The Yasuni National Park is located in Ecuador’s Amazon Basin. It is below the equator and is covered by the Andes Mountains. The park is home to millions of species of mammals, birds, insects, plants and trees (Blitz 2015). It is known to be the most biologically diverse place on Eearth (Cite). There are also many threats to the park such as, illegal logging, poaching, and the 1937 discovery of oil beneath the soil. Conservationists have been fighting to preserve the Yasuni in the face of oil drilling, as the park contains around 850 millions of barrels of oil under its surface (Cite). Yasuni was named as a national park of Ecuador in 1979 and a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1989. The park covers 3,792 square miles. It is located …show more content…
The environmental case for leaving the ITT oil fields untapped is beyond question. Oil drilling in Yasuni National Park should be banned completely. A single acre of rainforest in Yasuni has been found to contain over 650 different species of trees. The number is more than the whole of the United States and Canada combined. The park also boasts over 600 types of birds. Oil drilling should be banned from Yasuni National Park as it is more detrimental to the natural life existing there and would only minimally help the economic standing of Ecuador. In August 2013, the Ecuadorian government announced that it would commence oil exploration and extraction within the ITT block of the Yasuni National Park, which is the last block within the national park in which oil extraction activities have not taken place. A group of activists formed the Yasunidos group, which has become the principal organizer of the efforts to collect more than 600,000 signatures before April 12, 2014 in order to send a ballot question about the proposed extractive activities to a national referendum. Yasuni National Park faces many threats to its preservation. The impact of oil wells within the park, the opening of roads for oil exploration, and the installation of oil wells have been damaging on the environment within and outside of Yasuni National Park. Other threats include illegal timber extraction and climate change. There are also two groups of indigenous peoples that are living in voluntary isolation - still in harmony with the rainforest like they have for hundreds of years; the Tagaeri and Taromenane, which belong to the Wuaorani Nationality, and who have been affected by oil drilling for decades. There are so many reason of why drilling Yasuni National Park for oil needs to be stopped. Even though The National Assembly has passed the bill to begin drilling, there is still a small hope they
Also, drilling in Alaska will not harm the wildlife. Take Prudhoe Bay for example. The Central Arctic Caribou Herd that occupies Prudhoe Bay has grown from a population of 6000 in 1978 to 27000 today. This is a 450% growth over 26 years at an average of 17.3% growth per year. (Arctic Power) That’s quite an increase.
The Huaorani are the bravest people in the Amazon. It says so throughout Savages by Joe Kane. It is about the indigenous group called the Huaorani residing deep in the rainforest of the Amazon. They have their culture that struggles to maintain tradition, “Though Moi hit the streets of Washington D.C., at the evening rush hour, he walked in the city as he does in the forest-in slow, even strides “(Kane, Savages). The small indigenous group that reside in the Amazon are fighting against outer forces. The petroleum companies are destroying the land of the Huaorani people. Joe Kane who is the author and narrator of the book, tells the story of the Huaorani people and their struggles in the outer world
The environment needs protecting because even before the drilling started hunting was rapidly decreasing the amount of animals in the area. So if drilling occured in Alaska the animal count would go down even more. Drilling is gonna need space, and because Alaska is a mountained and woodland area they will have to make space by destroying trees etc. Destroying trees means destroying animals’ homes. According to document E ‘just look 60 miles west to Prudhoe bay- an oil complex that has turned 1,000 square miles of fragile tundra into a sprawling industrial zone containing, 1,500 miles of roads and pipes’. Also the document states that the would be
Wade Davis’ article, Among the Waorani, provides much of the content brought to light in Nomads of the Rainforest. His article delves deeper into their culture and motivations allowing one to more fully understand their beliefs, relationships, and savagery. Both the documentary and article attempt to create a picture of their close-knit relationships and their desire f...
Imagine a scenic, wild landscape with animals that roam freely, cascading waterfalls, and mountains that seem to scrape the pale blue sky. This is what one thinks when first hearing the name Yosemite National Park. Unfortunately, the reality is completely opposite. Yosemite is now under a federally regulated Class 1 area under the Clean Air Act, which is equivalent to the pollution of Los Angeles (“National Parks Service”). It is a sad comparison to the past John Muir, who first documented Yosemite Valley, to today’s reality. The condition of Yosemite National Park should be introduced to the American public in order to protect its historic beauty and significance, eliminate current pollution, and prevent future repercussions.
