Understanding the Environment in General
The environment is everything that surrounds humans and is reciprocally related. The opposite of the living environment is the artificial environment, which includes areas and their components that are heavily influenced by humans.
Understanding the Environment According to the Experts
The Law No. 23 of 1997
The living environment is the unity of space with all objects, forces, conditions, and living things, including humans and their behavior, which affect the continuity of life and the welfare of humans and other living creatures.
Emil Salim
The environment is objects, conditions, circumstances, and influences contained in the space we occupy and affect living things, including human life.
Seodjono
The living environment is the physical or physical environment found in nature. The physical and physical environment includes humans, animals, and plants.
Munadjat Danusaputro
The environment is all objects and forces and conditions including humans and their actions that are contained in the space where humans are located and affect the survival of others. Thus, the living environment includes two environments, namely the physical environment and the cultural environment.
Otto Seomarwoto
The environment is all objects and conditions that exist in the space we occupy and affect our lives. According to these limitations, theoretically, the space in question is not limited in number. As for practically the space in question is always limited according to the needs that can be determined.
Environmental Elements
- Elements of the biotic or biological environment. This environmental component consists of living things such as humans, animals or animals or fauna, plants or flora.
- Elements of the abiotic environment. An environmental component consists of various non-living objects, such as soil, water, air, climate, etc. The existence of a physical environment greatly influences the survival of various forms of life on earth. Can you imagine if there is no more oxygen on earth? Can humans breathe? Of course, life on earth will not take place naturally. There will be a drought, many animals, plants die. In addition, there will also be changes in seasons, the emergence of various diseases.
- Socio-cultural elements. This element is the social, cultural environment that surrounds humans. Is a system of values, ideas, beliefs in determining human behaviour as social beings.
The Constitution
The No. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management.
The International Agreement on the Environment
Indonesia is included in the agreement: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Waste, Law of the Sea, Prohibition of Nuclear Testing, Protection of the Ozone Layer, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Climate Change - Kyoto Protocol ( Law 17/2004), Protection of Marine Life (1958) with Law 19/1961.
The Environmental Benefits
- Provide a source of food, oxygen, tourism, education, medicine.
- The benefits of plants and wildlife in absorbing carbon. Then the benefits of bats in pollinating flowers, fruits such as durian. The role of shellfish or oysters in neutralizing marine pollutants.
- The benefits of nature provide various sources of medicine, research, knowledge, health.
The General Environmental Problems
- Global warming causes the temperature of the oceans and the earth's surface to increase, resulting in the melting of polar ice caps. Then, rising sea levels and changes in the natural pattern of the seasons result in the creation of flash floods, excessive snow, or desertification.
- Environmental pollution is in the form of air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution. To better understand it, read the article on the meaning of environmental pollution.
- Depletion of natural resources that trigger conflicts between countries and regions.
- The loss of biodiversity, be it plants or wildlife.
- Deforestation and deforestation.
- Ocean acidification. This is a direct result of excessive CO2 production.
- The depletion of the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect.
- Acid rain is caused by the burning of fossil fuels or volcanic eruptions. It can also occur due to rotting vegetation that releases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere.
- Genetic engineering to produce food or agriculture. Genetic modification of food has the potential to increase toxins and disease.
The Indonesian Environmental
According to Law no. 23 of 1997, the environment is a unitary space with all objects, forces, conditions, and living things, including humans and their behaviour, which affect the continuity of life and the welfare of humans and other living creatures. Meanwhile, the scope of the Indonesian environment includes the space where the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia has an archipelago perspective in exercising its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction. In the living environment, there is an ecosystem, namely the arrangement of environmental elements which are a comprehensive whole and influence each other in forming environmental balance, stability, and productivity.
The Environmental Problems in Indonesia
- Natural hazards: floods, droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, forest fires, mud volcanoes, landslides, industrial waste, tourism waste, and hospital waste.
- Environmental problems in Indonesia today: illegal logging/forest logging; water pollution from industrial and mining waste; air pollution in urban areas (Jakarta is the city with the 3rd dirtiest air in the world); smoke and haze from forest fires; permanent forest fires/cannot be extinguished; encroachment on nature reserves/wildlife reserves; poaching, trade and eradication of protected wild animals; destruction of coral reefs; disposal of B3/radioactive waste from developed countries; waste disposal without separation/processing; wild mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java; Acid rain is a result of air pollution.
The Efforts to Overcome Environmental Problems
- Applying the use of environmentally friendly technology in the management of natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable by taking into account their carrying capacity and capacity.
- To avoid environmental pollution and damage to natural resources, it is necessary to enforce the law fairly and consistently.
- Gradually assign authority and responsibility for the management of natural resources and the environment.
