NATURAL ENVIRONMET

Environment refers to a complex of surrounding circumstances, conditions, or influences in which a thing is situated or is developed. Environment is the external forces affecting living things, while nature is the inner force..

The natural environment comprises all living and non-living things that occur naturally on Earth. Some would say in its purest sense, it is an environment that is not the result of human activity or intervention, but this is incorrect because the natural environment comprises all living things including human beings. The only distinction is an irrational prejudice on the basis of species alone, which non-human animal rights supporters call speciesism - that is, differentiating humans from other animals purely on the grounds that they are human. The natural environment may be contrasted to the built environment, and is also in contrast to the concept of a cultural landscape. In many contexts, the term used is simply environment, as with the name of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and such organizations as Environmental Defense.

There is a difficulty with the term "natural environment" in that nearly all present environments have been directly or indirectly influenced by humans. 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 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 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 such as Global warming caused by anthropogenic releases of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide, and their interactions with human uses and the natural environment. 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.

ENVIRNMENT WORLDWIDE DAY

Mayors from around the globe took the historic step of signing the Urban Environmental Accords on 5 June 2005 in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall in recognition of United Nations World Environment Day 2005. San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom, said what we have accomplished here will change the world. “What we started here is only the beginning - the start of a new way of thinking about our earth, and the start of a new global environmental grassroots movement focused on cities,” the Mayor stressed.

GOOD ENVIRONMETAL PRACTICES

Rresearch is increasingly demonstrating that our health is affected, not only by our lifestyle and whether or not we are susceptible to illness, but also by our interaction with the environment in which we live and the chemicals and other substances to which we are exposed in our everyday lives.

The Trust recognises that pollution can be a trigger for those susceptible to certain illnesses and, just as the research it funds aims to improve human health and wellbeing, the Trust also seeks to conduct its activities so as to minimise its environmental impact.

• Consider the potential environmental impact of any new planned activities or developments, work to minimise any negative impacts and, where possible, seek to make a positive contribution to the local environment
• Aaim to reduce energy use and improve energy efficiency
• A aim to minimise the use of all consumable materials and use renewable and recycleable materials where possible
• Continue, where possible, to recycle office and kitchen waste and review what further measures can be undertaken
• Encourage all staff to adopt environmentally sound transport policies
• Raise awareness of the Trust's environmental activity among its staff.
• These guidelines apply to the Wellcome Trust headquarters in London. They will also be made available to the Trust's subsidiaries, which will be encouraged to develop their own guidelines, to reflect the nature of the activities undertaken by the subsidiary and the conditions in which they are carried out.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an assessment of the likely human environmental health impact, risk to ecological health, and changes to nature's services that a project may have. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision-makers consider environmental impacts before deciding whether to proceed with new projects.

Temperatures at the Earth’s surface increased by an estimated 1oF (0.6oC) over the 20th century.  The 1990s were the hottest decade of the entire century; perhaps even the millennium, and 1998, 2001, and 2002 were three of the hottest years ever recorded.  The growing scientific consensus is that this warming is largely the result of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from human activities including industrial processes, fossil fuel combustion, and changes in land use, such as deforestation.  Projections of future warming suggest a global increase of 2.5oF (1.4oC) to 10.4oF (5.8oC) by 2100, with warming in the United States expected to be even higher.  This warming, along with the associated changes in precipitation and sea-level rise will have important consequences for the U.S. environment and economy.

The objective of the Pew Center's Environmental Impacts Program is to advance public and private policy-makers' understanding of the climate system and the consequences of climate change for the United States.  We work to inform this understanding by bringing sound, credible analysis to the assessment of climate change science as well as the environmental and economic implications of climate change to various sectors of the United States, including natural ecosystems and resources, human health, and infrastructure.

To accomplish this objective, the Pew Center publishes a report series on the science and environmental impacts of climate change.  These reports are authored by experts from the scientific community and review the current state of knowledge regarding the implications of climate change across various sectors.  The Pew Center also sponsors periodic workshops that explore the implications of environmental impacts for climate change policy.  Meanwhile, the Pew Center constantly strives to build relationships with members of the scientific, policy, and business community to increase the level of awareness regarding the science and impacts of climate change. 

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Environmental education refers to organized efforts to teach about how natural environments function and, particularly, how human beings can manage their behavior and ecosystems in order to live sustainably. The term is often used to imply education within the school system, from primary to post-secondary. However, it is sometimes used more broadly to include all efforts to educate the public and other audiences, including print materials, websites, media campaigns, etc.

Teaching about the natural and built environment provides a real-world context for learning by linking the classroom to the students' community. Students are engaged in hands-on, active learning that increases their knowledge and awareness about the environment. Because environmental education encourages inquiry and investigation, students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective decision-making skills. Environmentally literate students become citizens who are able to weigh various sides of an environmental issue and make responsible decisions as individuals and as members of their community. Quality, standards-based environmental education improves everyday life by protecting human health and encouraging stewardship of natural resources.

