Portal:Environment

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Introduction Land management has preserved the natural characteristics of Hopetoun Falls, Australia while allowing ample access for visitors. The natural environment or natural world encompasses all biotic and abiotic 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,plateaus, mountains, 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...) Land management has preserved the natural characteristics of Hopetoun Falls, Australia while allowing ample access for visitors. The natural environment or natural world encompasses all biotic and abiotic 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,plateaus, mountains, 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 - A timelapse composite panorama of different natural phenomena and environments around Mount Bromo, Indonesia. Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part of nature, human activity or humans as a whole are often described as at times at odds, or outright separate and even superior to nature. During the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries, nature became the passive reality, organized and moved by divine laws. With the Industrial revolution, nature increasingly became seen as the part of reality deprived from intentional intervention: it was hence considered as sacred by some traditions (Rousseau, American transcendentalism) or a mere decorum for divine providence or human history (Hegel, Marx). However, a vitalist vision of nature, closer to the pre-Socratic one, got reborn at the same time, especially after Charles Darwin. (Full article...) List of selected articles Global warming Kyoto Protocol Sustainability Sustainable development Invasive species Renewable energy Urban heat island Food waste in the United Kingdom 100,000-year problem Abyssal plain Leopold Report Global dimming Climate variability and change Tropical cyclone Merchants of Doubt Great Barrier Reef Exelon Pavilions Solar energy Three Gorges Dam Energy in Iceland High-level radioactive waste management Hanford Site Restoration of the Everglades Nissan Leaf Plug-in electric vehicle The World Without Us Retreat of glaciers since 1850 Ecosystem FernGully: The Last Rainforest Indirect land use change impacts of biofuels Agriculture Ecology An Inconvenient Truth Green marketing Patterns in nature Anti-nuclear movement in Australia The Clean Tech Revolution African humid period Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand Climate system Congestion pricing Decline in amphibian populations Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef Requiem for a Species Renewable energy in Russia March for Science Portland Global Climate Coalition Wind power Sea level rise Seacology 1966 New York City smog Conservation of slow lorises Draining and development of the Everglades The World Without Us Did you know - London Smog ...that the word smog is a portmanteau of smoke and fog? ... that the first National Park was the Yellowstone National Park in the United States? ... that since 1500 CE 784 extinctions have been documented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources? ... that climate change scenarios, Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) were superseded by Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)? ... that the entire editorial board of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health resigned in protest in November 2017 over disputes involving the new editor-in-chief? Selected image - Ecological footprint analysis measures human demand on nature. It compares human consumption of natural resources with planet Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate them. It is an estimate of the amount of biologically productive land and sea area needed to regenerate the resources a human population consumes and to absorb the corresponding waste, given prevailing technology. Using this assessment, it is possible to estimate how many planet Earth's it would take to support humanity if everybody lived a given lifestyle. While the measure is widely used, some also criticize the approach. In 2003, the average biologically productive area per person worldwide was approximately 1.8 global hectares (gha) per capita. The US footprint per capita was 9.6 gha, and that of Switzerland was 5.1 gha per person, whilst China's was 1.6 gha per person. The WWF claims that the human footprint has exceeded the biocapacity (the available supply of natural resources) of the planet by 25%. Current events News April 21: European Union to reduce carbon emissions by 55% of 1990 levels by 2030 November 27: Wikinews interviews Craig Farquharson, Liberal Democrat candidate for 2020 Groom by-election November 26: Wikinews interviews Sandra Jephcott, Sustainable Australia candidate for 2020 Groom by-election December 12: Greta Thunberg named 2019 Time Person of the Year Selected biography - Official portrait, 2010 Carol Martha Browner (born December 16, 1955) is an American lawyer, environmentalist, and businesswoman, who served as director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011. Browner previously served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001. She currently works as a Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm. Browner grew up in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida and the University of Florida College of Law. After working for the Florida House of Representatives, she was employed by Citizen Action in Washington, D.C. She became a legislative assistant for Senators Lawton Chiles and Al Gore. Browner then headed the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation from 1991 to 1993, where she turned it into one of the most active departments in the state government. (Full article...) List of selected biographies David Suzuki Rachel Carson John Muir Al Gore Marjory Stoneman Douglas Ernst Haeckel Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford David Attenborough June Haimoff Jonathon Porritt Chico Mendes Arne Næss George Monbiot Gro Harlem Brundtland Paul R. Ehrlich Buckminster Fuller Donella Meadows Amory Lovins Elinor Ostrom Wangari Maathai James Bernard Harkin Lester R. Brown Gary Varner Clare Palmer Greta Thunberg Robert Sterling Yard