A timelapse composite panorama of different natural phenomena and environments aroundMount Bromo, Indonesia.
Nature is an inherent character or constitution,[1] particularly of theecosphere or theuniverse as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to thelaws, elements andphenomena of the physical world, includinglife. Although humans are part of nature, human activity or humans as a whole are often described as at times at odds, or outrightseparate and even superior to nature.[2]
During the advent of modernscientific method in the last several centuries, nature became the passivereality, organized and moved by divine laws.[3][4] With theIndustrial Revolution, nature increasingly became seen as the part of reality deprived from intentional intervention: it was hence considered as sacred by some traditions (Rousseau, Americantranscendentalism) or a mere decorum fordivine providence or human history (Hegel,Marx). However, avitalist vision of nature, closer to the pre-Socratic one, got reborn at the same time, especially afterCharles Darwin.[2]
Within the various uses of the word today, "nature" often refers togeology andwildlife. Nature can refer to the general realm ofliving beings, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects—the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of theEarth. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" orwilderness—wild animals, rocks, forest, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. For example, manufactured objects and human interaction generally are not considered part of nature, unless qualified as, for example, "human nature" or "the whole of nature". This more traditional concept of natural things that can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the artificial being understood as that which has been brought into being by a humanconsciousness or a humanmind. Depending on the particular context, the term "natural" might also be distinguished from theunnatural or thesupernatural.[2]
Etymology
The wordnature is borrowed from theOld Frenchnature and is derived from theLatin wordnatura, or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth".[5] In ancient philosophy,natura is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek wordphysis (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord.[6][7] The concept of nature as a whole, the physicaluniverse, is one of several expansions of the original notion;[2] it began with certain core applications of the wordφύσις bypre-Socratic philosophers (though this word had a dynamic dimension then, especially forHeraclitus), and has steadily gained currency ever since.[8]
Earth is the onlyplanet known to supportlife, and its natural features are the subject of many fields of scientific research. Within theSolar System, it is third closest to the Sun; it is the largestterrestrial (rocky) planet and the fifth largest overall.[9] Its most prominentclimatic features are its two largepolar regions, two relatively narrowtemperate zones, and a wideequatorial tropical tosubtropical region.[10]Precipitation varies widely with location, from several metres of water per year to less than a millimetre.[11] 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by salt-water oceans. The remainder consists of continents and islands, with a majority of the inhabited land in theNorthern Hemisphere.[12]
Earth has evolved through geological and biological processes that have left few traces of the original conditions.[13] Theouter surface is divided into several gradually migratingtectonic plates.[14] The interior remains active, with a thick layer of plasticmantle and an iron-filled core that generates amagnetic field. This iron core is composed of a solid inner phase, and a fluid outer phase.Convective motion in the outer core generates electric currents throughdynamo action, and these, in turn, generate thegeomagnetic field.[15]
Theatmospheric conditions have been significantly altered from the original conditions by the presence of life-forms,[16] which create anecological balance that stabilizes the surface conditions. Despite the wide regional variations in climate bylatitude and other geographic factors, the long-term average global climate is quite stable during interglacial periods,[17] and variations of a degree or two of average global temperature have historically had major effects on the ecological balance, and on the actual geography of the Earth.[18][19]
An animation showing the movement of the continents from the separation ofPangaea until the present day
Earth is estimated to have formed 4.54 billion years ago from thesolar nebula, along with theSun and otherplanets.[23] The Moon formed roughly 20 million years later. Initially molten, the outer layer of the Earth cooled, resulting in the solid crust. Outgassing andvolcanic activity produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensingwater vapor, most or all of which came fromice delivered bycomets,produced the oceans and other water sources.[24] The highly energetic chemistry is believed to have produced a self-replicating molecule around 4 billion years ago.[25]
Plankton inhabit oceans, seas and lakes, and have existed in various forms for at least 2 billion years.[26]
Continents formed, then broke up and reformed as the surface of Earth reshaped over hundreds of millions of years, occasionally combining to make asupercontinent. Roughly 750 million years ago, the earliest known supercontinentRodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to formPannotia which broke apart about 540 million years ago, then finallyPangaea, which broke apart about 180 million years ago.[27]
During theNeoproterozoic era, freezing temperatures covered much of the Earth inglaciers and ice sheets. This hypothesis has been termed the "Snowball Earth", and it is of particular interest as it precedes theCambrian explosion in which multicellular life forms began to proliferate about 530–540 million years ago.[28]
