The environment refers to any physical place that we inhabit. In this context, the environment does not include human activities or any person made structures. The environment could also be used in a non-ecological way as the value of a place is not based on its utility such as livable spaces.
The natural environment encompasses all living and non living things existing naturally, which means in this case no artificial. The term is generally used to describe the Earth’s environment, or any specific sections of Earth. These are often separated from ecosystems that are not biological systems such as the oceans or seas, or terrestrial ecosystems such as plant life. It can also be used to define any part of the Earth’s atmosphere such as the ozone layer or the space environment.
Global warming and climate change are two specific effects of the destruction of the environment. One can be described as the gradual destruction of the ecosystems or biosphere by human activities. The other effect is global warming which is the rapid increase in the earth’s temperature. These two effects of global warming are actually closely related because both are brought about by human activities. The increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and the decreasing of the earth’s surface temperature are directly linked to each other.
Any type of ecosystem is a self-organized system of living creatures and their mutual interaction. It is made up of complex networks of species that are separated from one another and have a function to fulfill. Every ecosystem has both a ‘ground’, a base that hold ecosystems together and a ‘water’ that provides organisms with food and habitat. All living organisms living in an ecosystem need to be able to survive and to reproduce.
An environment has both living and non living organisms. Non living organic compounds are considered as the primary sources of pollution in the environment. Living organic compounds include air, water, land and plant life. The Earth’s atmosphere, for example, contains billions of tons of chemical elements that could potentially affect the earth’s climate and the functioning of the ecosystems. When large amounts of these chemicals enter the Earth’s atmosphere, they act as radiative forcing agents that alter the earth’s climate and atmosphere.
One example of a living organism is a virus. Every virus needs an entry point such as a cell wall to replicate itself and spread to other cells. The viruses that affect the ecosystems do this through the organisms that they infect. Examples of these organisms are bacteria, fungus, algae and various forms of algae. The lakes, rivers and streams provide the important source of these living organisms and their respective oxygen.