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What exactly do we mean when we speak of the "environment"?It is more complecxt than saying it is only our surrounding.The environment is a delicate equilibrium between everyingredient in our surroundings called the ecosystem. Ourecosystem contains the interaction between organisms andnature.

Man has been chiefly responsible for disturbing thisdelicate equilibrium by exploiting the natural resources tohis end. In fact the resources in the past have faceduninhibited exploitation on all accounts and reckless usageleading them to their current depleted stage. An uncheckedrelease of the pollutants in the air has resulted in thegreenhouse effect resulting in the ozone layer gettingdepleted. This has resulted in global warming which has hadmany disastrous effects like the rising levels of the waterbodies. All this has also resulted in more ecologicalimbalances occurring than ever before. The ecosystem hasalso suffered on account of the careless mistakes of variousindustries and certain individuals who want to save on thecost at the expense of damaging the ecosystem. In fact thereis no aspect of the ecosystem that has been left untouchedby these perils as you have air pollution affecting the airyou take in, water pollution, land pollution affecting thecrops.

There are many organizations that make it their agenda toeducation people and corporations on conserve theenvironment. They are stressing the development ofalternative green sources as an answer to the non-renewablesources of energy, preserving the endangered species,setting up of goals for the reduction of pollution,establishment of natural reserves and the protection ofbiodiversity upon which the delicate balance of theecosystems hangs.

There is now international awareness towards theseecological problems. Countries have come in together tosolve the environment issues plaguing them. The GlobalEnvironment Facility (GEF) that was established in the year1991 supports many projects related to environment such asthe climate change, international waters, land degradation,the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.

The UN had gotten into the act and developed WorldEnvironment Day celebrated on June 5 every year. It is oneof the chief vehicles that are used to promote the awarenesson the environment. It is an important step in launchingthis campaign for environmental awareness since theenvironment can be saved if it's a large-scale effortinvolving people across the globe.