Since the Cambrian explosion there have been five distinctly identifiablemass extinctions.[29] The last mass extinction occurred some 66 million years ago, when a meteorite collision probably triggered the extinction of thenon-aviandinosaurs and other large reptiles, but spared small animals such asmammals. Over the past 66 million years, mammalian life diversified.[30]
Several million years ago, a species of small Africanape gained the ability to stand upright.[26] The subsequent advent of human life, and the development of agriculture and furthercivilization allowed humans to affect the Earth more rapidly than any previous life form, impacting both the nature and quantity of other organisms as well as global climate.[31] By comparison, theGreat Oxygenation Event, produced by the proliferation ofalgae during theSiderian period, required about 400 million years to culminate.[32]
The present era is classified as part of a massextinction event, theHolocene extinction event, the fastest ever to have occurred.[33][34] Some, such asE. O. Wilson ofHarvard University, predict that human destruction of thebiosphere could cause the extinction of one-half of all species in the next 100 years.[35] The extent of the current extinction event is still being researched, debated and calculated by biologists.[36][37][38]
The Earth's atmosphere is a key factor in sustaining theecosystem. The thin layer of gases that envelops the Earth is held in place by gravity. Air is mostlynitrogen,oxygen,water vapor, with much smaller amounts of carbon dioxide, argon, etc.[39]: 258 The atmospheric pressure and density declines steadily with altitude.[40] Theozone layer plays an important role in depleting the amount ofultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches the surface. AsDNA is readily damaged by UV light, this serves to protect life at the surface.[41] The atmosphere also retains heat during the night, thereby reducing the daily temperature extremes.[42]
Terrestrial weather occurs almost exclusively in thelower part of the atmosphere, and serves as a convective system for redistributing heat.[43] Weather is achaotic system that is readily modified by small changes to theenvironment, so accurateweather forecasting is limited to only a few days.[44] Weather is also influenced by the seasons, which result from theEarth'saxis beingtilted relative to itsorbital plane. Thus, at any given time during the summer or winter, one part of the Earth is more directly exposed to the rays of thesun. This exposure alternates as the Earth revolves in its orbit. At any given time, regardless of season, theNorthern andSouthern Hemispheres experience opposite seasons.[45]
A tornado accompanied by a lightning strike inTexas
Weather can have both beneficial and harmful effects.Lightning strikes can causewildfires, while heavy rain can causeflooding andmud slides. Extremes in weather, such astornadoes orhurricanes andcyclones, can expend large amounts of energy along their paths, and produce devastation.[46] Surface vegetation has evolved a dependence on the seasonal variation of the weather,[47] and sudden changes lasting only a few years can have astress effect on the plants.[48] These pose a threat to the animals that depend on its growth for their food.
Climate is a measure of the long-term trends in the weather. Various factors are known toinfluence the climate, includingocean currents, surfacealbedo,greenhouse gases, variations in the solar luminosity, and changes to the Earth's orbit.[49] Based on historical and geological records, the Earth is known to have undergone drasticclimate changes in the past, includingice ages.[50] In the present day, two things are happening worldwide: (1) temperature is increasing on the average; and (2) regional climates have been undergoing noticeable changes.[51]
Ocean currents are an important factor in determining climate, particularly the major underwaterthermohaline circulation which distributes heat energy from the equatorial oceans to the polar regions. These currents help to moderate the differences in temperature between winter and summer in the temperate zones. Also, without the redistributions of heat energy by the ocean currents and atmosphere, the tropics would be much hotter, and thepolar regions much colder.[52]
The climate of a region depends on a number of factors, includingtopology,prevailing winds, proximity to a largebody of water,[53] and especiallylatitude. A latitudinal band of the surface with similar climatic attributes forms a climate region. There are a number of such regions, ranging from thetropical climate at the equator to thepolar climate in the northern and southern extremes. The latter regions are typically below the freezing temperature of water for much of the year, which can allow frozen water to accumulate inice caps and thereby changing the surface albedo.[54]
Water is achemical substance that is composed ofhydrogen andoxygen (H2O) and is vital for all known forms of life.[55] In typical usage, "water" refers only to its liquidform, but it also has a solid state,ice, and agaseous state,water vapor, orsteam. Water covers 71% of theEarth's surface.[56] On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large bodies of water, with 1.6% of water below ground inaquifers and 0.001% in theair asvapor, clouds, andprecipitation.[57][58] Oceans hold 96.5% of surface water;glaciers and polarice caps, 2.4%; and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes, ponds, undergroundaquifers, andgroundwater, 1%. The smallest freshwater reserve is the 0.1% in the atmosphere.[59] Throughsubduction processes in the Earth's crust, an equivalent mass of the planet's surface water has been interred in the upper mantle alone.[60]
Oceans
A view of the Atlantic Ocean fromLeblon, Rio de Janeiro
An ocean is a major body ofsaline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, acontinuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than half of this area is over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) deep. Average oceanicsalinity is around 35parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt. Though generally recognized as several 'separate' oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water often referred to as theWorld Ocean or global ocean.[61][62] This is a fundamental concept inoceanography: a global-spanning ocean that functions as a continuous body of water with relatively free interchange among its bodies.[63]
