Thenatural environment ornatural world encompasses allbiotic andabiotic things occurringnaturally, meaning in this case notartificial. The term is most often applied toEarth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses the interaction of all livingspecies,climate, weather and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity.The concept of thenatural environment can be distinguished as components:
Completeecological units that function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation,microorganisms,soil,rocks, plateaus, mountains, theatmosphere andnatural phenomena that occur within their boundaries and their nature.
In contrast to the natural environment is thebuilt environment. Built environments are where humans have fundamentally transformed landscapes such as urban settings and agriculturalland conversion, the natural environment is greatly changed into a simplified human environment. Even acts which seem less extreme, such as building a mudhut or aphotovoltaic system in thedesert, the modified environment becomes an artificial one. Though many animals build things to provide a better environment for themselves, they are not human, hencebeaver dams and the works ofmound-building termites are thought of as natural.
There are noabsolutely natural environments on Earth. Naturalness usually varies in a continuum, from 100% natural in one extreme to 0% natural in the other. The massive environmental changes of humanity in theAnthropocene have fundamentally affected all natural environments including:climate change,biodiversity loss andpollution from plastic andother chemicals in theair andwater. More precisely, we can consider the different aspects or components of an environment, and see that their degree of naturalness is not uniform. If, for instance, we take an agricultural field, and consider themineralogic composition and thestructure of its soil, we will find that whereas the first is quite similar to that of an undisturbed forest soil, the structure is quite different. (Full article...)
The Leaf was unveiled on 1 August 2009 as the world's firstmass market electric and zero-emission vehicle. Among other awards and recognition, it received the 2010Green Car Vision Award, the 2011European Car of the Year, the 2011World Car of the Year, and the 2011–2012Car of the Year Japan. The Leaf'srange on a full charge has been steadily increased from 117 km (73 miles) to 364 km (226 miles) (EPA rated) by the use of larger battery packs and several minor improvements. (Full article...)
... that environmental journalistGloria Dickie wrote her thesis on how cities in Colorado changed garbage laws to prevent bear incursions?
... that critics objected toDangers of the Mail in the 1930s for government support of lewdness and in the 2000s for creating a hostile work environment?
... that German social media personalityMaya Leinenbach became vegan after completing a school project on the influence of nutrition and consumption on the environment?
Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area, or wasteland. Generally, the removal or destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reducedbiodiversity.
Fuller developed numerous inventions, mainly architectural designs, and popularized the widely knowngeodesic dome;carbon molecules known asfullerenes were later named by scientists for their structural and mathematical resemblance to geodesic spheres. He also served as the second World President ofMensa International from 1974 to 1983. (Full article...)
The following are images from various environment-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Compartments established by C&SF projects that separated the historic Everglades into Water Conservation Areas and the Everglades Agricultural Area. One-fourth of the original Everglades is preserved inEverglades National Park. (fromRestoration of the Everglades)
Image 4View of Earth, taken in 1972 by theApollo 17 crew. Approximately 71% ofEarth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) consists ofocean (fromEcoregion)
Image 8Proportion of forest area by forest area density class and global ecological zone, 2015, fromFood and Agriculture Organization publication The State of the World's Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief (fromEcoregion)
Image 20A team of British researchers found a hole in the ozone layer forming over Antarctica, the discovery of which would later influence theMontreal Protocol in 1987. (fromEnvironmental science)
Image 24Biodiversity of a coral reef. Corals adapt and modify their environment by formingcalcium carbonate skeletons. This provides growing conditions for future generations and forms a habitat for many other species. (fromEnvironmental science)
Image 28Loch Lomond inScotland forms a relatively isolated ecosystem. The fish community of this lake has remained stable over a long period until a number ofintroductions in the 1970s restructured itsfood web. (fromEcosystem)
Image 33A false color composite of the greater Boston area, created using remote sensing technology, reveals otherwise not visible characteristics about the land cover and the health of the surrounding ecosystems. (fromEnvironmental science)
Image 34Environmental science examines the effects of humans on nature, such as theGlen Canyon Dam in the United States (fromEnvironmental science)
Image 35Few creatures make theice shelves ofAntarctica their habitat, but water beneath the ice can provide habitat for multiple species. Animals such as penguins have adapted to live in very cold conditions. (fromHabitat)
Image 36Sequence of a decomposing pig carcass over time (fromEcosystem)
Image 37Aerial view of stormwater treatment areas in the northern Everglades bordered by sugarcane fields on the right (fromRestoration of the Everglades)
Image 38Dense mass of white crabs at a hydrothermal vent, with stalked barnacles on right (fromHabitat)
Image 50Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (Olson et al. 2001, BioScience) (fromEcoregion)
Image 51Global oceanic and terrestrial phototroph abundance, from September 1997 to August 2000. As an estimate ofautotroph biomass, it is only a rough indicator of primary production potential and not an actual estimate of it. (fromEcosystem)
Image 52Climbingferns overtakecypress trees in the Everglades. The ferns act as "fire ladders" that can destroy trees that would otherwise survive fires. (fromRestoration of the Everglades)
Image 53The Paris Agreement (formerly the Kyoto Protocol) is adopted in 2016. Nearly every country in the United Nations has signed the treaty, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (fromEnvironmental science)
... that the idea of atmospheric gases trapping the Suns heat to produce thegreenhouse effect was put forward byJoseph Fourier in the 1820’s?
... that the globalecological footprint is 1.8 global hectares (gha) per capita?
... thatrivers have been classified by many criteria, including theirtopography, theirbiotic status and their relevance to white waterrafting andcanoeing activities?
... thatSummer Rayne Oakes has been called "the world's firsteco-model" because she only models clothes made from organic or recycled materials?
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