The nature of the science we undertake hinges crucially on the kinds of question we ask. Over the last four decades, the questions that have dominated the concerns of a substantial part of the environmental sciences research community have changed dramatically, first in response to the realisation that human activities were creating contemporary problems that cried out for deeper understanding and urgent solutions. More recently, and especially since the late 1980s, the research agenda has become increasingly dominated by the over-arching issues of global change and its implications for the future. These issues are the starting point for, and underlying motif throughout this book. I begin by defining some key questions, then proceed to examine the different approaches taken by the whole range of research communities that consider global change from a predominantly environmental science-based perspective. The book then considers past, current and possible future changes before returning to a reconsideration of the questions posed at the outset.

I hope that this book will serve as both stimulus and orientation. It rests on a personal perspective developed over the past 50 years spent in the fascinating business of trying to understand better the course, nature, causes and consequences of environmental change. I have had the good fortune to be inspired and guided along the way by a great many colleagues whose friendship, insight and generosity deserve more thanks than I have space to record. Several members of my personal pantheon require special acknowledgement.