The major oceanic divisions are determined by the variouscontinents,archipelagos, and other criteria. In descending order of size, they are thePacific Ocean, theAtlantic Ocean, theIndian Ocean, theSouthern Ocean, and theArctic Ocean. Smaller regions of the oceans are called seas, gulfs,bays and other names. There are alsosalt lakes, which are smaller bodies of landlocked saltwater that are not interconnected with the World Ocean. Two notable examples of salt lakes are theGreat Salt Lake and theCaspian Sea.[64][65] No other planet in the Solar System has surface oceans, although there are 15 moons that are suspected of having ice-covered oceans.[66]
A lake (from Latin wordlacus) is aterrain feature (orphysical feature), a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom ofbasin (another type of landform or terrain feature; that is, it is not global) and moves slowly if it moves at all. On Earth, a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, not part of the ocean, is larger and deeper than a pond, and is fed by a river.[67][68]
The only world other than Earth known to harbor lakes isTitan, Saturn's largest moon, which has lakes ofethane, most likely mixed withmethane. It is not known if Titan's lakes are fed by rivers, though Titan's surface is carved by numerous river beds.[69] Natural lakes on Earth are generally found in mountainous areas,rift zones, and areas with ongoing or recentglaciation. Other lakes are found inendorheic basins, along the courses of mature rivers, or human-madereservoirs behinddams. In some parts of the world, there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from thelast ice age.[70] All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.[71]
Smallbodies ofstanding water, typically less than2 Hectare, are termed a pond or pool. They can be natural or human-made.[72] A wide variety of human-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, includingwater gardens designed for aesthetic ornamentation,[73]fish ponds designed for commercial fish breeding,[74] andsolar ponds designed to store thermal energy.[75] Ponds and lakes are distinguished from streams viacurrent speed. While currents in streams are easily observed, ponds possess thermally driven micro-currents and moderate wind driven currents.[76] These features distinguish a pond from many other aquatic terrain features, such asstream pools andtide pools.[citation needed]
A river is a naturalwatercourse,[77] usuallyfreshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, ariver simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. A river is part of thehydrological cycle. Water within a river is generally collected fromprecipitation throughsurface runoff,groundwater recharge,springs, and the release of stored water in natural ice and snowpacks (i.e., fromglaciers). Where a river merges with a slow-moving body of water, the deposited sedimentation can build up to form adelta.[78][79]
There is no general rule that defines what can be called a river. Smaller scale water flows with a steadycurrent are termed a stream, creek, brook, rivulet, or rill.[79] These are confined within astream bed andbank. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; one example isBurn in Scotland and North-east England. In US naming, sometimes a river is said to be larger than a creek, but this is not always the case, due to vagueness in the language; consequently the USGeographic Names Information System calls all "linear flowing bodies of water"streams.[80]
Ecosystems are composed of a variety ofbiotic andabiotic components that function in an interrelated way.[85] The structure and composition is determined by various environmental factors that are interrelated. Variations of these factors will initiate dynamic modifications to the ecosystem. Some of the more important components aresoil,atmosphere, radiation from thesun, water, and living organisms.[86]
Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea thatliving organisms interact with every other element in their localenvironment. Eugene Odum, a founder of ecology, stated: "Any unit that includes all of the organisms (i.e.: the "community") in a given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (i.e.: exchange of materials between living and nonliving parts) within the system is an ecosystem."[87] Within the ecosystem, species are connected and dependent upon one another in thefood chain, and exchange energy andmatter between themselves as well as with their environment.[88] The human ecosystem concept is based on the human/naturedichotomy and the idea that all species are ecologically dependent on each other, as well as with the abiotic constituents of theirbiotope.[89]
A smaller unit of size is called amicroecosystem. For example, a microsystem can be a stone and all the life under it. Amacroecosystem might involve a wholeecoregion, with itsdrainage basin.[90]
Wilderness is generally defined as areas that have not been significantly modified by human activity. Wilderness areas can be found in preserves, estates, farms, conservation preserves, ranches,national forests,national parks, and even in urban areas along rivers, gulches, or otherwise undeveloped areas. Wilderness areas and protectedparks are considered important for the survival of certainspecies, ecological studies,conservation, and solitude. Some nature writers believe wilderness areas are vital for the human spirit and creativity,[91] and some ecologists consider wilderness areas to be an integral part of the Earth's self-sustaining naturalecosystem (thebiosphere). They may also preserve historicgenetic traits and that they providehabitat for wildflora andfauna that may be difficult or impossible to recreate inzoos,arboretums, orlaboratories.[92]
Female mallard and ducklings –reproduction is essential for continuing life.
