The
natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term
that comprises all living and non-living things that occur naturally on Earth
or some part of it (e.g. the natural environment in a country). This term includes
a few key components:
1.
Complete landscape units that function as natural systems without massive human
intervention, including all plants, animals, rocks, etc. and natural phenomena
that occur within their boundaries. 2. 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.
The
natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises
the areas and components that are heavily influenced by man. 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 any
human intervention whatsoever (or almost so).
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.
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.
Goals
commonly expressed by environmentalists include reduction and clean up of pollution,
with future goals of zero pollution; 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
and expansion of threatened or endangered species or ecosystems from 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.
More
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.[1] Efforts
here have focused on the mitigation of greenhouse gases that are causing climatic
changes (e.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.
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. (Credit: Wikipedia)
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Built environment * Ecology * Environmentalism * Gaia hypothesis *
List of environment topics * Nature * Natural history * Timeline of environmental
events * Wilderness * Wildlife
