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Which concerns have been part of environmental politics since the beginning of recorded history?

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Final answer:

Historically, environmental politics has been concerned with the impact of human activities on nature, such as the use of pesticides and pollution. Pioneering environmentalists like Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson catalyzed awareness and action that led to the modern environmental movement, entailing significant debates and international cooperation to address global challenges like climate change and depletion of the ozone layer.

Step-by-step explanation:

Concerns around environmental politics have been present since the beginning of recorded history, stemming from the impact of human activities on nature. Pioneering voices like Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson raised awareness about environmental issues and helped inspire the modern environmental movement. Significant environmental events and initiatives such as pollution from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, debates over forest management and federal rangeland policies, as well as the global approach to tackle issues like the ozone layer depletion and climate change as seen in international agreements like the Convention on Biological Diversity, have all been part of environmental politics.

Environmental ethics emerged as an academic discipline when individuals started questioning humanity's relationship with nature. Early environmental literature from authors like Donella and Dennis Meadows, as well as regulatory and action groups like the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), contributed to political and legal dimensions focused on protecting human health and the environment. Furthermore, the role of science in driving change, as with the Green Revolution's introduction of high-yielding crops and synthetic fertilizers, which brought about rampant industrialization, also signifies a strong historical relation to environmental concerns.

Today, anxieties about the unsustainable nature of af77fluence in developed countries often conflict with the growth-oriented policies of developing countries, exemplified by concerns over the Amazon rainforest. Writers such as George Perkins Marsh and John Ruskin, and preservation efforts leading to the creation of national parks, showcase that environmental concern is an ever-evolving issue as societies across the world grapple with climate change and industrialization's consequences.