ECOLOGY

Ecology is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how the distribution and abundance are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both physical properties, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as insolation (sunlight), climate, and geology, as well as the other organisms that share its habitat. The term oekologie was coined in 1866 by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel the word is derived from the Greek οικος (oikos, "household") and λόγος (logos, "study"); therefore "ecology" means the "study of the household [of nature]". The word "ecology" is often used in common parlance as a synonym for the natural environment or environmentalism. Likewise "ecologic" or "ecological" is often taken in the sense of environmentally friendly.

BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often a measure of the health of biological systems to indicate the degree to which the aggregate of historical species are viable versus extinct.

Biodiversity is a broad concept, so a variety of objective measures have been created in order to empirically measure biodiversity. Each measure of biodiversity relates to a particular use of the data.For practical conservationists, this measure should quantify a value that is broadly shared among locally affected people. For others, a more economically defensible definition should allow the ensuring of continued possibilities for both adaptation and future use by people, assuring environmental sustainability.

As a consequence, biologists argue that this measure is likely to be associated with the variety of genes. Since it cannot always be said which genes are more likely to prove beneficial, the best choice for conservation is to assure the persistence of as many genes as possible. For ecologists, this latter approach is sometimes considered too restrictive, as it prohibits ecological succession.Biodiversity is usually plotted as taxonomic richness of a geographic area, with some reference to a temporal scale. Whittaker[4] described three common metrics used to measure species-level biodiversity, encompassing attention to species richness or species evenness..

Environmental Movement

EThe Environmental Movement (a term that sometimes includes the conservation and green movements) is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement. In general terms, environmentalists advocate the sustainable management of resources, and the protection (and restoration, when necessary) of the natural environment through changes in public policy and individual behavior. In its recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the movement is centered around ecology, health, and human rights. Additionally, throughout history, the movement has been incorporated into religion. The movement is represented by a range of organizations, from the large to grassroots. Due to its large membership, varying and strong beliefs, the movement is not entirely united. It has also spawned Environmental art, a distinct movement which presses an environmental message within contemporary art..

POLLUTION

Pollution is the contamination of air, water, or earth by harmful substances. Concern for pollution developed alongside concerns for the environment in general. See Environmental law. The advent of automobiles, increased chemical wastes, nuclear wastes, and accumulation of garbage in landfills created a need for legislation specifically aimed at decreasing pollution. Among the types of pollution, the one that has existed longer than any other is water pollution. Its consequences are readily seen when pollutants reach groundwater reservoirs, creating serious health hazards to people drinking the water.

Pollution means any contamination of air, soil, water and environment. Why, even loud noise and sound is also a part of pollution.

Air pollution – Harmful gases and tiny particles (like carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide) when released into the air pollute the air. The smoke released from burning fuel, from factories and not to forget the motor cars are the major sources of air pollution.  Air pollution is one of the major cause of that funny cough, asthma and burning eyes that you develop.

Water pollution – All that dirty water from our house drains through the pipes into river, oceans dirtying the water. Can you imagine all those chemicals from factories draining into the river? And that is the water that you drink. Think about all the diseases that you can get from drinking such water.Land pollution – All that plastic and dirt that you throw on the ground dirties the land and when you don’t maintain the hygiene, then disease prevails.

Noise pollution – You want to listen to head banging rock music and your parents orbit into the space. But have you thought about your dear little sensitive ears? How much can they take?   Not much and the effect is seen within a few years when you can’t hear what people say. You land up becoming deaf. Not to mention other problems like high blood pressure and other diseases that you develop.

Prevention of pollution is the best policy to prevent lot of diseases- Here is your chance to take care of this world. Start right from your home and make a difference – cleaner and a healthier place to live in.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth, external forces (e.g. variations in sunlight intensity) or, more recently, human activities.

Ever since the earth came into being there has been a climate system. The climate of a place is the average weather that it experiences over a period of time. The factors that determine the climate at a location are the rainfall, sunshine, wind, humidity, and temperature.

While changes in the weather may occur suddenly and noticeably, changes in the climate take a long time to settle in and are therefore less obvious. Throughout the earth's history there have been changes in the climate. There have been well-marked cold and hot periods and all life forms adapted naturally to this change.

Over the last 150-200 years the change has been taking place too rapidly and certain plant and animal species have found it hard to adapt. Human activities are said to be responsible for the speed at which this change has occurred and it is now a cause of worry to scientists. The atmosphere surrounding the earth is made up of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%) and the remainder, 1%, is made up of trace gases (called so because they are present in very small quantities) that include the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, water vapour, and nitrous oxide. These greenhouse gases act as a blanket and protect it from the harmful ultra violet rays of the sun. They can also be regarded as natural controllers of the earth's temperature system..