Portal:Environment

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Welcome to the Environment Portal
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Introduction

The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished as components:

  • Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, the atmosphere, and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries and their nature.
  • Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from civilized human actions.

In contrast to the natural environment is the built environment. Built environments are where humans have fundamentally transformed landscapes such as urban settings and agricultural land conversion, the natural environment is greatly changed into a simplified human environment. Even acts which seem less extreme, such as building a mud hut or a photovoltaic system in the desert, the modified environment becomes an artificial one. Though many animals build things to provide a better environment for themselves, they are not human, hence beaver dams, and the works of mound-building termites, are thought of as natural. (Full article...)

The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished as components:

  • Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, the atmosphere, and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries and their nature.
  • Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from civilized human actions.

In contrast to the natural environment is the built environment. Built environments are where humans have fundamentally transformed landscapes such as urban settings and agricultural land conversion, the natural environment is greatly changed into a simplified human environment. Even acts which seem less extreme, such as building a mud hut or a photovoltaic system in the desert, the modified environment becomes an artificial one. Though many animals build things to provide a better environment for themselves, they are not human, hence beaver dams, and the works of mound-building termites, are thought of as natural.

People cannot find absolutely natural environments on Earth, and 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 the Anthropocene have fundamentally effected all natural environments: including from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution from plastic and other chemicals in the air and water. 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, in an agricultural field, the mineralogic composition and the structure of its soil are similar to those of an undisturbed forest soil, but the structure is quite different. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Renewable energy in Russia mainly consists of hydroelectric energy. Russia is rich not only in oil, gas and coal, but also in wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass and solar energy – the resources of renewable energy. Practically all regions have at least one or two forms of renewable energy that are commercially exploitable, while some regions are rich in all forms of renewable energy resources. However, fossil fuels dominate Russia’s current energy mix, while its abundant and diverse renewable energy resources play little role. (Full article...)
List of selected articles

Did you know (auto-generated) -

  • ... that fictional depictions of Jupiter have portrayed human habitation on the planet and its moons both by altering the environment to suit humans and altering humans to be suited to the environment?
  • ... that the U.S. Public Health Service Environmental Health Divisions grew from a water-pollution research station in Cincinnati into the modern Environmental Protection Agency?
  • ... that critics objected to Dangers of the Mail in the 1930s for government support of lewdness and in the 2000s for creating a hostile work environment?
  • ... that Carol Van Strum, an environmental activist who wrote the book A Bitter Fog, accumulated 20,000 documents across 40 years that revealed corporate and government cover-ups?
  • ... that ice XVII (structure shown) potentially has a use in green technology as a medium for storing hydrogen?
  • ... that to preserve the surrounding natural environment, Tsunoshima Bridge curves to avoid an island?
  • ... that the UN Human Rights Committee recognized a correlation between the right to life and protection of the environment in Portillo Cáceres v Paraguay?
  • ... that Desulfovibrio vulgaris can remove toxic heavy metals from the environment?

Selected image -

Deforestation in Tierras Bajas, Bolivia.
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 reduced biodiversity.

Current events

Selected biography -

Thunberg in 2023

Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɡrêːta ˈtʉ̂ːnbærj] ⓘ; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.

Thunberg's climate activism began when she persuaded her parents to adopt lifestyle choices that reduced her family's carbon footprint. At age 15, Thunberg began skipping school on 20 August 2018, vowing to remain out of school until after the national Swedish election in an attempt to influence the outcome. She protested outside the Swedish parliament where she called for stronger action on climate change by holding up a Skolstrejk för klimatet (School Strike for Climate) sign and handing out informational flyers. After the election, Thunberg spoke in front of her supporters, telling them to use their phones to film her. She then said that she would be continuing school striking for the climate every Friday until Sweden was in compliance with the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Thunberg's youth and blunt speaking manner fueled her rise to the status of a global icon. (Full article...)
List of selected biographies

Selected organization -

Awaaz Foundation (meaning "the organisation against sound" – "Awaaz" means "sound" in Urdu) is a charitable trust and non-governmental organisation in Mumbai, India which builds awareness, carries out advocacy, and is involved in educational projects to protect the environment and prevent environmental pollution. It has impacted many important decisions by the government and influenced policy making in important environmental matters in India. The beneficiaries of the Foundation are the citizens of India at large.

Awaaz Foundation was founded on 21 February 2006 by Sumaira Abdulali, a well-known environmentalist, who has exposed many scandals of environmental villainy in India at personal risk. The Foundation has filed several public interest litigations, including demands for strict implementation of noise pollution laws, better functioning of Mumbai's Tree Authority, reducing noise pollution, banning sale of tobacco to minors, efforts to counter the politically sponsored sand mining mafia and recognition of the biodiverse Sawantwadi-Dodamarg wildlife corridor as an ecologically sensitive area. (Full article...)
List of selected organizations

