Understand the Impact of Environmental History

Conflicts today rage across the globe over fossil fuel usage, nuclear power, the endangerment and extinction of species, and much more. Explore the long history behind these contests that join advocacy to action and pit public policy against human behaviour, including the development of environmental protections, disaster response strategies, and international trade rules. Follow the rise of the modern conservation movement in Gale’s Environmental History series.

Starting in the late nineteenth century, in direct response to the Industrial Revolution, forces in social and political spheres across the globe struggled to balance the good of the public and the planet against the economic exploitation of resources.

With the effects of climate change already upon us, the need has never been greater to understand the long history of human–environment interaction and responses to environmental issues. Discover the impact of colonialism, land use and exploitation, exploration, agriculture, industrial change and urbanization, pollution, and industries such as forestry and mining on the United States and regions worldwide into the late twentieth century. In Gale’s Environmental History series, researchers can explore unique primary sources that trace the evolution of land rights, resource usage, trade rules, and environmental protections that mark the beginning of the modern conservation movement.

Collections

Environmental History: Conservation and Public Policy in America, 1870–1980

With the effects of climate change already upon us, the need has never been greater to understand the long history behind today’s uniquely American conflagrations around resource usage, trade rules, land rights, and environmental conservation. Access the correspondence, manuscripts, pamphlets, and much more that chronicle the effort to balance the good of the planet with the economic drivers of the Industrial Revolution through the late twentieth century—and witness the beginnings of the modern American conservation movement.

Environmental History: Colonial Policy and Global Development, 1896–1993

Expand your collection with twentieth-century British government primary source material relating to environmental issues and the history of human-environment interaction. Access files from three departments, focusing on themes such as colonialism, land use and exploitation, exploration, agriculture, the technological revolution, industrial change and urbanisation, conservation, pollution, climate, development programs and sustainability, natural resources, and industries such as forestry and mining.