Protection

{{short description|Measures taken to guard against damage}}

{{Other uses}} {{For|information about Wikipedia's page protection policy|Wikipedia:Protection policy}}

File:Green Sea Turtle grazing seagrass.jpg

File:Dresden-Zwinger-Armoury-Armor.02.JPG, crafted for a knight and their mount to wear as protection from potential enemies.]]

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File:CDCA auto repair notice.jpg shops in California.]]

File:Winterschutz.jpg with protection against freezing - Volksgarten, Vienna]]

Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although the mechanisms for providing protection vary widely, the basic meaning of the term remains the same. This is illustrated by an explanation found in a manual on electrical wiring:

{{blockquote|The meaning of the word protection, as used in the electrical industry, is no different to that in everyday use. People protect themselves against personal or financial loss by means of insurance as well as from injury or discomfort by the use of protective clothing. They further protect their property by the installation of security measures such as locks and/or alarm systems.Brian Scaddan, 17th Edition IEE Wiring Regulations: Explained and Illustrated (2015), p. 41.}}

Some kind of protection is a characteristic of all life, as living things have evolved at least some protective mechanisms to counter damaging environmental phenomena, such as ultraviolet light.Emily Monosson, Evolution in a Toxic World: How Life Responds to Chemical Threats (2012), p. 18. Biological membranes such as bark on trees and skin on animals offer protection from various threats, with skin playing a key role in protecting organisms against pathogens{{cite journal | vauthors = Proksch E, Brandner JM, Jensen JM | year = 2008 | title = The skin: an indispensable barrier | journal = Exp Dermatol | volume = 17 | issue = 12| pages = 1063–72 | pmid = 19043850 | doi=10.1111/j.1600-0625.2008.00786.x| s2cid = 31353914 }} and excessive water loss.{{cite journal | vauthors = Madison KC | year = 2003 | title = Barrier function of the skin: "la raison d'être" of the epidermis | url = http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v121/n2/pdf/5601872a.pdf | journal = J Invest Dermatol | volume = 121 | issue = 2| pages = 231–41 | doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1747.2003.12359.x | pmid = 12880413 | doi-access = free }} Additional structures like scales and hair offer further protection from the elements and from predators, with some animals having features such as spines or camouflage serving exclusively as anti-predator adaptations. Many animals supplement the protection afforded by their physiology by burrowing or otherwise adopting habitats or behaviors that insulate them from potential sources of harm. Humans originally began wearing clothing and building shelters in prehistoric times for protection from the elements.Jaquetta Hawkes, The Atlas of Early Man: The Rise of Man Across the Globe, From 35,000 B.C to A.D. 500 (1993), p. 21. Both humans and animals are also often concerned with the protection of others, with adult animals being particularly inclined to seek to protect their young from elements of nature and from predators.

In the human sphere of activity, the concept of protection has been extended to nonliving objects, including technological systems such as computers, and to intangible things such as intellectual property, beliefs, and economic systems. Humans seek to protect locations of historical and cultural significance through historic preservation efforts, and are also concerned with protecting the environment from damage caused by human activity, and with protecting the Earth as a whole from potentially harmful objects from space.