Saving Our Environment
‘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 includes everything that is not human-originated, but are natural forces - but there are no clear lines drawn here. These forces include energy, radiation, magnetism, air, water, climate and electricity.
If you take a look around you, you will see that nature and man’s creations are at odds everywhere. What we have built constitutes the built environment. Any geographic region can be considered to be a natural environment only if the effect of human beings on it is as little as possible.
Wilderness, does not automatically mean a natural environment. Any area where there is no human interference at all is a wilderness. There are other conditions that need to be met if a region is to be considered a natural environment. National forests and nature reserves are considered to be part of the latter.
We all know that natural environments are dwindling now. Whether it is the melting of the glaciers or the rising temperatures everywhere or the erratic rains, human interference has thrown a major obstacle in the way of the natural climate and environment. This is what natural environmentalist groups are campaigning against. They are trying to make sure that what there is left is kept intact, and new areas that can be classified as natural environments are created, as well as new wildernesses.
There are plenty of things to be done to preserve the earth - pollution is a major concern that needs to be tackled. The depletion of non-renewable sources of energy is another concern. Many species have been wiped out and many others are on the brink of extinction. Land, air and water are not inexhaustible resources. The environmentalists try to preserve and protect the earth and its ecosystem in many ways, trying to tackle these problems.
The threats that the natural environment faces are many - when land is developed, nature suffers because of the pollution it inevitably includes. Toxic gases are spewed into the atmosphere by industrial plants, just as waste is being dumped everywhere. Global warming is not just a threat, but a reality now.
Since the human race is responsible for much of what is threatening the environment, it is up to the human race to fix it, as well. The time to start is now and the best place to begin is home.
