G-7: ENVIRONMENT

• The environment is the place, people, things, and nature surrounding any living organism.
• The environment is our basic life support system. It provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the land where we live.

• It is a combination of natural and human-made phenomena.
• While the natural environment refers to both biotic and abiotic conditions existing on the earth.

• The human climate reveals the activities, creations, and interactions among human beings.

Natural Environment

• Land, water, air, plants, and animals comprise the natural environment. It comprises all the domains of the Earth: lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.
• The ecosystem is a system formed by the interaction of all living organisms with each other and with the physical and chemical factors of the environment in which they live, all linked by the transfer of energy and material.

• All plants, animals, and human beings depend on their immediate surroundings. Often they are also interdependent on each other. 
• This relation between the living organisms, as well as the relation between the organisms and their surroundings, form an ecosystem. There could be an ecosystem of large rainforests, grasslands, deserts, mountains, lakes, rivers, oceans, and even a small pond.

Human Environment

• Human beings interact with the environment and modify it according to their need. Early humans adapted themselves to their natural surroundings. They led a simple life and fulfilled their requirements from the nature around them. With time needs grew and became more varied.
• Humans learn new ways to use and change the environment. They learn to grow crops, domesticate animals, and lead a settled life. 
• The wheel was invented, surplus food was produced, a barter system emerged, trade started and commerce developed. 
• The Industrial Revolution enabled large-scale production. Transportation became faster. The information revolution made communication easier and speedy across the world.
• How do human beings modify the natural environment? Car fumes pollute the air, water is collected in a pot, food is served in vessels, and land is used to build factories. Human beings make cars, mills, factories, and containers. This is how human beings modify the natural environment.

Facts

• Environment word originates from the French word Environer/ Environner meaning “neighbourhood”.
• On 5 June every year, the World Environment Day is celebrated.
• The barter system is a trade in which goods are exchanged without the use of money.