Environment

An example of the environment

Environment means all of the outside forces, events, and things that act on a thing. A person's environment is made up of everything that surrounds him or her, including houses, buildings, people, animals, land, temperature, water, light, and other living and non-living things. Living things do not simply exist in their environment. They constantly interact with it. Organisms change in response to conditions in their environment. The environment consists of the interactions among plants, animals, soil, water, temperature, light, and other living and non-living things.

The word environment is used to talk about many things. People in different fields of knowledge (like history or Geography or biology) use the word differently.

In psychology and medicine a person's environment is the people, physical things, places, and events that the person lives with. The environment affects the growth and development of the person. It affects the person's behavior. It affects the person's body and mind.

Natural environment

Main page: Natural environment

The Lachine Canal in Montreal, is badly polluted

In biology and ecology the environment is all of the natural materials and living things, including sunlight. This is also called the natural environment. Some people call themselves environmentalists. These people think that harmony with the environment is important. They think we must protect the environment (to keep it safe.) They think people should not put so much pollution (waste) into the environment. The important things in the environment that we value are called natural resources. For example fish, sunlight, and forests. These are renewable natural resources because more grow naturally when we use them. Non-renewable natural resources are important things in the environment that do not come back naturally, for example coal and natural gas.

Historical environment

In literature and history, environment is the events and culture that a person lived in. A person's beliefs and actions are dependent on his environment. For example, Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. Today we know this is very wrong. But in Thomas Jefferson's environment slavery was normal. So his actions did not look as wrong in his society.