The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a terminology that comprises all living and non-living things that occur naturally on Earth or some region thereof. Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. This term includes a few key components:
- Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive human intervention, including all vegetation, animals, microorganisms, rocks, atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries. Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region it refers to the Ground cover provided by plants A natural phenomenon is a non-artificial event in the physical sense and therefore not produced by Humans although it may affect humans (e
- Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from human activity. Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified ( natural) form A phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν, pl φαινόμενα - phenomena) is any observable occurrence In Physics and other Sciences energy (from the Greek grc ἐνέργεια - Energeia, "activity operation" from grc ἐνεργός Radiation, as in Physics, is Energy in the form of waves or moving Subatomic particles emitted by an atom or other body as it changes from a higher energy Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some Subatomic particles which determines their Electromagnetic interaction. In Physics, magnetism is one of the Phenomena by which Materials exert attractive or repulsive Forces on other Materials.
The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by man. The phrase built environment refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity ranging from the large-scale civic surroundings to the personal places A geographical area is regarded as a natural environment (with an indefinite article), if the human impact on it is kept under a certain limited level (similar to section 1 above). This level depends on the specific context, and changes in different areas and contexts. The term wilderness, on the other hand, refers to areas without human intervention. Wilderness is generally defined as a Natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by Human activity
Challenges
It is the common understanding of natural environment that underlies environmentalism — a broad political, social, and philosophical movement that advocates various actions and policies in the interest of protecting what nature remains in the natural environment, or restoring or expanding the role of nature in this environment. Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language While true wilderness is increasingly rare, wild nature (e. g. , unmanaged forests, uncultivated grasslands, wildlife, wildflowers) can be found in many locations previously inhabited by humans. A forest is an area with a high density of Trees There are many definitions of a forest based on various criteria Grasslands (also called greenswards) are areas where the Vegetation is dominated by Grasses ( Poaceae) and other Herbaceous (non-woody Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants animals and other organisms A wildflower (or wild flower) is a Flower that grows wild meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted
Goals commonly expressed by environmental scientists include:
- reduction and clean up of pollution, with future goals of zero pollution;
- cleanly converting nonrecyclable materials into energy through direct combustion or after conversion into secondary fuels;
- reducing societal consumption of non-renewable fuels;
- development of alternative, green, low-carbon or renewable energy sources;
- conservation and sustainable use of scarce resources such as water, land, and air;
- protection of representative or unique or pristine ecosystems;
- preservation of threatened and endangered species extinction;
- the establishment of nature and biosphere reserves under various types of protection; and, most generally, the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems upon which all human and other life on earth depends. Environmental science is the study of interactions among physical chemical and biological components of the environment. Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability disorder harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in Waste-to-energy (WtE or energy-from-waste (EfW refers to any waste treatment that creates energy in the form of Electricity or Heat Fossil fuels or mineral fuels are fossil source Fuels that is Hydrocarbons found within the top layer of the Earth’s crust. Renewable energy is Energy generated from Natural resources mdashsuch as Sunlight, Wind, Rain, tides and geothermal Energy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used Sustainability, in a general sense is the capacity to maintain a certain process or state indefinitely Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation nature reserve ( natural reserve, nature preserve, natural preserve) is a Protected area of importance for Wildlife, flora Biodiversity is the variation of Life forms within a given Ecosystem, Biome or for the entire Earth.
Very large development projects - also called megaprojects - pose special challenges and risks to the natural environment. A megaproject is an extremely large-scale Investment Project. Major dams and power plants are cases in point. The challenge to the environment from such projects is growing because more and bigger megaprojects are being built, in developed and developing nations alike. [1]
Recently, there has been a strong concern about climate change such as global warming caused by anthropogenic releases of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide, and their interactions with humans and the natural environment. Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences Global warming is the increase in the average measured temperature of the Carbon dioxide ( Chemical formula:) is a Chemical compound composed of two Oxygen Atoms covalently bonded to a single Efforts here have focused on the mitigation of greenhouse gases that are causing climatic changes (e. Mitigation of global warming involves taking actions to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance sinks aimed at reducing the extent of Global warming g. through the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol), and on developing adaptative strategies to assist species, ecosystems, humans, regions and nations in adjusting to the Effects of global warming. Annex I and Annex II Countries and Developing Countries Signatories to the UNFCCC are split into three groups Annex I countries (industrialized countries The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the international Framework Convention on Climate Change with the objective of reducing Greenhouse gases in an effort Adaptation to global warming consists of initiatives and measures to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate change effects. effects of Global warming on the environment and human life are numerous varied accelerating and taking scientists studying global warming by surprise
A more profound challenge, however, is to identify the natural environmental dynamics in contrast to environmental changes not within natural variances. A common solution is to adapt a static view neglecting natural variances to exist. Methodologically this view could be defended when looking at processes which change slowly and short time series, while the problem arrives when fast processes turns essential in the object of the study.
See also
References
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