Natural environment
The natural environment comprises all living and non-living things that occur
naturally on
Earth. In its purest sense, it is thus an environment that is not the result of
human activity or intervention. The natural environment may be contrasted to "the built environment."
Encyclopedia
The
natural environment comprises all living and non-living things that occur
naturally on
Earth. In its purest sense, it is thus an environment that is not the result of
human activity or intervention. The natural environment may be contrasted to "the built environment."
Terminology
For some, there is a difficulty with the term "natural environment" in that nearly all environments have been directly or indirectly influenced by humans at some point in time. In order to address this concern, some level of human influence is thus allowable without the status of any particular
landscape ceasing to be "natural." The term's meaning, however, is usually dependent more on context than a set definition. Many natural environments are the product of the interaction between nature and humans. For this reason, the term ecosystem has been used to describe an environment that contains nature, and includes people. It follows then that environmental problems are human or social problems. Some also consider it dangerously misleading to regard "environment" as separate from "people."
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
wilderness is increasingly rare,
wild nature can be found in many locations previously inhabited by humans.
Goals commonly expressed by the environmentalists include: reduction and clean up of man-made
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
climatic changes caused by anthroprogenic releases of greenhouse gases, most notably
carbon dioxide, and their interactions with human uses and the natural environment. Efforts here have focused on the mitigition of greenhouse gases that are causing climatic changes , and on developing adaptative strategies to assist species, ecosystems, humans, regions and nations in adjusting to these climatic changes.
External links
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- - click to save the rainforest and wildlands for free
- - Independent news about environment issues from around the world
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- Photo exhibit created by the State Archives of Florida
See also
