We explain what the components of the environment are, how they are classified and the characteristics of living beings, the atmosphere and more.
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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 sustains 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 humans to sustain their economic and productive activity .
Said factors, elements or components can be of a very varied type and usually integrate cycles or circuits of matter and energy transmission , thanks to which their presence is distributed or replenished throughout the planet. Furthermore, depending on their nature, these elements are classified into two large groups: biotic and abiotic elements.
The biotic elements 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:
- Autotrophicor producer organisms , which use inorganic matter to make their own organic matter , such as plants .
- Heterotrophic or consumer organisms, which in order to manufacture their organic matter first need to consume that of other living beings (or their corpses), such as animals and fungi .
Abiotic elements , on the other hand, 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 right proportions. These elements are classified into:
- Sideric elements, typical of the forces that act on the planet, such as the force of gravity , for example.
- Ecogeographical elements, members of the terrestrial surface or atmosphere and determine the 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 .
Next, we will detail, in broad strokes, the elements that make up the environment and we will give concrete examples of each one.
It can help you: Biotic and abiotic factors
1. Living things
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 make life 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 take from the environment the necessary nutrients to exist and multiply, we return the waste substances whose accumulation in our bodies would be dangerous. For example, the photosynthesis of plants 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 instead.
The respiration of animals and fungi, on the other hand, executes the reverse process: it consumes oxygen from the atmosphere and uses it to decompose the organic matter that they consume from other living beings (whether plants, animals or even carrion) and thus obtain the energy needed to live. In return, they return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Other types of organisms carry out similar or different metabolic operations, releasing into the environment other substances, 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 into the environment substances and energies of a very diverse type, some capable of dramatically altering the environment.
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2. The atmosphere
The atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen and oxygen.
The atmosphere is a homogeneous mass of gases that surround our planet, trapped in its gravity . That is why they are much denser on its surface than on 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 composed mainly of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%) and other substances such as argon, carbon dioxide, ozone and water vapor in tiny percentages. This layer of gases not only contains the necessary elements for breathing and photosynthesis, but also blocks solar radiation and material objects from space, such as meteorites , from entering the planet .
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3. The hydrosphere
The hydrosphere was a determining factor in the appearance of life on our planet.
This name refers to all the liquid water found on the earth’s surface (in oceans, seas, rivers and lakes) and also below it (in underground reservoirs).
Also part of it is water in a solid or semi-solid state in the ice and eternal snow at the poles and on top of the mountains. The presence of a hydrosphere is unique to our planet in the entire solar system , and was a determining factor, as far as we know, in the emergence of life.
Water transits 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 falling back to the earth’s surface as rain.
This circuit is fundamental in maintaining the stability of the environment , 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.
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4. The floors
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 all the ecosystems of the Earth and we human beings make life, who not even in our deepest excavations have we managed to penetrate it. There are also rocks, minerals and materials that we extract to transform them through industrial processes.
Soils play a vital role in feeding plants and in the possibility of agriculture . Through their 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: clayey, rich in organic matter, rocky, sandy, limestone and sedimentary.
The terrestrial surface, in addition, varies according to the relief, presenting numerous geographical features such as depressions, mountains , plateaus and plains .
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5. Sunlight
Sunlight is the main source of energy on our planet.
The main source of energy in the environment is found, paradoxically, outside our planet. We refer to solar radiation, which comes from the Sun and permeates through the atmosphere, heating 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 flora of the world. It is precisely that energy that gives the initial spark for all the circuits that sustain life.
