The term “environment” can be described as the region, surroundings, or circumstances in which anything exists; everything external to the organisms.
The environment or an organism according to him includes:
i. The purely physical or abiotic milieu in which it exists, e.g. geographical location, climatic conditions, and terrain.
ii. The organic or biotic milieu including non-living organic matter and all other organisms, plants, and animals in the region including the particular population to which the organism belongs.
Strictly speaking, the effective environment is everything external to the organism which affects the fulfillment of that organism.
The environment of the human being includes the abiotic factors of land, water, atmosphere, climates, sound, odors, and tastes; the basic factors of animals, plants, bacteria, and viruses and the social factor of aesthetics.
Types of Environment
There are two types of environment, we have;
a) A natural or physical environment
b) A man-made or cultural environment.
The natural environment refers to the non-cultural and non-social environment before the advent of man on earth. It is all environment apart from man and all the things created before man.
While the man-made or cultural environment is the environment modified by man, culture, technology, and population density determine the degree of modification of the natural environment.
That is people with high technology will modify the environment more than those with low levels of technology.
Read Also: The Hydrosphere and The Hydrological Cycle