Environmental issues

‘The Environment’ is a blanket term that includes two primary areas. The environment includes everything around us that is living or non-living. The first of the two areas of the environment is nature as it exists without human interference - animals, plants, microorganisms, even the atmosphere and soil.

The second area that forms a part of the environment is all that does not come from humans. These include forces of nature and forms of energy - elements like air and water, energy like radiation, magnetism and electric force and the climate.

The natural environment as we know it contrasts heavily with the built environment, which is everything that’s completely influenced by our own activity. If you take one geographical region, it can only be considered as a natural environment, if the human impact on it is at its minimum.

Typical examples for existing natural environments are national forests and restricted large nature reserves. While the exact conditions required to be termed as a natural environment can vary from place to place, the term wilderness simply belongs to regions completely without human interference.

There are so few regions that can be considered to be natural environments now. Climate changes can account for some of this - climate changes caused by human influence. We have unseasonal rains and floods, melting icecaps and glaciers, and rising temperatures. Natural environmentalist groups play a major role in trying to keep natural environments intact. They try to push through laws and policies that will preserve the environment - keeping what there is safe, and trying to restore what was lost, as well as trying to create altogether new wilderness areas.

The common environmental preservation goals include several short-term and long-term aspirations. These include reducing pollution and cleaning up to achieve a zero pollution level, using non-recyclable materials to create energy, minimising non-renewable fuel consumption in society, developing alternative energy sources, conserving precious resources such as air, water and land, protecting pure ecosystems, preserving endangered species and maintaining the biodiversity that all life forms on Earth depend on.

With all the pollution that the earth has to face every day, there is every need to be concerned about our natural environment. Industrial plants, huge development projects - everything that is supposed to advance the human race sets the Earth back drastically. Global warming is just one of the many things we have to worry about.

We are the reason the natural environment is facing such danger. It is our responsibility to try and preserve the environment - not just stop damaging it, but fixing the damage that has been done. There is no time to lose - preservation can start right at home.

Tags: conservation
Filed under: conservation