General images -

The following are images from various environment-related articles on Wikipedia.
  • A conifer forest in the Swiss Alps (National Park). (from Ecoregion)
  • Trichodesmium bloom off the Great Barrier Reef (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • Aerial view of stormwater treatment areas in the northern Everglades bordered by sugarcane fields on the right (from Restoration of the Everglades)
  • Rachel Carson published her groundbreaking novel, Silent Spring, in 1962, bringing the study of environmental science to the forefront of society. (from Environmental science)
  • Rich rainforest habitat in Dominica (from Habitat)
  • Compartments 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 in Everglades National Park. (from Restoration of the Everglades)
  • Rainforest ecosystems are rich in biodiversity. This is the Gambia River in Senegal's Niokolo-Koba National Park. (from Ecosystem)
  • A map of the bioregions of Canada and the US. (from Ecoregion)
  • Few creatures make the ice shelves of Antarctica 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. (from Habitat)
  • Blue Marble composite images generated by NASA in 2001 (left) and 2002 (right) (from Environmental science)
  • A team of British researchers found a hole in the ozone layer forming over Antarctica, the discovery of which would later influence the Montreal Protocol in 1987. (from Environmental science)
  • Loch Lomond in Scotland forms a relatively isolated ecosystem. The fish community of this lake has remained stable over a long period until a number of introductions in the 1970s restructured its food web. (from Ecosystem)
  • Global oceanic and terrestrial phototroph abundance, from September 1997 to August 2000. As an estimate of autotroph biomass, it is only a rough indicator of primary production potential and not an actual estimate of it. (from Ecosystem)
  • Natural water drainage patterns prior to development in South Florida, circa 1900 (from Restoration of the Everglades)
  • An Antarctic rock split apart to show endolithic lifeforms showing as a green layer a few millimeters thick (from Habitat)
  • Acropora with brown band disease, Lizard Island (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • Twenty-five years after the devastating eruption at Mount St. Helens, United States, pioneer species have moved in. (from Habitat)
  • Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (Olson et al. 2001, BioScience) (from Ecoregion)
  • The Amazon River in Brazil. (from Ecoregion)
  • The 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. (from Environmental science)
  • Biodiversity of a coral reef. Corals adapt and modify their environment by forming calcium carbonate skeletons. This provides growing conditions for future generations and forms a habitat for many other species. (from Environmental science)
  • The Shen Neng 1 aground on the Great Barrier Reef, 5 April 2010 (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • WWF terrestrial ecoregions (from Ecoregion)
  • A portion of the C-38 canal, finished in 1971, now backfilled to restore the Kissimmee River floodplain to a more natural state (from Restoration of the Everglades)
  • Roseate spoonbills, along with other wading birds, have decreased by 90% since the 1930s and 1940s. (from Restoration of the Everglades)
  • A major coral bleaching event took place on this part of the Great Barrier Reef (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • A map of the Amazon rainforest ecoregions. The yellow line encloses the ecoregions per the World Wide Fund for Nature. (from Ecoregion)
  • Wetland habitat types in Borneo (from Habitat)
  • Sea temperature and bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • The High Peaks Wilderness Area in the 6,000,000-acre (2,400,000 ha) Adirondack Park is an example of a diverse ecosystem. (from Ecosystem)
  • The Earth's atmosphere (from Environmental science)
  • Climbing ferns overtake cypress trees in the Everglades. The ferns act as "fire ladders" that can destroy trees that would otherwise survive fires. (from Restoration of the Everglades)
  • A freshwater lake in Gran Canaria, an island of the Canary Islands. Clear boundaries make lakes convenient to study using an ecosystem approach.
    (from Ecosystem)
  • This coral reef in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area provides habitat for numerous marine species. (from Habitat)
  • Biological nitrogen cycling (from Ecosystem)
  • Structure 65B on the Kissimmee River is destroyed by the Corps of Engineers in 2000 to restore the natural flow of the river. (from Restoration of the Everglades)
  • The leaves of an Alnus nepalensis tree provide a microhabitat for species like the leaf beetle Aulacophora indica. (from Habitat)
  • Tropical Cyclone Larry over the Great Barrier Reef, 19 March 2006 (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • Ibex in an alpine habitat (from Habitat)
  • Cattails indicate the presence of phosphorus in the water. Cattails are an invasive species; they crowd out sawgrass and grow too thick to allow nesting for birds and alligators. (from Restoration of the Everglades)
  • Dense mass of white crabs at a hydrothermal vent, with stalked barnacles on right (from Habitat)
  • Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Ecosystem)
  • Sequence of a decomposing pig carcass over time (from Ecosystem)
  • The Ötztal Alps, a mountain range in the central Alps of Europe, are part of the Central Eastern Alps, and can both be termed as ecoregions. (from Ecoregion)
  • Current water drainage patterns in South Florida in 2005 (from Restoration of the Everglades)
  • A protest against the Adani Carmichael mine, 2016 (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • View of Earth, taken in 1972 by the Apollo 17 crew. Approximately 71% of Earth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) consists of ocean (from Ecoregion)
  • Proportion of forest area by forest area density class and global ecological zone, 2015, from Food and Agriculture Organization publication The State of the World's Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief (from Ecoregion)
  • Flora of Baja California desert, Cataviña region, Mexico (from Ecosystem)
  • Environmental science examines the effects of humans on nature, such as the Glen Canyon Dam in the United States (from Environmental science)
  • Crown-of-thorns starfish and eaten coral off the coast of Cooktown, Queensland (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • Storage Silos on the Gladstone waterfront, an industrial area in the water catchment area (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • Catchments along the Great Barrier Reef (from Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef)
  • A 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. (from Environmental science)
  • Desert scene in Egypt (from Habitat)
  • Planned water recovery and storage implementation using CERP strategies (from Restoration of the Everglades)

Selected quote -

More did you know -

  • ... that Minamata disease was caused by mercury poisoning due to pollution drained into Minamata Bay in Japan?
  • ... that each year in 22,500 cemeteries across the United States approximately 30 million board feet (70,000 m³) of hardwoods are buried as caskets?
  • ... that Summer Rayne Oakes has been called "the world's first eco-model" because she only models clothes made from organic or recycled materials?

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