Environment refers to everything surrounding living or nonliving things, and encompasses physical, chemical, biological, atmospheric attributes that determine its inhabitants’ success and survival. Some attributes are abiotic such as water or air; other are biophilic such as plants or animals. Environments can be divided into aquatic (marine), terrestrial (land), or hybrid environments.
Environment can be defined in various ways. For instance, it can refer to the surrounding and circumstances surrounding us; but more specifically it can mean the environment in which a speaker learns or performs in, such as classroom or opera house settings; it could also refer to conditions within which someone lives or operates such as home or office environments.
No matter the context, it is crucial to keep in mind that the environment is constantly evolving. Over time, living organisms adapt to meet new environmental challenges by adapting and evolving over time; oxygen produced by photosynthetic organisms became part of Earth’s air supply while climate changes caused living things to evolve from dinosaurs into people and other life forms; such changes represent examples of evolving environments.
As part of their evolution, humans have also come up with tools that allow them to manipulate their environment in accordance with their needs, creating what’s known as a built environment as opposed to natural landscapes that remain unchanged by human technology.
Natural or abiotic components of the environment include the air, land, water and other resources that have not been altered by humans such as sunlight and rocks – these resources are known as renewable resources while there are non-renewable resources that become depleted with continued usage; this latter group of resources are known as non-renewable resources.
Humanity faces the daunting environmental challenge of finding a balance between sustainable growth and protecting natural resources. This dilemma has given rise to environmentalist movement which seeks to address issues related to natural environments like species extinction, climate change, loss of old forests and pollution.
Other synonyms of “environment” are background, setting, milieu and mise-en-scene. These terms are frequently employed in literary and dramatic contexts to depict the circumstances that contribute to a situation or development in stories; background and setting can suggest real events serving as the backdrop for story action while milieu refers to people’s social and emotional surroundings whereas mise-en-scene describes physical settings used during theatrical productions that don’t accurately represent real life environments.