Mauricio González-Gordon y Díez Bob Marshall (wilderness activist) Selected organization - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) set up the IPCC in 1988. The United Nations endorsed the creation of the IPCC later that year. It has a secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, hosted by the WMO. It has 195 member states who govern the IPCC. The member states elect a bureau of scientists to serve through an assessment cycle. A cycle is usually six to seven years. The bureau selects experts in their fields to prepare IPCC reports. There is a formal nomination process by governments and observer organizations to find these experts. The IPCC has three working groups and a task force, which carry out its scientific work. The IPCC informs governments about the state of knowledge of climate change. It does this by examining all the relevant scientific literature on the subject. This includes the natural, economic and social impacts and risks. It also covers possible response options. The IPCC does not conduct its own original research. It aims to be objective and comprehensive. Thousands of scientists and other experts volunteer to review the publications. They compile key findings into "Assessment Reports" for policymakers and the general public; Experts have described this work as the biggest peer review process in the scientific community. (Full article...) List of selected organizations Greenpeace Brundtland Commission The Nature Conservancy International Union for Conservation of Nature World Wide Fund for Nature The Wildlife Trusts Green Party of Canada Sierra Club General images - The following are images from various environment-related articles on Wikipedia. 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) 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) Rachel Carson published her groundbreaking novel, Silent Spring, in 1962, bringing the study of environmental science to the forefront of society. (from Environmental science) Flora of Baja California desert, Cataviña region, Mexico (from Ecosystem) Biological nitrogen cycling (from Ecosystem) 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) Dense mass of white crabs at a hydrothermal vent, with stalked barnacles on right (from Habitat) An Antarctic rock split apart to show endolithic lifeforms showing as a green layer a few millimeters thick (from Habitat) 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) Twenty-five years after the devastating eruption at Mount St. Helens, United States, pioneer species have moved in. (from Habitat) Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Ecosystem) 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) 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) Rich rainforest habitat in Dominica (from Habitat) The Earth's atmosphere (from Environmental science) The leaves of an Alnus nepalensis tree provide a microhabitat for species like the leaf beetle Aulacophora indica. (from Habitat) Blue Marble composite images generated by NASA in 2001 (left) and 2002 (right) (from Environmental science) Rainforest ecosystems are rich in biodiversity. This is the Gambia River in Senegal's Niokolo-Koba National Park. (from Ecosystem) Desert scene in Egypt (from Habitat) WWF terrestrial ecoregions (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) Environmental science examines the effects of humans on nature, such as the Glen Canyon Dam in the United States (from Environmental science) 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) A conifer forest in the Swiss Alps (National Park). (from Ecoregion) A map of the Amazon rainforest ecoregions. The yellow line encloses the ecoregions per the World Wide Fund for Nature. (from Ecoregion) Sequence of a decomposing pig carcass over time (from Ecosystem) This coral reef in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area provides habitat for numerous marine species. (from Habitat) 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) Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (Olson et al. 2001, BioScience) (from Ecoregion) Ibex in an alpine habitat (from Habitat) Wetland habitat types in Borneo (from Habitat) 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) 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 Amazon River in Brazil. (from Ecoregion) A map of the bioregions of Canada and the US. (from Ecoregion) 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) Selected quote - Main topics Natural environment Acid rain Biodiversity Climate change Conservation Deforestation Desertification Ecosystem Environmental economics Environmental law Environmental policy Environmental science Environmentalism Environmental technology Global warming Greenhouse gas Green Politics Lists (Books, Dates, Issues) Ozone depletion Recycling Renewable energy Soil retrogression and degradation Sustainable development Waste management Related articles Things you can do This list is transcluded from the tasks list page. To edit the list, click here Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : Article requests can be posted at: Natural sciences requests page, Create articles for red-links at Vertical kiln, Geoecology, Environmental behavior, Environmental perception, Environmental writing. Copyedit : Ecosystem management Expand : Environmentalist, Environment (biophysical), Environment minister, Environmental studies, Habitat, Micro-sustainability, Built environment, Southeast Asian haze Maintain : Environment pages needing attention, 2024 in the environment and environmental sciences NPOV : DDT (see Talk:DDT), Energy development, Hydraulic fracturing Photo : Environmental chemistry Stubs : Stub categories: Environment, Environmental organizations, International development, Renewable energy, Sustainability, Waste, Water supply, More... Update : Ecosystem management, Renewable energy transition, List of highly toxic gases Verify : Appropriate technology, Biosphere, Environmental economics, Environmental engineering, Environmental ethics, Environmental movement, Environmental science, Human overpopulation, Natural environment, Pollution, Sustainable agriculture Other : * Articles needing expert attention: International development. 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