Why Study History?

Why Study History? Historical studies are important for a number of reasons.

Current ecological conditions in a highly degraded areas are usually a complex mix of impacts accumulated over many decades or, for older cities, over centuries. By looking at these impacts over time, we can begin to understand what happened and why.
Historical studies enable us to see that there is a connection between land use and environmental conditions. This understanding is important to managers making land management decisions.
Historical studies help us appreciate that some decisions and the accompanying actions can cause long-term (decades, or centuries) environmental consequences.
Historical studies are useful in planning remediation projects. Environmental scientists and managers can identify which impacts are irreversible and therefore, choose to work on those that are possible to remediate.
Historical studies have become a component of environmental litigation, especially since the passage of Superfund legislation. By identifying industries responsible for contaminating the environment, clean-up costs can be recovered.
Historical studies are a good educational tool because they provide background information for environmental scientists and managers, get citizens interested in local environmental issues, build ties between the community and scientists, and can be used as topics of interdisciplinary (e.g., science, history, writing) studies in middle schools and high schools.

What can we learn from a historical study? Historical records can:

help identify past pollutant inputs
determine changes in shorelines, water circulation patterns and sediment deposition
determine modification or loss of habitat
may help identify changes in species composition or abundance