What is natural environment - Definition of natural environment

What is natural environment?

The natural environment is a state in which all living and nonliving things occur in a particular region. The natural environment in its totality is the biosphere. The biophysiological definition of the biosphere is: the global sum of all ecological systems integrating all living beings and their relationships and also their interactions with the surrounding natural nonliving elements. Most of man's actions alter the original prevailing conditions, affecting the ecosystems in a negative manner, in the vicinity or elsewhere.

There can be no absolute natural environment as the man's actions influence the original prevailing conditions, directly, indirectly or remotely. For example, the ozone layer or ozone shield in the stratosphere absorbs most of the UV radiation. There is natural maintenance of ozone levels by a continuing process called the ozone-oxygen cycle. However, the man-made chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and bromofluorocarbons on their release into the atmosphere rise to the stratosphere. There, they are broken down by the UV light, releasing Cl and Br radicals. These halogen radicals react and breakdown ozone molecules causing depletion of ozone layer. The depletion of ozone layer affects all the organisms on the Earth, wheresoever they may be, in many ways.

Image source: wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antarctic_(js)_18.jpg
Image attribution: Jerzy Strzelecki | License: CC BY-SA 3.0 The word natural environment is also used as the synonym of habitat. However habitat refers usually to the prevailing surroundings of a particular species, which may include the surroundings altered by human activity, intentionally or unintentionally. Wilderness is also considered to mean the same. Wilderness is defined as 'the intact, undisturbed wild areas left on Earth.' National Parks, national Forests, conservation preserves, wilderness areas and natural reserves are governmental efforts to protect, restore, conserve and keep intact the original conditions of the the whole fauna and flora of a particular place.

Image source: wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Polarlicht_2.jpg
Image attribution: USAF/Joshua Strang | License: Public domain

Definition

Definition by biology-online.org: "All living and non-living things that occur naturally on a particular region."
"A natural environment is one in which human impact is kept under a certain limited level."

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