Positive and negative feedbacks in environment?

Question

what is the differece between the positive and negative feedbacks?

examples please

thanks

Answer 1

Get out your dictionary and find out. English is a great tool.

Answer 2

Positive :our world has many beautiful nature sites.

Negative  :we destroy them because we need paper to build new communities

Answer 3

Well, it would help to define the question more, but positive feedback would be "Oh, great job!", and negative feedback would be, "That was horrible." Feedback is basically when people inform you about what you are doing. I'm not sure what you mean to ask in terms of the environment, though.

Answer 4

As applied to environment and specifically climate, the definition is consistent with that of control systems.  An explanation for the layman.

Negative feedback is a tendency for a system to return to some "normal" or "nominal" operating point.  If you drop a marble into a round bottom bowl, it rolls up and down the sides until it finally comes to rest on the bottom.  If you shake the bowl to move it again, you will see that it "wants" to go back where it was.

Positive feedback is a tendency for a system that changes a tiny amount to "keep going" in that direction.  A pencil standing on its point is an example.  No matter how carefully you try to balance it, it will begin to fall.  Whichever way it starts to fall, it will keep going that way.  (the more it falls, the more it falls)  It wants to be at an extreme position - flat on the table.  It doesn't care what direction it points (N,S,E,W) as long as it gets to move as far as possible.

In positive feedback systems, once they move from that middle position, they can never get back.  They have no way to return.  Something outside the system must override it - like you standing the pencil up again.