Environmental monitoring is the activity of tracking various environmental conditions on an on-going basis. Scientists regularly study environmental conditions by developing an environmental monitoring program to carefully track any changes in the data.

Scientists interested in water quality can deploy instrumentation for environmental monitoring that records data on various water chemistries over a period time. The analysis of the data shows the changes in the water chemistry and possibly lead to understanding the causes of the change.

Long term environmental monitoring studies such as very accurate tracking of temperature changes has led scientists to conclude the earth is getting warmer. Environmental monitoring is an important scientific tool that can be used to help us better understand our world.