Natural environment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the natural environment. For other uses, see Environment (disambiguation).

See also: Nature

Land management policies have been developed to preserve the natural characteristics of Hopetoun Falls, Australia while allowing ample access for visitors.

Bachalpsee in the Swiss Alps; generally mountainous areas are less affected by human activity.

A satellite image of the Sahara desert; the world's largest hot desert and third largest desert after Antarctica and the Arctic.

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species.^[1] The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components:

• Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries.

• 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 human activity.

The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans. A geographical area is regarded as a natural environment.