Environmental Issues: Essential Primary Sources

Introduction The development of environmental consciousness is a milestone in human thought and civilization, as revolutionary as the picture of Earth taken from space on the cover. Environment issues concern everyone. Environmental problems are the problems of all humankind, and as the astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-1996) forewarned, "there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us." Only over the last two centuries has this environmental awareness resolved into to a limited understanding of the complexities of environmental science and issues. To reflect this diversity and urgency the primary sources contained in Environmental Issues: Essential Primary Sources offer insights into both the origins of environmental consciousness and the sometimescontentious arguments, assertions, and tactics related to modern issues. Whether illustrating short-term concerns about wildlife rescue following an oil spill to articulating concerns related to the ongoing global debate over an effective response to greenhouse gas emissions, environmental issues offer challenges to individuals, communities, nations, and international organizations. Environmental Issues: Essential Primary Sources attempts to present sources and commentary that are readable, interesting, and that instruct, challenge, and excite a range of student and reader interests. The sources in this book were also specifically chosen to reflect the diversity of environmental issues facing present and future generations. As with other volumes in this series, the primary intention is not to blind the reader with glints from all facets of an issue or topic, but rather to stimulate and provoke critical thinking about a variety of issues. By taking a historical perspective, Environmental Issues attempts to provide insight into subtle shifts of science and rhetoric, and to provide a foundation for investigation into topics increasingly important in scientific, social, and political discourse. The primary sources contained in this volume were also selected to reflect the breadth of

individuals and organizations concerned with environmental issues. These individuals and organizations, from local action groups to international conservation organizations, generally reflect a confluence of scientific, environmental, social, and humanitarian concern. They also reflect a growing trend to "act locally, but think globally." Such global concerns are rarely hubris. Actions to improve a local water supply or to educate communities concerning the need to conserve water, for example, can be both locally and globally important. A significant part of humanity, especially in developing countries, still lives in areas where usable water supplies are scarce. While the lack of a well with potable water can become a prime concern for a individual village, it also reflects a pixel of a global problem. With regard to water resources, the World Health Organization asserts that more than one billion people remain without access to sufficient supplies of clean water, and approximately one third of all people on Earth still lack proper sanitation facilities or the means to treat or dispose of wastewater. More than three million people still die each year from diseases related to or caused by contaminated water. Given such facts, it is often impossible, and in some cases dangerous, to attempt to draw too fine a line between local and global issues. The link between science and environmental issues is tightly forged. Scientists from many disciplines, from geologists to molecular bacteriologists, often orient their research toward questions related to the environment. Although not a science textbook, the editors of Environmental Issues have attempted to include articles designed to provide an understanding of the science underpinning many of the most important and current environmental issues. Despite increasing efforts and advances in scientific understanding, environmental degradation and destruction continue. In some cases, the scientific issues are essentially known and settled; it is only the will to do what is needed or to debate the merits and costs of varying solutions that remains. In those cases, environmental issues are not questions of science, but tests of social ethics and political will. What happens in one part of the world often has a measurable impact on remote regions. Such understanding, now frequently and graphically illustrated by sweeping pictures from space, document a global intimacy and interdependence that transcends artificially drawn political boundaries as easily as clouds float over varying landscapes. Environmental Issues draws on experts and resources from around the globe. Such pan-global perspective regarding environmental issues is increasingly vital. Political boundaries and differences pose real threats to both civilization and the environment, especially regarding potential use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. In such a world, it is critical that citizens of all nations, and of all political persuasions voice concerns as to the long-term environmental impacts use of such weapons may bring, whether used by terrorists, or rationed as a form of strategic defense. -- K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, editors. Siracusa, Sicily. April, 2006. Contributing editors K. Lee Lerner (scholar.harvard.edu/kleelerner) and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner's (scholar.harvard.edu/brendawilmothlerner) combined portfolio includes multiple RUSA Book and Media Awards and books named Outstanding Academic Titles. They are cofounders of LMG (www.lernermediaglobal.co.uk). Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner, J.D., served as co-editor for volumes on the Environment; Gender Issues and Sexuality; Human and Civil Rights; Government, Politics, and Protest; and Immigration and Multiculturalism. Ms. Lerner is the Director, Pre-Law and an instructor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of North Florida. Prior to taking a post at UNL she worked as an author, editor, certified archaeologist, and an attorney in private practice as well as an Adjunct Professor at the Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, FL. She has taught courses at undergraduate, graduate, and law school level on topics including the U.S. Supreme Court, American Legal System, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, International Human Rights, Gender and the Law, Art Law, and Intellectual Property Licensing. Ms. Lerner served as graduate instructor in communications at Vanderbilt University, where she was also a University Fellow (2000-2002) and a Summer Fellow for the Vanderbilt Program in Social and Political Thought (2001). She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Oglethorpe University where she was named as Outstanding Honors Student and received the Leo Bilanco Award for Outstanding History Graduate (co-recipient). (bio updated March 2017). Ms. Lerner is also the editor of several books including Global Viewpoints: Freedom of Expression and has written extensively on a range of legal, social, and science policy issues for a number of academic books. (bio updated March 2017)

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