The natural environment is the natural conditions that surround living organisms, contributing to or hindering their development. The habitat can directly or indirectly affect them, from it they get everything they need to sustain life. Organisms release metabolic products into the environment, which then, in turn, take part in natural processes. It consists of various elements of animate and inanimate nature, as well as those that are created by man in the process of his activity. These elements have different effects on organisms, can harm or have a neutral effect, some of which they need. Depending on this, there are many classifications of environmental factors, and in this article we will consider the most common of them.
Determination of the natural environment
Since the natural environment is, in fact, the surrounding natural elements, based on this, two categories are distinguished: the natural and the one that was created by man. The understanding of the natural environment also differs depending on the global scope of this concept, because you can mean by it the entire cosmic space that surrounds our planet, and in a more narrow sense - refer to this biosphere and the outer shell of the Earth. It is more correct to understand the environment as the interaction of various elements of the surrounding world, since the perception of elements in a static state does not fully correspond to reality.
So, we can derive several components of the natural environment:
- It consists of interacting elements.
- The natural environment can be understood in different aspects and scales, but its main feature is that it is a set of living conditions of a living creature.
- It affects the life of organisms in different ways: favorably, unfavorably and neutrally.
- Separate the natural environmental factors and those that are artificially created by man.
Next, we consider the environmental factors that shape the environment.
The natural environment and abiotic factors
This is a series of conditions that apply to an inorganic environment. They, in turn, are divided into chemical and physical. In the first category, inorganic nature is considered in terms of its chemical composition. For example, there is a big difference between fresh and salt water, some organisms can live in each of them, while others cannot exist. The chemical composition of the atmosphere, soil and other elements of the environment is also considered here. Physical ones include temperature of air, soil, water, pressure level, wind direction and strength, radiation parameters. It also discusses surface topography and climate data. Currently, ecologists pay special attention to the climate, which has an unfavorable tendency to change due to the anthropogenic factor.
Natural environment and biotic factors
The interconnection of living organisms on the planet is manifested here. So, animals eat other living organisms, controlling their population. Those, in turn, become the habitat of others, for example, parasites. Some living organisms pollinate others and thereby contribute to their reproduction. In this category, there is an amazing balance between the existence of plants and animals: the former emit oxygen, which animals need, and they, in turn, emit carbon dioxide, which plants need.
Natural environment and anthropogenic factors
These are the factors that arise due to human activities. They can be both positive and negative. A person is able to change the environment, adapting it to meet his needs. For example, the operation of a plant in the coal industry without the use of filters can very pollute the atmosphere due to heavy emissions. Waste can be disposed of in rivers and buried in the soil, which forces the animals to leave the familiar environment, they may even die. On the other hand, there are organizations that are trying to restore the number of individuals of endangered species, and this also applies to anthropogenic factors. Since human activity is very diverse, it can indirectly or directly affect environmental conditions, and in the middle of the 20th century, during the active growth of industry, scientists identified such a thing as “noosphere”, which is understood as the shell of the Earth, which is changed by man.