Living With The Environment

Natural environment encompasses everything that exists in the natural world or environment, which means in this instance non-living. The word is most commonly used in reference to the Earth or parts of the Earth. It is also frequently used in philosophy and science as a generic term for the entire environment. In the broadest sense, it refers to all the living things existing on earth including plants, animals, and humans. A narrower focus narrows the focus to terrestrial inhabitants such as people and other vertebrates, while a narrower focus narrows the focus to aquatic life such as oceans and lakes.

Environment in the broadest sense can be thought of as a state of living organisms that are capable of influencing the environment in a given area. A perfect example would be the existence of a species of plant that entirely consumes water. The same species can exist in an area devoid of surface-water but yet have the capacity to change the state of their environment by means of their lateral movement across the water table. This example only touches on one facet of the complex interactions between living organisms and their external environment. Complex interactions between living organisms, both in a natural and human environment, encompass such forms as nutrient cycling, trophic effects, biochemical cycles, and biological processes.

The environment has important influences on the existence and survival of living organisms. For instance, a sufficiently alkaline environment provides the right level of acidity for aerobic (oxygenated) living organisms to coexist in relative harmony. A lack of alkalinity or acidity in an environment favors the survival of alkaline-naive microbial and chemical species over those with amine-acid metabolism. Human activities have profound effect on the environments. A changing climate alters natural climate conditions and produces corresponding changes in natural environment that are conducive to or inhibit the activities of living organisms. Changing atmospheric pressure levels, ocean currents, and wind speeds also exert changes on the environment that humans and other living organisms experience.