Edge Rewrite
// HTMLRewriter · presentation

This page was redesigned at the edge.

Cloudflare fetched the original article and streamed it through HTMLRewriter to apply an entirely new visual system without rebuilding the source page.

Jump to content

Portal:Environment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 Portal WikiProject Environment Talk page 


Welcome to the Environment Portal
(image link)

Introduction

Land management has preserved the natural characteristics of Hopetoun Falls, Australia while allowing ample access for visitors.

The natural environment or natural world encompasses all biotic and abiotic things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished as components:

In contrast to the natural environment is the built environment. Built environments are those in which humans have fundamentally transformed landscapes such as in urban settings and agricultural land conversion. Even in acts that seem less extreme, such as building a mud hut or a photovoltaic system in the desert, the modified environment is considered artificial. Though many animals build things to provide a better environment for themselves, they are not human; hence beaver dams and the works of mound-building termites are considered natural.

There are no absolutely natural environments on Earth. Naturalness usually varies in a continuum, from 100% natural in one extreme to 0% natural in the other. The massive environmental changes of humanity in the Anthropocene have fundamentally affected all natural environments including: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution from plastic and other chemicals in the air and water. More precisely, considering the different aspects or components of an environment, it becomes apparent that their degree of naturalness is not uniform. For instance, in an agricultural field, the mineralogic composition is quite similar to that of undisturbed forest soil while the structure is quite different. (Full article...)

Human impact on the environment (or anthropogenic environmental impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans. Modifying the environment to fit the needs of society (as in the built environment) is causing severe effects including global warming, environmental degradation (such as ocean acidification), mass extinction, and biodiversity loss, ecological crisis, and ecological collapse. Some human activities that cause damage (either directly or indirectly) to the environment on a global scale include population growth, neoliberal economic policies, and rapid economic growth. Overconsumption, overexploitation, pollution, and deforestation are also contributing to this problem. Some of the problems, including global warming and biodiversity loss, have been proposed as representing catastrophic risks to the survival of the human species.

The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object resulting from human activity. The term was first used in the technical sense by Russian geologist Alexey Pavlov, and it was first used in English by British ecologist Arthur Tansley in reference to human influences on climax plant communities. The atmospheric scientist Paul Crutzen introduced the term "Anthropocene" in the mid-1970s. The term is sometimes used in the context of pollution produced from human activity since the start of the Agricultural Revolution but also applies broadly to all major human impacts on the environment. Many of the actions taken by humans that contribute to a heated environment stem from the burning of fossil fuel from a variety of sources, such as electricity, cars, planes, space heating, manufacturing, or the destruction of forests. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

Selected image - show another

Credit: Orthogenetic Evolution in the Pigeons

The passenger pigeon was a species of pigeon that was once the most common bird in North America. It is estimated that there were as many as five billion passenger pigeons in the United States at the time Europeans colonized North America. They lived in enormous flocks, and during migration, one could see flocks of them a mile (1.6 km) wide and 300 miles (500 km) long, taking several days to pass and probably containing two billion birds. The species had not been common in the Pre-Columbian period, until the devastation of the American Indian population by European diseases.

Over the 19th century, the species went from being one of the most abundant birds in the world to extinction. At the time, passenger pigeons had one of the largest groups or flocks of any animal, second to only the desert locust.

Some decimation in numbers occurred as a result of loss of habitat, when the Europeans started settling further inland. However, the primary factor emerged when pigeon meat was commercialized as a cheap food for slaves and the poor in the 19th century, resulting in hunting on a massive scale. There was a slow decline in their numbers between about 1800 and 1870, followed by a catastrophic decline between 1870 and 1890, at the end of which they were rare and beyond the point of recovery. 'Martha', thought to be the world's last passenger pigeon, died on September 1, 1914 in Cincinnati.

Environment news

21 July 2026 –
The French Parliament approves legislation allowing limited use of acetamiprid and flupyradifurone, pesticides banned nationally but permitted in the European Union. Environment minister Monique Barbut says she will resign over the measure. (AFP via News.com.au)
17 July 2026 – Wildfires in 2026
The U.S. state of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection deploys firefighters to assist with wildfire efforts in Quebec, Canada. (CT.Gov) (WVIT)
15 July 2026 – 2026 Canadian wildfires
IQAir ranks Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as having the worst air quality among major cities worldwide as smoke from wildfires in northwestern Ontario reaches the city, prompting the Canadian environment ministry to advise residents to remain indoors. (AFP via ABS-CBN News)
19 June 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
Lebanese conservationist and environmentalist Mona Khalil, a advocate for the protection of endangered sea turtles, dies from wounds sustained during an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon two weeks ago. (The New Arab)
2 June 2026 – Flamingo Revolution
Thousands of people gather in Tirana, Albania, to protest against a development planned by Jared Kushner on the Adriatic coast that would intrude on environmentally protected areas of the Vjosa-Narta regions. (The Independent)

Selected biography - show another

Selected organization - show another

Awaaz Foundation (meaning "the organisation against sound" – "Awaaz" means "sound" in Urdu) is a charitable trust and non-governmental organisation in Mumbai, India, which builds awareness, carries out advocacy, and is involved in educational projects to protect the environment and prevent environmental pollution. It has impacted many important decisions by the government and influenced policy making in important environmental matters in India. The beneficiaries of the Foundation are the citizens of India at large.

Awaaz Foundation was founded on 21 February 2006 by Sumaira Abdulali, a well-known environmentalist, who has exposed many scandals of environmental villainy in India at personal risk. The Foundation has filed several public interest litigations, including demands for strict implementation of noise pollution laws, better functioning of Mumbai's Tree Authority, reducing noise pollution, banning sale of tobacco to minors, efforts to counter the politically sponsored sand mining mafia and recognition of the biodiverse Sawantwadi-Dodamarg wildlife corridor as an ecologically sensitive area. (Full article...)

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various environment-related articles on Wikipedia.

Selected quote - show another

Frank Lloyd Wright
I believe in God, only I spell it 'Nature'.

More did you know - show different entries

London Smog
London Smog

Main topics

Things you can do


Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

WikiProjects

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals