ABSTRACT
Models can only be fully understood within the context that they are built and used. In Chapter 4, we took a broad look at the purpose of modeling, the various forms they may take, and, in a generic way, how they are constructed and applied. Now we need to look more specifically at the nature of environmental models. Because models are abstractions of reality that assist our understanding and furthermore, because the environment includes the physical (natural and built), biotic, social, cultural, economic, and legal aspects of our world, there are potentially as many environmental models as there are things under the sun. What is more, all of these models together would encompass the whole of human knowledge. I leave that particular goal to the Wikipedia. In this chapter, we will start by looking at the context in which environmental models today are built and used. We will then look at some broad classes of environmental models as regards the way in which these models are structured and work. This chapter, thus, completes the framework for an understanding of the issues presented in Section III of this book.
