From Envirowiki

the "Environment" is a term used to represent an entire system of a place, inlcuding ecosystems, geology and climate. an Environment can be any scale, including global, regional, local, and even down to single locations, and things like buildings. often the phrase "the environment" is used to denote the global environment, or a larger regional environment.

on a more human level, the environment, the air, water, temparature, and biology of a place are what sustain us, and define the limits of what we can do to a certain extent. prior to the industrial revolution, the local environment, especially food and water supplies were the main limit to human life. since the industrial revolution, it has become possible to transport both food and water over long distances, without them rotting or fouling. certain technologies have made this easier, as well as reducing the amount of work needed to grow and harvest food and water. more advanced shelter systems have also meant that there are more posibilities for settling hostile environments. in a sense, this means that in the modern world all humans are in effect no longer living in a local environment, but only as part of a single global environment.

[edit] Connecting with the environment

prior to the industrial revolution, humans were required to interact directly with their environment. cultural and spiritual practices reflected this, and the connection between human and nature was well recognised and nurtured.

since the industrial revolution, and also during the previous few thousand with the constant improvement of agricultural methods, and especially in the modern era, humans have been gradually growing apart from their natural environment. But this rift is largely superficial, in truth there is no such disconnection. all systems are connected, be they man made or natural^{[reference needed]}.

[edit] Disconnection with the natural Environment

Humans generally consider themselves to be separate, and even above other species. Daniel Quinn calls this human exceptional ism - a syndrome in which humans consider that they are the exception the the laws that govern the rest of the ecosystem. This is closely linked with Murray Bookchin's concepts of heirarchical domination (white over black, male over female, human over nature, etc.)

Symptoms of the disconnection the lack of place-feeling, the lack of respect for self, the idea that the individual is more important than the entire system, etc.

This disconnection is perhaps the main cause of problems such as Climate Change, Oil wars, Old Growth Forestry and third world workers' rights abuses. The fact that end-user actions, such as power consumption, petroleum use for transport, paper usage, and the purchase of designer goods and clothing has no immediate apparent effect on the environment, or people around the user, means that the connection to these problems is not made.