Week 4 – Module 4, Chapters 8-9, “Environmental Science” by G.T. Miller and S. Spoolman (2011).
Critical Thinking Questions and Concepts:
a) Concept 8-1: “What role do humans play in the premature extinction of species?” (p. 153)
b) Concept 8-2: “Why should we care about preventing species extinction?” (p. 80)
c) “Describe your gut-level reaction to the following statement: “Eventually, all species become extinct. So it does not really matter that the passenger pigeon is extinct, and that the polar bear and world’s remaining tiger species are endangered mostly because of human activities.” Be honest about your reaction, and give arguments to support your position.” (Question 2, p. 176)
d) Concept 9-1: “What are the major threats to forest ecosystems?” (p. 179)
e) Concept 9-2: “How should we manage and sustain forests?” (p. 179)
f) “In the early 1990s, Miguel Sanchez, a subsistence farmer in Costa Rica, was offered $600,000 by a hotel developer for a piece of land that he and his family had been using sustainably for many years. The land contained an old-growth rain forest and a black sand beach in an area under rapid development. Sanchez refused the offer. What would you have done if you were in Miguel Sanchez’s position? Explain your decision.” (Question 2, p. 204)
Summary: This week’s chapters covered the importance of biodiversity, the causes of accelerated extinction of species, the approaches to sustain biodiversity, and protection of forests, grasslands, and aquatic environments.
Humans play a very large role in the premature extinction of species. As indicated in my post from January 31, 2012, we destroy habitats like rain forests and wet lands to further our living space and commerce. This in return leads to the e...
... middle of paper ...
...January 28, 2012 from http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rainforest.htm
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/genetically+modified+organism
Jungle diary. (2012). Retrieved January 28, 2012 from http://www.junglediary.com/definition-of-a-rainforest/
Butler, R. A. (2011). Global impact of deforestation: Climatic roles of forests. Retrieved January 28, 2012 from http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0906.htm
http://www.as.wvu.edu/~bio105/pdf/Amphibian%20Decline.pdf
Joseph, T., & Morrison, M. (2006). nanoforum.org. Retrieved February 17, 2012 from http://www.nanoforum.org/dateien/temp/nanotechnology in agriculture and food.pdf
Nanowerk LLC. (2011). Introduction to nanotechnology. Retrieved February 17, 2012 from http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology/introduction/introduction_to_nanotechnology_1.php
http://www.learner.org/interactives/garbage/global.html
In this paper Martin is arguing that late quaternary or near time extinctions where caused by human activity or as he calls it “overkill”. Martin recognizes that there have been many forces that have triggered extinctions in the planet on the past but disagrees with the idea that near time extinctions where caused by some commonly believed causes like climate change, disease or nutrient shortage. He argues that the arrival of humans to different continents, islands and the subsequent excessive hunting, the introduction of diseases and other competitors and predators was the cause of extinction of a great number of species “As our species spread to various continents we wiped out their large
“If you want to think about why humans are so dangerous to other species, you can picture a poacher in Africa carrying and Ak-47/ better still, you can picture yourself, holding a book on your lap” (Kolbert 266). This excerpt alone sets up the dark narrative that lies within The Sixth Extinction. It is uncomfortable to think about the impact that humans have on the environment on a global scale; however, it is nearly unbearable to recognize individual actions such as reading a book, directly contribute to the devastation of the earth.
Extinction is no longer just a natural process. It is an enemy, slowly changing our world into a barren wasteland where life is as rare as a flower in the Arctic Circle's winter. The wolf, the tiger, the caribou, the elephant, the bison, the cheetah, the sequoia cactus, the redwood tree – all of these and so many more things are on the verge of disappearing from our planet forever. Extinction is the most pressing environmental issue of our time, because if it continues the way it is going without anything being done to counteract its causes and consequences, there will soon be no environment left for there to be debates about.
Did you know humans had the power create a mass extinction event? For 12,000 years, the Holocene extinction has been devastating life on earth; it branches into nearly all taxonomic groups: birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and arthropods. Only 875 extinctions have been documented between the year 1500 and 2010, but, according to International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, there is approximately 140,000 extinctions per year. In the last 12,000 years, all over the globe, a large variety of animals have been wiped out because of human activity.