Although there is no universal agreement on the definition of life, scientists generally accept that the biological manifestation of life is characterized byorganization,metabolism,growth,adaptation, response tostimuli, andreproduction.[93] Life may also be said to be simply the characteristic state oforganisms. The latter can then be defined in terms of biochemistry, genetics, orthermodynamics.[94] Properties common to terrestrial organisms (plants, animals,fungi,protists,archaea, and bacteria) are that they are cellular and based on a complex chemical organization. However, not every definition of life considers these properties to be essential. Human-madeanalogs of life may also be considered to be life.[95]
Present day organisms fromviruses to humans possess a self-replicating informational molecule (genome), eitherDNA orRNA (as in some viruses), and such an informational molecule is probably intrinsic to life. It is likely that the earliest forms of life were based on a self-replicating informational molecule (genome), perhaps RNA[96][97] or a molecule more primitive than RNA or DNA.[98] The specificnucleotide sequence in each organism contains information that functions to promotes survival,reproduction, and the capacity to acquire resources necessary for reproduction; such sequences probably emerged early in the evolution of life.[99] Survival functions present early in the evolution of life likely also included genomic sequences that promote the avoidance of damage to the self-replicating molecule and also the capability torepair such damages that do occur. Repair of some genome damages may have involved using information from another similar molecule by a process ofrecombination (a primitive form ofsexual interaction).[100]
Thebiosphere is the part of Earth's outer shell—including land, surface rocks, water, air and the atmosphere—within which life occurs, and whichbiotic processes in turn alter or transform. From the broadestgeophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of thelithosphere (rocks),hydrosphere (water), andatmosphere (air).[101] The entire Earth contains over 75 billion tons (150trillion pounds or about6.8×1013 kilograms) ofbiomass (life), which lives within various environments within the biosphere.[102]
Over nine-tenths of the total biomass on Earth is plant life, on which animal life depends very heavily for its existence.[103] More than 2 million species of plant and animal life have been identified to date,[104] and estimates of the actual number of existing species range from several million to well over 50 million.[105][106][107] The number of individual species of life is constantly in some degree of flux, with new species appearing and others ceasing to exist on a continual basis.[108][109] The total number of species is in rapid decline.[110][111][112]
Theorigin of life on Earth is not well understood, but it is known to have occurred at least 3.5 billion years ago,[115][116][117] during thehadean orarchean eons on aprimordial Earth that had a substantially different environment than is found at present.[118] These life forms possessed the basic traits of self-replication and inheritable traits. Once life had appeared, the process ofevolution bynatural selection resulted in the development of ever-more diverse life forms.[119]
Species that were unable to adapt to the changing environment and competition from other life forms became extinct. However, thefossil record retains evidence of many of these older species. Current fossil andDNA evidence shows that all existing species can trace a continual ancestry back to the first primitive life forms.[118]
When basic forms of plant life developed the process ofphotosynthesis the sun's energy could be harvested to create conditions which allowed for more complex life forms.[120] The resultantoxygen accumulated in the atmosphere and gave rise to theozone layer. The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in thedevelopment of yet more complex cells calledeukaryotes.[121] Cells within colonies became increasingly specialized, resulting in true multicellular organisms. With the ozone layer absorbing harmfulultraviolet radiation, life colonized the land surface of Earth.
The first form of life to develop on the Earth wereunicellular, and they remained the only form of life until about a billion years ago when multi-cellular organisms began to appear.[122] Microorganisms or microbes aremicroscopic, and smaller than the human eye can see.[123]Microorganisms can besingle-celled, such asBacteria,Archaea, manyProtista, and a minority ofFungi.[124]
These life forms are found in almost every location on the Earth where there is liquid water, including in the Earth's interior.[125]Their reproduction is both rapid and profuse. The combination of a high mutation rate and ahorizontal gene transfer[126] ability makes them highly adaptable, and able to survive in new and sometimes very harsh environments, includingouter space.[127] They form an essential part of the planetary ecosystem. However, some microorganisms arepathogenic and can post health risk to other organisms.
