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WikiProject Environment

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Welcome to the Environment Portal (image link)

edit   Environment The natural environment comprises all naturally occurring surroundings and conditions in which living things grow and interact on Earth. These include complete landscape units that function as natural systems without major human intervention, as well as plants, animals, rocks, and natural phenomena occurring within their boundaries. They also include non-local or universal natural resources that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water and climate. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components: Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive human intervention, including all vegetation, animals, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries. Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from human activity. As human population numbers increase and as humans continue to evolve, human activity modifies the natural environment at a rapidly increasing rate, producing what is referred to as the built environment. The potential of the natural environment to sustain these anthropogenic changes while continuing to function as an ecosystem is an issue of major worldwide concern. Key environmental areas of interest include climate change, water supply and waste water, air pollution, waste management and hazardous waste, and land use issues such as deforestation, desertification, and urban sprawl. More about the environment... edit   Selected article 100,000-year problem is a discrepancy between the climate response (as measured by proxies for the temperature and extent of glaciations) and the forcing from the amount of incoming solar radiation, or insolation, which has little power on a 100,000 year (100 ka) timescale. Due to variations in the Earth's orbit, the amount of insolation varies with periods of around 21,000, 40,000, 100,000, and 400,000 years. Variations in the amount of solar heating drive changes in the climate of the Earth, and are recognised as a key factor in the timing of initiation and termination of ice ages. Spectral analysis shows that the most powerful climate response is at 100,000‑year period, but the orbital forcing at this period is small. edit   Did you know... ...that recycling aluminium saves 95% of the energy cost of processing new aluminium? ... that the first National Park was the Yellowstone National Park in the United States? ... that the concept of reduce, re-use, and recycle as three equal options, but they are instead meant to be a hierarchy, in order of importance? ...that the United Nations Environment Programme (or UNEP), which coordinates United Nations environmental activities, was founded in 1972? edit   Current events October 4: World Wildlife Fund: 75% of seafood species consumed in Singapore not caught sustainably May 30: Australian Opposition Leader pledges to save Great Barrier Reef May 1: 100 tons of ivory burned in Africa; estimated at $250 million on black market March 4: Gunmen murder Honduran indigenous leader Berta Cáceres edit   Selected biography Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 — April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist and nature writer whose landmark book, Silent Spring, is often credited with having launched the global environmental movement. Silent Spring had an immense effect in the United States, where it spurred a reversal in national pesticide policy. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. edit   Selected picture Mai Po Marshes is a nature reserve in Hong Kong. It is managed by World Wide Fund for Nature. The marshes have an area of about 1800 acres and is listed as a Ramsar site under Ramsar Convention in 1995. It provides a conservation area for mammals, reptiles, insects, and over 350 kinds of birds (including Saunders's Gull and a quarter of world's Black-faced Spoonbill population). It also has inter-tidal mangroves along with 24 traditionally operated shrimp ponds (called Gei Wai locally) to provide food for the birds. It receives 40,000 visitors annually. edit   Selected organization The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a scientific intergovernmental body tasked to evaluate the risk of climate change caused by human activity. The panel was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), two organizations of the United Nations. The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President of the United States Al Gore. One of the main activities of the IPCC is to publish special reports on topics where it supports the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is essentially the document behind the Kyoto Protocol. It bases its assessment mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific literature. The IPCC is only open to member states of the WMO and UNEP. The stated aims of the IPCC are to assess scientific information relevant to: Human-induced climate change, The impacts of human-induced climate change, Options for adaptation and mitigation. The IPCC does not carry out research, nor does it monitor climate or related phenomena. A main activity of the IPCC is publishing special reports on topics relevant to the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty that acknowledges the possibility of harmful climate change; implementation of the UNFCCC led eventually to the Kyoto Protocol. The IPCC bases its assessment mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific literature. The IPCC is only open to member states of the WMO and UNEP. IPCC reports are widely cited in almost any debate related to climate change. National and international responses to climate change generally regard the UN climate panel as authoritative. The summary reports (i.e. Summary for Policymakers), which draw the most media attention, include review by participating governments in addition to scientific review. edit   Selected quote edit   Main topics Natural environment Acid rain Biodiversity Climate change Conservation Deforestation Desertification Ecosystem Environmental economics Environmental law Environmental policy Environmental science Environmentalism Environmental technology Global warming Greenhouse gas Green Politics Lists (Books, Dates, Issues) Ozone depletion Recycling Renewable energy Soil retrogression and degradation Sustainable development Waste management edit   Things you can do This list is transcluded from the tasks list page. To edit the list, click here Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : Article requests can be posted at: Natural sciences requests page, Create articles for red-links at Glossary of environmental science, Vertical kiln, Geoecology, Environmental behavior, Environmental perception, Environmental writing. Copyedit : Ecosystem management Expand : Environmentalist, Environment (biophysical), Environment minister, Environmental studies, Habitat, Micro-sustainability Maintain : Environment pages needing attention NPOV : DDT (see Talk:DDT), Energy development, Hydraulic fracturing Photo : Built environment, Environmental chemistry Stubs : Stub categories: Environment, Environmental organizations, International development, Renewable energy, Sustainability, Waste, Water supply, More... Update : Ecosystem management Verify : Appropriate technology, Biosphere, Environmental economics, Environmental engineering, Environmental ethics, Environmental movement, Environmental science, Natural environment, Pollution, Sustainable agriculture Other : * Articles needing expert attention: International development. Add links for the Environment portal in related articles: {{Portal|Environment}} edit   Related categories Environment Conservation Environmentalism Environmental awareness days Environmental economics Environmental media Environmental history Environmental humanities Environmental law Environmental indices Environmental issues with population Environmental science Environmental social science Environmental songs Environmental topics Environmental technology Environment by country Human overpopulation Pollution Renewable energy Sustainability Waste management edit   Related articles edit   Related portals Agriculture Biotechnology Ecology Energy Extinction Forestry Global warming Science Sustainable development Water Wetlands edit   WikiProjects Agriculture • Climate change • Disaster management • Ecology • Energy • Energy development • Environment • Forestry • International development • Protected areas • Superfunds • Systems • Urban studies and planning • Water• Sanitation edit   Associated Wikimedia

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