Essays

The term 'environmentalism' refers to political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes l" environmentally harmful human activities; through the adoption of forms of political, economic, and social organization that are thought to be necessary for, or at least conducive to, the benign treatment of the environment by humans; and through a reassessment of humanity's relationship with nature. In various ways, environmentalism claims that living things other than humans, and the natural environment as a whole, deserve consideration in reasoning about the morality of political, economic, and social policies. In other words, environmentalism is a concern for planed as a whole.

Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement hoarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the state of the environment. It can also be defined as a social movement that seeks to influence the political process by lobbying, activism, and education in order to protect natural resources and ecosystems. In recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, environmentalism mid the environmental movement is centered on ecology, health, and human rights and is often represented by the colour green.      

Environmentalists and environmental organizations seek to give the  natural world a stronger voice in human affairs in various ways such us grass-roots activism and protests- They speak out about our natural environment and me sustainable management of its resources through  changes in public policy or individual behaviour by supporting practices such as not being wasteful,

A concern for environmental protection is not new and has recurred in diverse forms, in different parts of the world, throughout history. In the Middle East, the earliest Known writings concerned with environmental I pollution were Arabic medical treatises written during the Arab Agricultural Revolution. They were concerned with air contamination, water contamination, soil contamination, solid waste mishandling, and environmental assessments of certain localities. In Europe too. King  Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-cual by proclamation in London in 1272, after its smoke had become ;i problem. The fuel   was so common in England that this earliest of names for it was acquired because it could be carted away from sonic shores by the wheelbarrow.

The modem environmental movement as it is generally understood today owes its origin to the Industrial Revolution in Europe. It grew Out of the amenity movement, which was a reaction to industrialization.  The growth of cities, and worsening air and water pollution. The first large-scale, modern environmental laws came in the form of the British Alkali Acts. Passed in 1863, to regulate the dipterous air pollution (gaseous hydrochloric acid) given off by the Leblanc process, used to produce soda ash.

In Victorian Britain, an early 'Back-to-Nature' movement that anticipated modern environmentalism was advocated by intellectuals such as John Ruskin, William Morris and Edward Carpenter. These intellectuals were all against consumerism, pollution and other activities that were harmful to the natural world. Their ideas also inspired various proto-environmental groups in the UK, such as the Commons preservation Society, the Kyrle Society, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Garden city movement, as well as encouraging the Socialist League and The Clarion movement to advocate measures of nature conservation.                             

In the United States, the beginnings of an environmental movement can be [raced as far back as 1739, though it was not called environmentalism and was still considered conservation until the 1950s. The US movement expanded in the 1800s, out of concerns for protecting the natural resources of the West, with individuals such as John Muir and Henry David Thoreau making key philosophical contributions Thoreau's book Walden argues that people should become intimately close with nature. Muir came to believe in nature's inherent right and successfully lobbied congress to form Yosemite National Park and went on to set up the Sierra Club. The conservation is principles as well as the belief in an inherent right of nature became the bedrock of modern environmentalism.                                             

In the 20th century, environmental ideas grew in popularity and recognition. Efforts were made to save some wildlife, particularly the American Bison. In 1916 the National Park Service was founded by US President Woodrow Wilson. In 1949, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, said to be the most influential book on conservation, was published, it explained Leopold's belief that humankind should have moral respect for the environment and that it is unethical to harm it.

The photographs in This Is Dinosaur' edited by Wallace Stanger prevented the building of dams within Dinosaur National Monument by  becoming part of a new kind of activism called environmental ism that combined the conservationist ideals of Thoreau, Leopold and  with hard-hilling advertising, lobbying, book distribution, letter writing campaigns, and more.                                         

In 1962 Silent Spring by American biologist Rachel Carson; aialogued the environmental impacts of the indiscriminate spraying of DDT in the US and questioned the logic of releasing large amounts o f chemicals into the environment without fully understanding their effects ecology or human health. The book suggested that DDT and other pesticides may cause cancer and that their agricultural use was a thereat o wildlife, particularly birds. The resulting public concern led to the reation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 which subsequently banned the agricultural use of DDT in the US in 972.                                                                 

The book's legacy was to produce a far greater awareness of environmental issues and interest into how people affect the environment.  This resulted in the growth of interest in problems such as air pollution and petroleum spills, and new pressure groups formed, notably Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. The Sierra Club and other groups, which focused on preserving wilderness till me 1960s, broadened their focus to include such issues as air and water pollution, population control, and curbing the exploitation of natural resources.

In the 1970s, the Chipko movement in India set up peaceful resistance to deforestation by literally hugging trees (leading to the term 'tree huggers'). Their peaceful methods of protest and slogan 'ecology is permanent economy' were very influential. By the mid-1970s, more mainstream environmentalism was starting to show force with the signing of the Endangered Species Act in 1973 and the formation of CITES in 1975.

In 1979, James Lovelock, a former NASA scientist, published Gaia: A new look at life on Earth, which put forth the Gaia Hypothesis; it proposes that life on Earth can be understood as a single organism. This became an important pan of the Deep Green ideology. Lately. Environmentalism has also changed to deal with new issues such as global warming and genetic engineering. Though the movement is represented by a range of organizations, because of the inclusion of environmentalism in the classroom curriculum, the environmental movement has a younger demographic than is common in other social movements.

Based on the primary focus, environmentalism can be categorized as Environmental Science, Environmental Activism, Environmental Advocacy, and Environmental Justice. These cover broad areas of institutional oppression such as consumption of ecosystems and natural resources into waste, dumping waste into disadvantaged communities, air pollution, and water pollution, exposure of organic life to toxins, monoculture, and various other focuses.

Today environmental organizations can be found at global, regional, national and local levels existing in almost every country. Again, they can be government-run, private (N00) or volunteer. On an international level, concern for the environment has been the subject of several conferences since the 1972 UN conference in Stockholm. Other international organizations in support of environmental policies development include the United nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NAFTA), the European Environment Agency (EEA), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).