OriginallyAristotle divided all living things between plants, which generally do not move fast enough for humans to notice, and animals. InLinnaeus' system, these became thekingdomsVegetabilia (laterPlantae) andAnimalia.[129] Since then, it has become clear that the Plantae as originally defined included several unrelated groups, and thefungi and several groups ofalgae were removed to new kingdoms.[130] However, these are still often considered plants in many contexts. Bacterial life is sometimes included in flora,[131][132] and some classifications use the termbacterial flora separately fromplant flora.
Among the many ways of classifying plants are by regionalfloras,[133] which, depending on the purpose of study, can also includefossil flora, remnants of plant life from a previous era, including pollen.[134] People in many regions and countries take great pride in their individual arrays of characteristic flora, which can vary widely across the globe due to differences in climate andterrain.
Regional floras commonly are divided into categories such asnative flora oragricultural and garden flora. Some types of "native flora" actually have been introduced centuries ago by people migrating from one region or continent to another, and become an integral part of the native, or natural flora of the place to which they were introduced. Theseinvasive species are examples of how human interaction with the ecosystem can blur the boundary of what is considered nature.[135]
Another category of plant has historically been carved out forweeds. Though the term has fallen into disfavor amongbotanists as a formal way to categorize "useless" plants, the informal use of the word "weeds" to describe those plants that are deemed worthy of elimination is illustrative of the general tendency of people and societies to seek to alter or shape the course of nature.[135] Similarly, animals are often categorized in ways such asdomestic,laboratory,farm animals,wild animals,pests, etc. according to their relationship to human life.[136]
Animals as a category have several characteristics that generally set them apart from other living things. Animals areeukaryotic and usuallymulticellular, which separates them from bacteria,archaea, and mostprotists. They areheterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants andalgae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, andfungi by lackingcell walls.[137]
With a few exceptions—most notably the twophyla consisting ofsponges andplacozoans[138]—animals have bodies that are differentiated intotissues. These includemuscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and anervous system, which sends and processes signals. There is also typically an internaldigestive chamber.[139] The eukaryotic cells possessed by all animals are surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed ofcollagen and elasticglycoproteins. This may be calcified to form structures likeshells,bones, andspicules, a framework upon which cells can move about and be reorganized during development and maturation, and which supports the complex anatomy required for mobility.[citation needed]
Despite their natural beauty, the secluded valleys along theNa Pali Coast in Hawaii are heavily modified by introducedinvasive species such asShe-oak.
Human impact
Althoughhumans comprise a minuscule proportion of the total livingbiomass on Earth, thehuman effect on nature is disproportionately large. Because of the extent of human influence, the boundaries between what humans regard as nature and "made environments" is not clear cut except at the extremes. Even at the extremes, the amount of natural environment that is free of discernible human influence is diminishing at an increasingly rapid pace. A 2020 study published inNature found that anthropogenic mass (human-made materials) outweighs all living biomass on earth, withplastic alone exceeding the mass of all land and marine animals combined.[140] And according to a 2021 study published inFrontiers in Forests and Global Change, only about 3% of the planet's terrestrial surface is ecologically andfaunally intact, with a low human footprint and healthy populations of native animal species.[141][142] Philip Cafaro, professor of philosophy at the School of Global Environmental Sustainability atColorado State University, wrote in 2022 that "the cause of global biodiversity loss is clear: other species are being displaced by a rapidly growing human economy."[143]
The development oftechnology by the human race has allowed the greaterexploitation of natural resources[144] and has helped to alleviate some of the risk fromnatural hazards.[145] However, in spite of this progress, the fate of humancivilization remains closely linked to changes in the environment. There exists a highly complexfeedback loop between the use of advanced technology and changes to the environment.[146] Human-made threats to the Earth's natural environment includepollution,deforestation, and disasters such as oil spills. Humans have contributed to theextinction of many plants and animals,[147] with roughly 1 million species threatened with extinction within decades.[148] Theloss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions over the last half century have impacted the extent that nature can contribute to human quality of life,[149] and continued declines could pose a major threat to the existence of human civilization, unless a rapid course correction is made.[150] The value of natural resources to society is often poorly reflected inmarket prices, because whilst there are extraction costs, natural resources themselves are typically available free of charge. This distorts market pricing of natural resources and at the same time leads to underinvestment in our natural assets. The annual global cost of public subsidies that damage nature is conservatively estimated at $4–6 trillion (million million). Institutional protections of these natural goods, such as the oceans and rainforests, are lacking. Governments have not prevented these economicexternalities.[151][152]
Humans employ nature for both leisure and economic activities. The acquisition of natural resources for industrial use remains a sizable component of the world'seconomic system.[153][154] Some activities, such as hunting and fishing, are used for both sustenance and leisure, often by different people.Agriculture was first adopted around the9th millennium BCE. Ranging from food production to energy, nature influences economic wealth.
