Endangered Species Act

Imagine a world without more than half of the different species in it. Where entire ecosystems are just gone, and the whole food chain is diminished. Well, that is what would happen if we did not take care of the many species that are endangered and threatened. Even small creatures that we do not pay much attention to, like bees, are a major key to our human population. When this world had the many species it used to have, extinction was just a natural thing that happened to a species. The rate of extinction was much slower than it is today, with about 25% of mammals, 33% of amphibians, and about 70% of all plants are endangered. That is why the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was created; to protect and ensure that these species are restored

Which is why we should understand the origins, why we should be concerned, and how the ESA is evolving to find the solution.

The ESA was created because many people realized the increasing rate of species declining. Due to pollution, clearing of habitats, and other changes in the world that has occured over time, the rate of extinction has increased at an alarming rate. Before all of these harmful things happened to the world, extinction was normal, yet it was not bad, because the species were replaced with the creation of new species called speciation. Nowadays, the rate of extinction is faster than the rate of speciation, thus creating a decline in the amount species in the world. This world lives in a big ecosystem, which all species are interconnected. With the decline in certain species, the living connection between species is breaking, the balance of nature could be forever altered, as well as our own survival abilities. Even though some species may not seem important, their benefits would be lost. (Why do We Care About Endangered Species in North

Overhunting and overfishing also reduce the amount of breeding pairs able to be made, so this can lead to little genetic variation.For example, cheetahs are dying because they are inbreeding, which causes their genetic differences are few between them. They cannot adapt to environments quickly, and they also cannot breed in captivity as easily. (endangered species) All of these things can cause the endangerment of species, and which is why the ESA was created.

Although many species that are endangered or threatened may seem that they do not affect us, they probably do. Things that we do not even think about, like maple trees, could destroy whole ecosystems. Or maybe even the everyday things we do will lead to hurting us. In many products used today, there are synthetic preservatives, whether it is food or even cosmetics. But when those cosmetics go down the drain, it incorporates into the nearest water system and cycles within the water on earth. Different species that live in the water, fish and plants, can ingest the chemical which could affect them very badly and that could continue up to the food chain,