Home >> Science & Nature >> Nature

What Are Natural Factors?

When you walk in the woods, most of what you see, hear, smell and feel is natural. That is, it exists on its own, without having been made or improved upon by humans. The climate, soil, rocks, plants, animals, landforms and water are called the earth's natural factors, or physiography. A campground where there are tents and campfires are the result of human activity such as settlement, economics, technology, and cultural traits, and are called human factors.

Weather and Climate
- A desert is typical of a dry climate.
  
  Weather is what happens outside every day. There are hot weather days and cold weather days, dry days and wet days, windy days and calm days. Weather is what meteorologists measure and record. But the weather that is typical of an area over a long period of time is what is called the area's climate. An area that does not get a lot of rain, for instance, is called a dry climate. Other major types of climate are moist subtropical (hot and wet); humid mid-latitude (warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters); continental (fairly dry but with hot summers and cold winters); and cold (where the ground is always frozen and most of the year is very cold).
Soil and Rock
- The top layer of the earth's skin is topsoil.
  
  Soil is like the earth's skin. It is a very thin skin compared to the depth of the earth itself. There are several layers, or horizons, in soil. These will vary in composition from place to place, but share certain generalities. These layers, taken together, are what is called the soil profile. Topsoil forms the top layer of the profile. This is the layer that plants grow in and animals walk on. It is often referred to as the organic layer. As plants and animals die, a variety of insects, fungi and bacteria decompose their remains into humus, which is important for fertility and water retention, which in turn helps more plants and animals grow. Below this is the subsoil, which is a mix of minerals and humus. Then there is the weathered parent material, which is a deep layer that is all rock particles and is full of minerals. Below all of this there is bedrock, which is the solid rock that forms the core of the earth and has not yet begun to break apart.
Flora and Fauna
- Humans depend heavily upon plants and animals.
  
  Flora, or vegetation and plant life, and fauna, or animal life, are among the most important requirements for human life. They provide food, fuel and shelter without which we could not exist. The world contains a huge number of types of plants and animals. As with climate, they group together in zones with particular climates and geography that are known as biomes. World biomes include tundra, taiga, grasslands, deciduous forest, chaparral, desert, desert-scrub, savanna, rainforest and alpine.
Landforms
- Mountains and valleys are formed by natural processes.
  
  Landforms are natural features of the earth's surface that have been born of natural processes. Tectonic activity, which causes shifting and uplift from within the earth, forms hills, mountains and atolls. Erosion by wind, water and ice, which works on the surface to wear it down, is responsible for valleys, plateaus, plains, canyons and glaciers, among others.
Hydrologic Cycle
- From clouds to water and back to clouds--that's the hydrologic cycle.
  
  The earth's water is in constant motion above, on and below the surface of the earth. This movement is known as the hydrologic cycle and is responsible for our weather and climates. Water evaporates from plants and water features on earth--rivers, lakes and oceans--and condenses to form clouds. Clouds return water to the land in the form of rain, snow and hail. This precipitation either percolates into the ground to become ground water or becomes surface runoff that flows into streams and rivers and oceans, where it is once again evaporated into clouds. The natural cycle continues, nourishing along the way all of earth's life forms.

Nature