In contrast to the approaches to resource management and preservation of the past decade, a new perspective on environmental problems is emerging. Six major trends in scientific thinking are (i) increased efforts to examine environments in holistic frameworks, (ii) greater attention to life support systems, (iii) enlarged canvass of the range of choices in resource management, (iv) refinement in methods of risk assessment, (v) streamlined methods for monitoring environmental change, and (vi) more emphasis on the global framework.