Politics in Minutes (2016)

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of how organisms and their environment interact. Over the last 50 or so years, increasing concern about human impact on the natural world has given rise to a political ecologism, known as Green politics. Among its main concerns are: climate change and global warming, pollution, acid rain, the impact of nuclear and fossil fuel energy, and loss of species. Green politics is a political ideology that seeks to create an ecologically sustainable society and is rooted in environmentalism, non-violence, social justice and grassroots democracy. It emerged as a visible movement during the 1970s, and in 1979 the German Green Party (die Grünen) launched. Greens are generally to the left of the political spectrum. The movement shares links with other social and political movements such as feminism and the peace movement. Similarly, many political movements have developed environmental strands, for instance ecofeminism and eco-anarchism, and in the face of increasing environmental concern, so have most major political parties.