Components of the Environment

We explain what the components of the environment are, how they are classified and the characteristics of living beings, the atmosphere and more.

components of the environment
The environment is the natural environment that supports life on Earth.

What are the components of the environment?

The environment or environment is the natural environment that supports life on Earth, that is, It is the set of chemical, physical and biological factors with which living beings interact daily some of which serve human beings to sustain their economic and productive activity.

These factors, elements or components can be of a very varied type and usually integrate cycles or circuits of transmission of matter and energy, thanks to which their presence is distributed or replaced throughout the planet. Furthermore, depending on their nature, these elements are classified into two large groups: biotic elements and abiotic elements.

The biotic elements They are those linked to the world of life, that is, they correspond to living organisms in their very different ecological roles and levels of complexity. These elements are classified as follows:

  • Autotrophic organisms or producers which use inorganic matter to make their own organic matter, like plants.
  • Heterotrophic or consumer organisms which to manufacture their organic matter first require consuming that of other living beings (or their corpses), such as animals and fungi.

The abiotic elements On the other hand, they are those that have to do with the inanimate or non-living world, and that exist in the three physical states of matter: liquid, solid and gas. These elements are not part of living beings but are essential for the continuity of life, as long as they are in the appropriate proportions. These elements are classified into:

  • Sidereal elements typical of the forces that act on the planet, such as the force of gravity, for example.
  • Ecogeographic elements members of the earth's surface or atmosphere and determine geography, such as relief or soils.
  • Physicochemical elements which make up the different substances and elements with which living beings and natural forces interact, such as water.
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Below we will detail, broadly speaking, the elements that make up the environment and we will give specific examples of each one.

1. Living beings

components of the environment living beings
Living beings change the environment and it in turn determines us.

Living beings are part of the environment, although we often feel like actors who live in it, as if the environment were just the stage. But in reality our relationship with the environment is quite close: we change it and it in turn determines us.

living beings We take from the environment the nutrients necessary to exist and multiply, we return waste substances to it whose accumulation in our bodies would be dangerous. For example, plant photosynthesis absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, water from the soil and sunlight from the environment, in order to manufacture the sugars necessary for their metabolism, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere in return.

The respiration of animals and fungi, on the other hand, carries out the opposite process: they consume oxygen from the atmosphere and use it to decompose the organic matter they consume from other living beings (whether plants, animals or even carrion) and thus obtain the energy necessary to live. In exchange, they return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Other types of organisms carry out similar or different metabolic operations, releasing other substances into the environment, such as methane, carbon dioxide or nitrates.

Among living beings, however, the human being deserves a special mention, since human economic operations are capable of generating pollution. They differ from the exchange carried out by other living beings because they are not linked to their basic metabolic functions, but rather to their inventiveness. In addition, they release very diverse substances and energies into the environment, some capable of dramatically altering the environment.

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2. The atmosphere

components of the environment atmosphere
The atmosphere is mainly composed of nitrogen and oxygen.

The atmosphere It is a homogeneous mass of gases that surround our planet, trapped in its gravity. That is why they are much denser on their surface than on the top of a mountain, or even more so, in the space that separates our planet from outer space. So much so, that 75% of its mass is found in its first 11 km.

The atmosphere is mainly composed of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%) and other substances such as argon, carbon dioxide, ozone and water vapor in minute percentages. This layer of gases Not only does it contain the elements necessary to breathe and photosynthesis, but it blocks solar radiation from entering the planet and material objects from space, such as meteorites.

3. The hydrosphere

components of the hydrosphere environment
The hydrosphere was a determining factor in the appearance of life on our planet.

With this name the set of liquid water found on the earth's surface (in oceans, seas, rivers and lakes) and also under it (in underground deposits).

Water in a solid or semi-solid state in ice is also part of it and eternal snows of the poles and the tops of the mountains. The presence of a hydrosphere is something unique to our planet in the entire solar system, and was a determining factor, as far as we know, in the appearance of life.

Water transitions between its three physical states (solid in ice, liquid in the oceans and gaseous in the atmosphere as vapor) in what we know as the hydrological cycle: a circuit in which solar radiation intervenes, which heats and evaporates the water, causing it to rise into the atmosphere, where as it rises it cools and condenses, forming clouds and then precipitating back to the Earth's surface as rain.

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This circuit It is essential in maintaining environmental stability since it allows the circulation of water and other elements carried by it, but it also cools and cleans the atmosphere, allowing a certain margin of climatic stability.

4. The floors

components of the soil environment
There are different types of soil, depending on the materials that predominate in them.

What we call soil is nothing more than the most superficial layer of the earth's crust that is, the “skin” of our planet. In this superficial region are found all the ecosystems of the Earth and human beings make life, who not even in our deepest excavations have managed to penetrate it. The rocks, minerals and materials that we extract to transform them through industrial processes are also found there.

The floors play a vital role in feeding plants and making agriculture possible. Through the roots, plants extract essential nutrients from the soil for their growth and reproduction, in addition to the water that the soil retains. There are different types of soil, depending on the materials that predominate in them: clay, rich in organic matter, rocky, sandy, limestone and sedimentary.

The earth's surface also varies according to the relief, presenting numerous geographical features such as depressions, mountains, plateaus and plains.

5. Sunlight

components of the environment sunlight
Sunlight is the main source of energy on our planet

The main source of energy in the environment is, paradoxically, outside our planet. We refer to solar radiation, which comes from the Sun and permeates through the atmosphere, warming and illuminating the entire environment in different proportions, depending on the geographical location and relief.

Much of the energy thus received is stored in the atmosphere itself or captured by the world's flora. It is precisely that energy that gives the initial spark for all the circuits that sustain life.

References

  • “Natural environment” on Wikipedia.
  • “Environment” in the United Nations (UN).
  • “Environment” at the World Bank.
  • “Environment (biology)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.