Beauty in nature has historically been a prevalent theme in art and books, filling large sections of libraries and bookstores. That nature has been depicted and celebrated by so much art, photography, poetry, and other literature shows the strength with which many people associate nature and beauty. Reasons why this association exists, and what the association consists of, are studied by the branch of philosophy calledaesthetics.[157] Beyond certain basic characteristics that many philosophers agree about to explain what is seen as beautiful, the opinions are virtually endless.[158] Nature and wildness have been important subjects in various eras of world history. An early tradition oflandscape art began in China during theTang Dynasty (618–907).[159] The tradition of representing natureas it is became one of the aims ofChinese painting and was a significant influence in Asian art.[citation needed]
Although natural wonders are celebrated in thePsalms and theBook of Job,[160] in the West,wilderness portrayals in art became more prevalent in the 1800s, especially in the works of theRomantic movement.British artistsJohn Constable andJ. M. W. Turner turned their attention to capturing the beauty of the natural world in their paintings.[161] Before that, paintings had been primarily of religious scenes or of human beings.[citation needed]William Wordsworth's poetry described the wonder of the natural world, which had formerly been viewed as a threatening place. Increasingly the valuing of nature became an aspect of Western culture.[162] This artistic movement also coincided with theTranscendentalist movement in the Western world. A common classical idea of beautiful art involves the wordmimesis, the imitation of nature.[163] Also in the realm of ideas about beauty in nature is that the perfect is implied through perfect mathematicalforms and more generally bypatterns in nature. As David Rothenburg writes, "The beautiful is the root of science and the goal of art, the highest possibility that humanity can ever hope to see".[164]: 281
Matter is defined as a substance that hasmass and takes up avolume of space, whileenergy is a property that can make matter performwork. At thequantum mechanical scale of the very tiny, both matter and energy exibit the property ofwave–particle duality, and they are related to each other throughmass–energy equivalence.[165] Matter constitutes theobservable universe, which is made visible by theradiation ofenergy waves. The visible components of the universe are now believed to compose only 4.9 percent of the total mass. The remainder is in an unknown form that is believed to consist of 26.8 percentcold dark matter and 68.3 percentdark energy.[166] The exact nature of these unseen components is under intensive investigation by physicists.[167]
The behaviour of matter and energy throughout the observable universe appears to follow well-definedphysical laws, orlaws of nature, whichscientists seek to understand.[168] These laws have been employed to producecosmological models that successfully explain the structure and the evolution of the universe we can observe. The mathematical expressions of the laws of physics employ a set of twentyphysical constants[169] that appear to be static across the observable universe.[170] The values of these constants have been carefully measured, but the reason for their specific values remains a mystery. Theanthropic principle argues that the physical constants have the observed values precisely because intelligent life is here to observe them.[171]
Planets of theSolar System(sizes to scale, distances and illumination not to scale)
Outer space, also simply calledspace, refers to the relatively empty regions of theuniverse outside theatmospheres of celestial bodies.Outer space is used to distinguish it fromairspace (and terrestrial locations). There is no discrete boundary betweenEarth's atmosphere and space, as the atmosphere gradually attenuates with increasing altitude.[172] Outer space within theSolar System is calledinterplanetary space, which passes over intointerstellar space at what is known as theheliopause.[173]
At the largest scale, the visible universe follows theCosmological principle, appearing uniformlyisotropic andhomogeneous in all directions. On smaller scales, observable matter is organized in a hierarchy of structures due to the cumulative effect of gravity. Stars are formed ingalaxy structures that typically span up to 100,000 light years in scale. These in turn are organized in larger scalegalaxy clusters and groups spanning tens of millions of light years, thensuperclusters that extend hundreds of millions of light years across.[178] The largest known structures are thegalaxy filaments that link together superclusters.[179] In the open regions between these structures are vast, nearly emptyvoids. Individual galaxies have numerous groupings of stars calledclusters. All stars can appear individually or in hierarchical systems of co-orbiting stars. Each star can have orbiting sub-stellar bodies at various scales:brown dwarfs,exoplanets, moons, asteroids and comets, down to meteoroids.[178]
A major question in astronomy concerns the existence of life elsewhere in the universe. Although Earth is the only body within theSolar System known to support life, evidence suggests that in the distant past the planetMars possessed bodies of liquid water on the surface.[180] For a brief period in Mars' history, it may have also been capable of forming life. At present though, most of the water remaining on Mars is frozen.If life exists at all on Mars, it is most likely to be located underground where liquid water can still exist.[181] Conditions on the other terrestrial planets,Mercury andVenus, appear to be too harsh to support life as we know it. But it has been conjectured thatEuropa, the fourth-largest moon ofJupiter, may possess a sub-surface ocean of liquid water and could potentially host life.[182] Astronomers have discovered extrasolarEarth analogs – planets that lie in thehabitable zone of space surrounding astar, and therefore could possibly host life. However the requirements for life are not completely known and astronomical observations provide limited information.[183]
Naturalism, any of several philosophical stances, typically those descended frommaterialism andpragmatism that do not distinguish the supernatural from nature;[184] this includes themethodological naturalism of natural science, which makes themethodological assumption thatobservable events in nature are explained only by natural causes, without assuming either the existence or non-existence of the supernatural
^The etymology of the word "physical" shows its use as a synonym for "natural" in about the mid-15th century:Harper, Douglas."physical".Online Etymology Dictionary. RetrievedSeptember 20, 2006.