The opposition to this project is increasing because the people living in those areas are already feeling negative consequences. The large communities living in Boreal Forest and other Natives lands are being affected by the extraction and process of tar sands. Not only this people are being rushed away from their lands, but also, the rate of cancer, renal failure, lupus, hyperthyroidism and other decease, are higher than ever. This health conditions increased because of the air pollution and the high quantities of metals and chemicals in the drinking water. Yet, lots of precautions are being taken by the company, oil spills keep happening over and over. The external metal corrosion caused by extreme temperatures and the corrosive acid components of the bitumen are factors that contribute to accidents like explosions and oil
“Most important of all are the more than 130,000 caribou of the Porcupine herd. , these caribou are at the heart of environmentalists’ case against drilling” (McCarthy). The reason that these specific animals are the reason for not drilling is that the caribou migrate to the plains, where the drilling would take place, in order to give birth to their calves.... ... middle of paper ...
There is an abundance of oil underneath earth’s crust on land and in the water but getting to that oil can be proven as a challenge and a negative impact on the earth. Many of these oil reservoirs lie in federally protected land or water to minimize the negative impact on the earth. But should those restrictions be removed? Removing the restrictions can allow the US to tap into domestic reserves rather than rely on imported oil from the Middle East and Asia but tapping these reservoirs can also leave behind an impact that is harmful to this planet. “Critics oppose this move for fear that it will cause irreparable harm environmental harm. They point to the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as evidence of the risks associated with offshore drilling” (SIRS).
Over the last thirty years the United States has been faced with the problem of dependence on foreign countries for oil and the tight control that these exercise on the energy policies and economics of America. Many of these instances include: the oil embargos of the 1970s, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. Since the 1970s, one solution offered to reduce our nation's dependence on foreign countries for oil has been opening up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Proponents say that drilling in ANWR would make the United States more self-sufficient in the area of energy, while at the same time not doing excessive damage to the environment of the area. Opponents of drilling in ANWR cite the environmental problems of off-shore drilling and maintain that this land should be left alone and allowed to stand as an environmental wonder. Given that some environmental groups do not mind allowing technology to invade the environment when it profits them and given the threats of global terror and the ever-increasing dependence our nation has on foreign oil, I believe it is in the best interests of the United States to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling.
..."Alaska Oil Spill Fuels Concerns Over Arctic Wildlife, Future Drilling." National Geographic News. 20 Mar. 2006. Web. 3 July 2010.
The environmental danger taken by offshore drilling is very straight forward, made clear by oil spills such as the recent BP oil spill and the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 off the shore of Alaska. In the circumstances of the Exxon Valdez spill up to 250,000 sea birds died, over 2,800 sea otters and thousands of other animals], (figures from the BP oil spill are not yet concluded), having had a heavy strike on the regional wildlife and directing to a ban on all offshore drilling in America, until George Bush overturned it in 2008 to this repeal was a misjudgment because two years later there was the Deepwater Horizon spill. In this way, offshore drilling ruins ecosystems and fish supplies which creates a wasteland of a shoreline among southern USA.
National Parks are the cornerstone of every country because it preserves the rich cultural and natural resources of a nation, such as Yellowstone in the United States of America. Yellowstone National Park is the World’s First National Park which brings millions of attraction each year, it is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combine and have over a thousand species of plants and animal (Yellowstone Media). However, a very important type of species has been missing in Yellowstone National Park for a very long time. Wolves, which got reintroduce back into Yellowstone National Park, should stay there because without them the ecosystem would be out of balance.
"Waorani Indians March against Oil Drilling." Survival International. N.p., 15 July 2005. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.
The Korowai are one of the most endangered tribes in the world. Their traditional culture was developed thousands of years ago. They live in small family clans and are hunter-gatherers and live in a horticultural society. The natural resources have allowed them to survive in the harsh rainforest which they depend for living. As population grows in society more and more people are using the earth’s natural resources. Trees are being cut down for extraction of minerals and energy. Lands are being used to create industrialize factories. The Korowai territory is surrounded by...
The National Audubon Society protects all birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. They have been active in this effort for over 100 years and one of the earliest environmental groups in the USA (Gonzalez). They started from a certain water fowl were becoming extinct because of fashion in the late 1800’s. Yes, women’s demand for fancy, feathered hats was reducing the population of certain birds. Their involvement led to legislation that banned the use or possession of these plumes.