Local and Surrounding Ecologies and Environment - Essay Example

? Local And Surrounding Ecologies And Environment of The Environment consists of all living and nonliving things on the planet Earth, including the interaction between every form of living things. Also included in the environment are general natural resources and natural phenomena that cannot be mapped and have no geographical limits such as air, water and climate and manmade resources or originating from manmade activities such as energy, radiation, electrical charges and magnetism. There is basically no way to avoid biological, chemical and physical process that are responssible for the creation of pollution. This pollution has resulted in global warming which has considerably increased the average temperature of the atmosphere that is the nearest to the surface of the Earth and has caused deviation in global climate patterns Environment Local surrounding ecologies and environments: The Environment consists of all living and non-living things on the planet Earth, including the interaction between every form of living things. There is a marked difference between the “built” environment and the “natural” environment, because the perception of the natural environment is prominent by its varied workings that consist of total environmental and biological groups with specific functions, which includes all plant life, flora, undergrowth, foliage and shrubbery, bacteria microbes, germs and soil, rocks, atmosphere and all non-artificial events in the physical sense that are not produced by humans, although they effect humans. Also included in the environment are general natural resources and natural phenomena that cannot be mapped and have no geographical limits such as air, water and climate and manmade resources or originating from manmade activities such as energy, radiation, electrical charges and magnetism. Specific factors that distinguish local ecology and environment: Factors for local ecology and environment basically depends upon the area or place that you live in. This takes into consideration Latitude, Longitude and Elevation since one of the most important factor’s is the major ecological community which is a division of the world's vegetation that corresponds to a defined climate and is characterized by specific types of plants and animals, e.g. tropical rain forest or desert. The world's lakes and oceans may also be considered biomes, although they are less susceptible to climatic influences than terrestrial biomes. Other factors could be related to, living, or occurring in the waters of the ocean or the open sea as opposed to near the shore such as bird populations, and other deep sea or shallow marine, evergreen forests, deciduous forests, steppes, and grasslands. Also equally important is the factor that fills the various places in the local ecosystem. The ecosystem consists of all the physical and free living systems that describe the physical and chemical aspects of organism environments. Human activities that affect local ecosystems: Human activities that have greatly damaged the ecosystem is the junk discarded from homes and factories which causes the most pollution, has resulted in the loss of habitat and produced acid rain which has in effect resulted in the deprivation of the ecosystem. Urban development of farmlands for mass agriculture has replaced grasslands with crops that are consumed mostly by humans. Space for crops has been made by chopping down and burning forets, and lumber supplying trees have been cut without letup to feed the growing demand for lumber and other wood products. The flow of rivers, streams and waterways are diverted for use on agricultural lands and for other human requirements in cities and towns. Humans have depleted the amounts of fish in the oceans, seas and rivers by mechanical fishing without giving the fish the time to rebreed and produce thereby severely depleting existing reserves. Every type of human conveniences such as cars, generators etc. use fossil fuel that has caused global warming, acid rain and climate change. Ways that global warming might affect the local ecosystems: There is basically no way to avoid biological, chemical and physical processes that are responsible for the creation of pollution. This pollution has resulted in global warming which has considerably increased the average temperature of the atmosphere that is the nearest to the surface of the Earth and has caused deviation in global climate patterns. Although there are many factors that could cause global warming, currently the most prevalent factor is the human intrusion, specifically the unlimited amount of greenhouse gases that are released into the atmosphere on a daily basis. For many thousands of years, the release and production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases was absorbed in the atmosphere because human activity had not reached the state that it is at today, whereby the releases of carbon dioxide are 30% more than the atmosphere can absorb (Astley, Graham & Charles, 1983). The erratic changes in climate because of global warming have affected the ecosystems and economies of different regions in different ways according to the damage caused by global warming. Global warming, in its extremity could lead to demise of life on this planet, specifically the existence of Homo sapiens. This is being caused specifically by emissions related to human activities. There is ample evidence to prove that global warming is causing the Earth to get hotter, and the melting of gigantic glaciers is raising sea levels which could endanger many coastal towns and cities. Currently, global warming is the most significant environmental challenge that confronts the human race. The dramatic changes in the ecosystem will have devastating effects on most birds and mammals, including many marine species. The rising in the ocean levels will permanently change the infrastructure of Arctic human and animal communities. Relative to other parts of the world, would your local ecosystems be affected more or less? Depending upon the community where a person lives and works, the health of their ecosystems can easily be assessed and monitored by collecting relevant data or indicators of the health of the ecosystem. Relevant indicators basically depend upon the characteristics of the communities and its economic priorities. The differences between economic and non-economic activity are often quite blurred. Indicators are usually quantitative, meaning that this is data based on authentic quantity of the feature that is being monitored. This generally is used to depict an issue of interest, rather than measure it accurately. A good example of a qualitative indicator would be the monitoring and assessment of a local lake, and determine if it is just “moderately polluted” or “very polluted” (Roy, 1982). A lake would be a factor that is not measureable with a single series of data. Indicators are useful for keeping track of the quality of life that is dependent on the ecosystem, such as the amount of people visiting a public beach, or the miles travelled in a vehicle. Indicators measure the main appearances and features of any system that is combined with other factors to make a complete set. However, a comparison of different series of data does not prove cause, but only provide a basis for discussion and planning and help avoid misdirected efforts. References Astley, Graham W, and Combrun Charles J (1983). Collective Strategy: Social Ecology of Organizationsal Environments: The Academy of Management Review; Retrieved February 30th 2012 from http://www.jstor.org/pss/258259 Roy, Ellen (Published 1982). Ennvironment, Subsistence and System: The ecology of Small Scale Social Formations: Cambridge University Press; Retrieved February 30th, 2012 from http://books.google.com.pk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=HT8KuYOrF2wC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=ecologies+and+and+environments&ots=dAtI60kLUa&sig=pcuOZesJMlg8APrjCCkslzrDuq8#v=onepage&q=ecologies%20and%20and%20environments&f=false Read More