Americans during the twentieth-century became more disconnected from the environment and nature than ever before. More Americans lived in cities rather than on farms; they became ever more reliant on technology to interact with the world around them and with each other. Perhaps paradoxically, the twentieth-century also became the period in which environmental issues played an ever-increasing role in politics and public policy. Why is this so? Perhaps because, despite what many people believe, nature and the environment remains central to everyone's daily life. Pollution, environmental degradation, urban sprawl, loss of wildlife and biodiversity - all of these issues directly impact how everyone - even city dwellers - live their lives.

Nature and the Environment in Twentieth-Century America addresses a wide variety of the environmental issues that impacted the lives of people of all classes, races, and regions:
; The expansion of the National Park system and the increased desire for leisure time spent in the great outdoors
; The devastation of the Dust Bowl and its impetus toward conservation and a greater understanding of ecology
; Grassroots activism and environmental politics from Rachel Carson to Love Canal
; The impact of globalization and its environmental consequences on the daily lives of Americans
Part of the Daily Life through History series, this title joins Nature and the Environment in Nineteenth-Century Americain a new branch of the series-titles specifically looking at how science innovations impacted daily life.