The environment refers to everything that exists within the earth’s atmosphere, including the climate of the surface, the vegetation, animals and the other things on earth. The earth’s atmosphere is constantly in a state of evolution, shifting from the state it was in earlier. This process has left the earth with many different ecosystems, each with its own characteristics, living and extinct animals, plants and minerals. The environment is also continually being disturbed by human activities, making it either a very comfortable or an inhospitable place to live. These factors have resulted in the diversity of the earth’s environment.

The environment is considered to be the physical and chemical composition of the earth in its present-day state, including all living and nonliving things currently existing on earth. The terms biotic and abiotic are used to describe the earth’s ecosystems as they were in their most stable state. The word abiotic is usually applied only to the surface or at the least some portion of the earth’s soil. The term biotic refers to those ecosystems in which living organisms occur naturally and those in which they have been artificially introduced. Abiotic ecosystems may exist in conjunction with one another or independently, with some examples of these ecosystems being escapes.

Environment plays a major role in human developments. For example, without the presence of oxygen and other air-breathing chemicals in the atmosphere, life as we know it would not exist as we know it today. The impact of the environment on us can be seen in the way we treat the earth system, the quality of our lives, and the pollution that we produce. In addition, the earth system provides a means for people to express their creativity through art and other forms of expression. As we continue to explore the earth’s systems, learning about its ecosystems, we will learn more about the importance of the environment in human development and will hopefully be able to address some of the more pressing environmental issues we face today.