Our environment

Environment refers to an aggregate of conditions or surroundings in which living beings such as humans, animals, and plants live or survive and non-living things exist. All living beings including man and their environment are mutually reactive, affecting each other in a number of ways. It is generally equated with nature wherein physical components of the planet earth such as earth, air, water, etc. support and affect life in the biosphere. Environment represents the physical components of the earth, wherein man is an important factor affecting the environment. Environment comprises interacting systems of physical, biological, and cultural elements, which are interlinked individually as well as collectively in various ways.

Constituents of Environment

Physical elements constitute space, landforms, water-bodies, climate, soils, rocks, and minerals. These elements determine the variable character of human habitat, and also its opportunities and limitations.

Biological elements include plants, animals, micro-organisms, and man.

Cultural elements include economic, social and political conditions which are largely man-made features.

Types of Environment

Since environment is a combination of physical and biological factors, it contains both living or biotic and non-living or abiotic components. On the basis of this basic structure, environment can be divided into physical or abiotic and living or biotic environment.

Physical or Abiotic Environment

Physical environment is made up of the following states - solid, liquid, and gas. These three elements signify lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere respectively. On the basis of spatial distribution, smaller units are termed as coastal environment, plateau environment, mountain environment, lake environment, river environment, maritime environment, etc.

Living or Biotic Environment

Biotic environment consists of plants (flora) and animals (fauna) including human beings as a significant factor. Thus, biotic environment can be of two types such as floral environment and faunal environment. Apart from the above, there are social, cultural, and psychological environment.

Social and Cultural Environment

This type of environment includes the varied aspects of socio-cultural interactions along with its outcomes such as beliefs, attitudes, stereotypes etc. The tangible and intangible aspects of environment are included in it.

Psychological Environment

Psychological environment deals with the perception and experiences related to any environmental setting. Some environment may be stimulating and exciting for us, while others may be dull and boring. Psychological environment is more often used in the organizational context.

Man-Environment Relationship

Man and environment relationship is as old as the evolution of mankind. Since the evolution of man, the physical elements of the planet earth, such as terrain, soil, water, climate, flora and fauna formed man’s environment. During that time man was a typically a ‘physical man’ because of his limited wants, requirements, and total dependence on nature. With the growth in social and economic activities, advancement in technologies, man expanded his own environment through design and skill to have provisions for improved and better food, shelter, access, and comfort or luxuries. Man’s ability to survive in a variety of ecosystem and his unique ability to adapt to a great variety of external conditions make man-environment relationship quite a fascinating area of study. The environment in which man survives and to which he adapts himself and which he influences include physical, socio-cultural, and biological aspects. Man and environment has never been static and a great many factors are responsible for the shifts in man environment relationship.

Approaches to Man-Environment Relationship

The man and environment relationship can be studied under the following approaches.

Determinism − Friedrich Ratzel, the German geographer, was responsible for the development of the concepts of determinism, which was further expanded by Ellsworth Huntington.

This approach is based on the concept of ‘nature controls man’ or ‘earth made man’. According to this approach, man is largely influenced by nature. In fact, the determinism states that man is subordinate to natural environment because all aspects of human life such as physical (health and well-being), social, economic, political, ethical, aesthetic, etc. not only depend on but are dominantly controlled by the physical environment.

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