^An account of the pre-Socratic use of the concept ofφύσις may be found in Naddaf, Gerard (2006)The Greek Concept of Nature, SUNY Press, and inDucarme, Frédéric; Couvet, Denis (2020)."What does 'nature' mean?".Palgrave Communications.6 (14) 14.Springer Nature.doi:10.1057/s41599-020-0390-y. The wordφύσις, while first used in connection with a plant in Homer, occurs early in Greek philosophy, and in several senses. Generally, these senses match rather well the current senses in which the English wordnature is used, as confirmed by Guthrie, W.K.C.Presocratic Tradition from Parmenides to Democritus (volume 2 of hisHistory of Greek Philosophy), Cambridge UP, 1965.
^The first known use ofphysis was byHomer in reference to the intrinsic qualities of a plant: ὣς ἄρα φωνήσας πόρε φάρμακον ἀργεϊφόντης ἐκ γαίης ἐρύσας, καί μοιφύσιν αὐτοῦ ἔδειξε. (So saying, Argeiphontes [=Hermes] gave me the herb, drawing it from the ground, and showed me itsnature.)Odyssey 10.302–303 (ed. A.T. Murray). (The word is dealt with thoroughly in Liddell and Scott'sGreek LexiconArchived March 5, 2011, at theWayback Machine.) For later but still very early Greek uses of the term, see earlier note.
^De Vivo, Benedetto; et al. (2009)."Preface".Geology. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems. Vol. 1. UNESCO/EOLSS Publications. pp. xxx–xxxi.ISBN978-1-84826-004-7.
^Diamond, J.; et al. (1989). "The present, past and future of human-caused extinctions".Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B Biological Sciences.325 (1228):469–476, discussion 476–477.Bibcode:1989RSPTB.325..469D.doi:10.1098/rstb.1989.0100.PMID2574887.
^Andrault, Denis; Bolfan-Casanova, Nathalie (January 2022). "Mantle rain toward the Earth's surface: A model for the internal cycle of water".Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors.322 106815. id. 106815.Bibcode:2022PEPI..32206815A.doi:10.1016/j.pepi.2021.106815.
^"Ocean".The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press. 2002. Archived fromthe original on January 26, 2011. RetrievedJanuary 26, 2011.
^Britannica Online."Lake (physical feature)".Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. RetrievedJune 25, 2008.[a Lake is] any relatively large body of slowly moving or standing water that occupies an inland basin of appreciable size. Definitions that precisely distinguish lakes, ponds, swamps, and even rivers and other bodies of nonoceanic water are not well established. It may be said, however, that rivers and streams are relatively fast moving; marshes and swamps contain relatively large quantities of grasses, trees, or shrubs; and ponds are relatively small in comparison to lakes. Geologically defined, lakes are temporary bodies of water.
^"Lake Definition".Dictionary.com.Archived from the original on September 5, 2016. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2016.
^Brenner, M.; Escobar, J. (2009)."Ontogeny of Lake Ecosystems". In Likens, Gene E. (ed.).Encyclopedia of Inland Waters. Gale virtual reference library. Vol. 1. Academic Press. pp. 456–459.ISBN978-0-12-370626-3.
^Pusey, Bradley J.; Arthington, Angela H. (2003). "Importance of the riparian zone to the conservation and management of freshwater fish: a review".Marine and Freshwater Research.54 (1): 1.Bibcode:2003MFRes..54....1P.doi:10.1071/MF02041.
