EnvironmentalismMovement to protect the quality and continuity of life through conservation of natural resources, prevention of pollution, and control of land use. Emerged out of concerns over pollution, global warming, soil erosion, deforestation, waste disposal, and resource depletion. To the extent that many of these environmental problems have been created by industrial production, economic growth and Western-style consumption, environmentalists often offer a critique of the model of economic growth on which they are based.