natural
Natural environment In contrast to the natural environment is the built environment . In such areas where man has fundamentally transformed landscapes such as urban settings and agricultural land conversion , the natural environment is greatly modified into a simplified human environment. Even acts which seem less extreme, such as building a mud hut or a photovoltaic system in the desert , modify the natural environment into an artificial one. Though many animals build things to provide a better environment for themselves, they are not human, hence beaver dams and the works of Mound-building termites are thought of as natural. Oceans An ocean is a major body of saline water , and a component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (an area of some 362 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divide...