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This book first examines the process of Western environmental history, which began in ancient times and developed into a specialized field of study in the 20th century. Environmental history originated from two schools of thought: the French Annales School and the American Frontier School. The former focuses on long-term research and the constraints that nature has on human society, while the latter emphasizes the continuous transformation of nature by modern capitalism. Chapter 2 accordingly introduces the gradual rise of Chinese environmental history from the imperial period to modern times. Chapter 3 considers the different scales used in analyzing the development of human-land relationships and how they relate to each other through notions of local, regional and global scales. Chapter 4 sorts out many innovative ideas for linking environmental history with scientific research.