^"Linking Stream Geomorphology and Aquatic Ecology".Streams, Rivers, and Estuaries (STRIVE) Lab: School of Environment and Natural Resources. The Ohio State University. November 11, 2016. RetrievedSeptember 17, 2025.
^Cafferty, Brian J.; et al. (2018). "Searching for Possible Ancestors of RNA: The Self-Assembly Hypothesis for the Origin of Proto-RNA". In Menor-Salván, César (ed.).Prebiotic Chemistry and Chemical Evolution of Nucleic Acids. pp. 143–174.Bibcode:2018pcce.book..143C.doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93584-3_5.ISBN978-3-319-93583-6.
^The figure "about one-half of one percent" takes into account the following (See, e.g.,Leckie, Stephen (1999)."How Meat-centred Eating Patterns Affect Food Security and the Environment".For hunger-proof cities: sustainable urban food systems. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre.ISBN978-0-88936-882-8. Archived fromthe original on November 13, 2010., which takes global average weight as 60 kg.), the total human biomass is the average weight multiplied by the current human population of approximately 6.5 billion (see,e.g.,"World Population Information". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived fromthe original on September 22, 2006. RetrievedSeptember 28, 2006.): Assuming 60–70 kg to be the average human mass (approximately 130–150 lb on the average), an approximation of total global human mass of between 390 billion (390×109) and 455 billion kg (between 845 billion and 975 billion lb, or about 423 million–488 millionshort tons). The total biomass of all kinds on earth is estimated to be in excess of6.8×1013 kg (75 billion short tons). By these calculations, the portion of total biomass accounted for by humans would be very roughly 0.6%.
^Withers, Mark A.; et al. (1998)."Changing Patterns in the Number of Species in North American Floras".Land Use History of North America. Archived fromthe original on September 23, 2006. RetrievedSeptember 26, 2006. Website based on the contents of the book:Sisk, T.D., ed. (1998).Perspectives on the land use history of North America: a context for understanding our changing environment (Revised September 1999 ed.). U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division. USGS/BRD/BSR-1998-0003.
^"flora".Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Archived fromthe original on April 30, 2006. RetrievedSeptember 27, 2006.
^"Glossary".Status and Trends of the Nation's Biological Resources. Reston, VA: Department of the Interior, Geological Survey. 1998. SuDocs No. I 19.202:ST 1/V.1-2. Archived fromthe original on July 15, 2007.
^McLaughlin, Steven P. (1994). "Floristic plant geography: the classification of floristic areas and floristic elements".Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment.18 (2):185–208.Bibcode:1994PrPG...18..185M.doi:10.1177/030913339401800202.
^Panstruga, R.; et al. (July 7, 2023). "Looking outside the box: a comparative cross-kingdom view on the cell biology of the three major lineages of eukaryotic multicellular life".Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences.80 (8) 198.doi:10.1007/s00018-023-04843-3.
^Colgren, Jeffrey; Nichols, Scott A. (March 2020). "The significance of sponges for comparative studies of developmental evolution".WIREs Developmental Biology.9 (2) e359.doi:10.1002/wdev.359.PMID31352684.
^Kosal, Erica (2023)."Animal Kingdom".Introductory Biology: Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity. NC State University Libraries. RetrievedSeptember 18, 2025.
^Bradshaw, Corey J. A.; Ehrlich, Paul R.; Beattie, Andrew; Ceballos, Gerardo; Crist, Eileen; Diamond, Joan; Dirzo, Rodolfo; Ehrlich, Anne H.; Harte, John; Harte, Mary Ellen; Pyke, Graham; Raven, Peter H.; Ripple, William J.; Saltré, Frédérik; Turnbull, Christine; Wackernagel, Mathis; Blumstein, Daniel T. (2021)."Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future".Frontiers in Conservation Science.1 615419.Bibcode:2021FrCS....1.5419B.doi:10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419.
^Trimble, Virginia (June 1991). "The origin and abundances of the chemical elements revisited".The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review.3 (1):1–46.Bibcode:1991A&ARv...3....1T.doi:10.1007/BF00873456.
^Pardini, Carmen; Anselmo, Luciano (June 2025). "Orbital re-entries of human-made space objects: Drawbacks for the upper atmosphere and the safety of people".Journal of Space Safety Engineering.12 (2):274–283.doi:10.1016/j.jsse.2025.04.009.
Emerson, Ralph W. (1836).Nature. Boston: James Munroe & Co.
Farber, Paul Lawrence (2000),Finding Order in Nature: The Naturalist Tradition from Linnaeus to E. O. Wilson. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore.
.jpg)
_Lorryia_formosa_2_edit.jpg)
_version_2.png)
_02.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