Long-term survival of a species depends on its ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions (Murphy, 1994). Genetic diversity within a species, which has taken 3.5 billion years to evolve, makes adaptations to these changing environments possible. Unfortunately, the rate of extinction of genetically diverse organisms is rapidly increasing, thus reducing this needed biodiversity, largely due to the human impacts of development and expansion. What was an average of one extinction per year before is now one extinction per hour and extinct species numbers are expected to reach approximately one million by the year 2000 (WWW site, Bio 65). As a result governmental and societal action must be taken immediately!
Seideman, D. (1993). Out of the Woods: Vol. . A Forest of Voices (2nd ed.) [Conversations in Ecology].Mayfield.
On their webpage, an article titled “The Case for Reviving Extinct Species” likens the efforts of de-extinction to the efforts made to protect endangered species.12 Facts have shown that these projects are expensive and also have a chance of failure yet, biologists and conservationists still believe that making an attempt to protect endangered species is worth the effort. If this is the case for the protection of endangered then by their reasoning it should be the same for the efforts of de-extinction. If there is the chance of righting the wrong that has been done to these animals they believe that the moral course of action is to attempt
BENTON, MICHAEL J. "Mass Extinctions." New Scientist 209.2802 (2011): i-viii. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
There are several main reasons why endangered species proceed towards extinction. Greta Nilsson wrote an article for the encyclopedia about endangered species. In the first part of her essay, she focused on the four main reasons that put plants and animals on the endangered species list: destruction of habitat, exotic animal exchange, overhunting, and competition between nat...
Humans are destructive. Not a lot of us think about how what we do affects the world around us. We almost act like we are the only ones on this planet. We go around polluting and destroying our world with no regard for our actions. The things that live out in the wild are paying the price for it. Every day that passes there is another animal or plant that is placed on an endangered list. This is happening at an alarming rate. Because of man’s desire to expand and conquer their surroundings, there are animals and plants that are on the brink of extinction that will not be around for our kids and future generations to enjoy if something is not done about it now. This problem has been going on for hundreds of years. There are animals and plants that can only been seen in paintings or early photography. It is because of our early ancestors that we have this problem today and we have to do more to prevent more animals and plants from disappearing forever.
Sodhi, Navjot S., and Paul R. Ehrlich. 2010. Conservation Biology for All. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
animals going extinct. Often times humans can get what want and need: like food, shelter, warmth, and help. Sadly plants and animals can not just get what they want; they have to survive. Many time the environment will harm or make it harder for thee plants and animals to survive off of what they find, not what they buy. As humans, we need plant and animals to survive. Many of the plant and animals are used for medicine and so could be cures are some incurable illnesses. In this essay the reader will learn about endangered species dying off, why it would benefit us to protect these species, save time because of ecological effects, and what we can do to help and so we can save and benefit the environment.
== = = Human beings are dependent on the Earth's diversity of species for our survival. Wild species play a vital role in the maintenance of the planets ecological functions, yet everyday on the planet 40-100 species become extinct.
According to National Geographic 2014, Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Deforestation occurs all around the world and tropical rainforests are primarily targeted. Our world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation. Currently or in the recent past countries with significant deforestation include Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. Deforestation affects our planet and everyone in many ways. According to LiveScience 2013, seventy percent of the world’s plants and animals live in forests and are losing their habitats to deforestation. Loss of habitat can lead to species extinction. Our world has lost so many species of plants and animals in last couple of decades. This has negative consequences for medicinal research and local populations who rely on the animals and plants in the forests for hunting and medicine. In some regions of the world deforestation can cause floods, when it rains trees absorb and store large amount of water with the help of its roots. But when they are cut down the flow of water is disrupted w...
As stated above, there are a multitude of causes for this “mass extinction”, and most all of them are caused by humans. One such causality is overfishing. Everyone loves to eat fish. However, with overfishing, humans are collecting more fish than we can consume as a population. Overfishing is when people collect more fish from the o...