Franz Uekoetter examines the evolution of environmental history in the context of globalization, highlighting its early global focus and the more recent trend towards specialization and nuanced narratives.
Mahesh Rangarajan explores the intersection of nation-states, borders, and nature, emphasizing how human-made boundaries conflict with the natural world’s disregard for such limits.
Peter Coates analyzes the UK universities’ “impact” criterion, which emphasizes measurable contributions to public policy and the economy, and uses it to highlight the distinctive relevance of environmental history.
Zelko expresses skepticism about the transformative potential of environmental history, arguing that it is often more useful to historians than to addressing global crises.
Libby Robin argues that environmental history is well positioned to address planetary concerns through interdisciplinary collaboration with scientists and policymakers.
Stephen J. Pyne argues that environmental historians can offer practical value to communities, particularly in areas such as wildfire management.
Richard Walker expresses concern over the current state of environmental history, urging it to adopt a more assertive and impactful role in addressing pressing global issues like climate change and species extinction.
Julia Adaney Thomas argues that climate collapse has fundamentally shifted the focus of historical inquiry from a quest for liberty to the challenge of ensuring survival with ecological decency.
Christof Mauch highlights that environmental history provides a distinctive perspective by treating nature as an active agent and by bridging boundaries of time, space, and discipline.
This page offers the complete diaries of Alfred Wegener—the source material for the online exhibition “The Wegener Diaries: Scientific Expeditions into the Eternal Ice” by historian Christian Kehrt. The digitized pages are divided into the three expeditions and viewable via PDF-reader.
