6th Mass Extinction Essay

2004 Words5 Pages

Introduction: Our Earth has experienced five mass extinctions that were caused by natural disasters such as comet or meteor showers impacting and destroying sections of the Earth, the shifting of continents caused by the shifts of platonic plates and climate changes such as the end of the ice age that caused certain species to die out. These mass extinctions happened over a long period of thousands of years and not in the concentrated 200 years of drastic geological and biological changes that have caused scientists to believe that we are now living in the 6th mass extinction. Annenberg Learner (2013) says Unlike the previous mass extinctions that were due to natural phenomena’s, the 6th mass extinction is due to human influence. We have contributed to the harming of species and habits with factors such as deforestation, over fishing, poaching and pollution by factories. Our carbon footprint has caused a whole in our ozone layer and caused a green house effect commonly known as Global Warming. All these issues upon our environment are threatening the Earth’s biodiversity and increasing the amount of endangered and already extinct species. Despite the United Nations Partners on Climate Change (2011) getting countries to agree and sign the Copenhagen Accord to reduce their emissions of green house gases so the carbon footprint can be lowered, individuals taking an active part in recycling and reusing and the designated protected areas being established, it may not be enough to bring back balance to our Earth. We are faced with the dilemma of our own extinction drawing near. Armed with intelligence and the capabilities of genetic engineering and cloning, we could rectify the damage done with the new age technology that has been prov... ... middle of paper ... ...ived among extinct species and their revival through cloning may revive the diseases as well. If an extinct animal is revived it may bring back a deadly disease to which we will not have the understanding or medical technology to prevent a pandemic. Personal Point of View Cloning personally doesn’t seem like a long term solution and the cloning of humans goes against my values but I do feel however that genetic engineering could help prevent extinction, help humans and the environment from what I have researched. Conclusion Although there are a few risks pertaining to the cloning and genetic engineering of animals to eliminate extinction, the advantages and possibilities still prove to be greater and will aid animals, the environment and humans in the long run so I conclude that cloning and genetic engineering are a viable option to help eliminate extinction.

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