into three main
components.
1. Nature itself
and its change over time, includes the physical impact of humans on the Earth's land, water, atmosphere and biosphere.
2. How humans
use nature, includes 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.
3. 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.
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