International environmental policy

The international environmental movement is the expression of a fun damental change in human perceptions of life on earth. More rapidly than in most historical transitions, evidence of the change has appeared at every level of social organization-local, regional, national, and inter national. A development of great importance for the future has been emerging, but its significance is not widely understood. To understand what has happened one needs to know the how and why of this de velopment. Histories of the antecedent conservation movement and of particular aspects of the environmental "revolution" have been written, but the story, in its broader dimensions, has not heretofore been told. An ecological view of man on earth has emerged which, departing the traditional perception of human dominance over nature, moves toward a more realistic appreciation of man's place in the biosphere. This new view has led to action in which scientific knowledge and ethical judgments have been united in public policies and international agreements.