Every year the human population is increasing around 90 million people each year. As we all need food, water, housing and health care, we also put out a lot of waste. This puts a strain on the environment and the variety of species we have living in our world.
The above diagram shows how fast our population is growing in both developing and industrialized regions. Developing regions, which have a low standard of living, has a population that is increasing more rapidly than industrialized regions. Industrialized regions have a high level of development and would more likely be able to sustain the growing population. But as the numbers of humans keep increasing it is becoming harder and harder to find and replace the environmental resources needed to survive. As the population increases we are being forced to find more and more food to feed them. This is decreasing the amount of resources for the future generations and is also decreasing the variations in biodiversity. Soon we will not have enough resources to feed this population and it will start to decrease. This will make our society unstable as we don’t have people to help sustain and grow more resources for our needed population.
The above picture shows that sustainable agriculture is the better option because instead of just focusing on the need to feed the population, it also focuses on the need for biodiversity. Industrial agriculture refers to the form of modern farming that is the industrialized production of livestock, poultry, fish and crops. Sustainable agriculture follows the practice of farming using the principles of ecology, and the study of the relationships between the environment and organisms. Sustainable agriculture came into practice after problems had risen from industrial agriculture. Sustainable agriculture focuses on three main goals of environmental stewardship, farm prosperity, and successful farming communities.
Biodiversity is the amount of variation of life forms within a specific ecosystem, biome, or the entire planet. Biodiversity has a major impact on human health. As the human population grows the need to conserve biodiversity seems less important. People are just more worried about surviving and finding food to feed them.
In the above picture the known causes of animal extinction is: Habitat Destruction, Species Introductions, Hunting and Other. Out of these four reasons humans are responsible for two and possibly three (Other). AS humans we are becoming less considerate about biodiversity and are just worrying about surviving. There are six specific human actions that threaten the ecosystems and the species. These six actions are: Over Hunting, Habitat Loss, Degradation and Fragmentation, Invasion of non-native species, Domino Effect, Pollution and Climate Change. Over hunting has become a significant cause of the extinction of species and more for the endangerment of several species. Habitat Loss, Degradation and Fragmentation are also an important cause of extinction as deforestation continue in tropical forests which are also a cause from humans. Invasion of non-native species is an often overlooked cause of extinction. The African Great Lakes are known for their great diversity which now is becoming extinct mainly because humans are eating all of the species. The Domino Effect occurs when one species is added or removed from the ecosystem. This affects the whole biological system. Pollution is the most known cause of extinction and has become very aware. Even though humans know that pollution is endangering our species and natural resources, we continue to do this not really caring. Climate Change threatens species and ecosystems. Species distribution is determined by climate as well as vegetation. Climate change is shifting the distribution also making species unable to adjust easily and also migrate.
I think that humans should become more aware of the different things going on in the world, with hope that after they will learn to conserve the biodiversity in our world.
Work Cited List
Conservation, Biodiversity Sustainability Environment Issues, Automated Lobbying Database at Information for Action. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://www.informaction.org/index.php?main=population_gen&s=Population growth>.
"Biodiversity: Threats and Protective Measures." Fathom :: The Source for Online Learning. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://www.fathom.com/course/21701785/session2.html>.
"Impacts on Biodiversity." Index. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://redpath-museum.mcgill.ca/Qbp/3.Conservation/impacts.htm>
Blog's Commented On:
