It is important to note that an environmental feedback loop is a form of feedback loop observed in nature. In a sense, it can be a self-perpetuating cycle, which can be either positive or negative. In the case of the former, the loop reinforces or facilitates the outcome to further in its path, whereas the negative one balances something back by scaling down or inhibiting the process.
An environmental feedback loop can be used as an example to explain the underlying concept. For instance, greenhouse gases or GHGs are part of a positive feedback loop for global warming because these elements further contribute to the heating of the planet. GHGs absorb more heat from the sun, which increases the global temperature. Subsequently, ice caps melt, which ought to counteract the trend by reflecting the sun’s rays. Therefore, the result is that global warming is a positive feedback loop under the current conditions, where human activity releases GHGs into the atmosphere. GHGs increase the heating of the planet by absorbing more heat and reducing the impact of its countering factor, ice caps. In other words, this cycle provides feedback to the original state of the system to indicate the direction for the next change, which is to heat the planer further and melt the ice caps to repeat the loop.
In conclusion, feedback loops are predominant in any system, including the ecological system, which is comprised of living organisms and surrounding non-living physical objects. A coral reef is an ecological system that consists of marine creatures, coral structures produced by the latter, the sea or water, and the sun. Another form of ecological system is the forest ecosystem, which includes forest animals, vegetation, the landscape, weather conditions, rivers, lakes, and mountains.