本文所指的「環境史」，是指在當代環境主義思潮之影響下，利用「生態學」的新知，解釋歷史文獻，試圖重建人類的行為和自然環境互動關係的新史學。本文先由學術變遷史的角度，探討環境史的內涵，並將分析美國環境史研究的發展階段，闡論此一新史學領域崛起之因素，論證它具有創造與轉化、跨領域，和當代性等特質；並以美國為例，證明其學術地位的穩固，已到了不容國內學界輕忽的地步。論文將歸納該領域的重要研究理論和著作，並進一步闡論史學研究對當代環境議題的貢獻與意義，及其所面臨的困境。最後對進行環境史研究的預備條件，和未來發展的可能方向，提供觀點和討論。

　　　　　The rise of environmental history as an academic discipline in the 1960's in North America was influenced by environmentalism's emergence during that period. One of environmental history's key characteristics is the marriage of ecology and history. Applying a new ideology to conventional methodology, environmental historians try to interpret how human behaviors interact with the environment in different time periods. In order to demonstrate the importance of the discipline, this paper highlights environmental history's developments, meanings and myths, and discusses the field's major theories and contributions. Also addressed here are environmental hsitory's possibilities for future development. This paper concludes that, although environmental history is a new transdisciplinary field, Taiwan academics should grant it full recognition as an area of scholarly inquiry.