Endangered Species Decline

Since I was little, animals have always fascinated me. With a countless number of species, my mind was always obsessed with learning someone new about each animal. I remember making the front page of newspapers that only had facts about whatever species I was researching at the time. [ADD TRANSITION]

During the summer of 5th grade, my mom and I went to visit her friend in Iowa for a couple of weeks. While there, I played endlessly with their Australian Cattle dog, Lexie. I walked her (more like she dragged me) and played with her in their big backyard every day. I knew that since my mom was allergic, we would never own our own dog, so I treasured these moments as much as I could. Because of my love for animals, we decided that it would be

These factors include habitat loss, climate change, introduced/invasive species, and hunting/poaching. Despite the seemingly small impact one species in decline appears to have in the ecosystem, the effect is actually catastrophic. What does driving a car, turning on lights, and using the dishwasher have in common? All three of these emits harmful gases into the atmosphere. While driving a car may seem like an obvious contributor to the growing climate problem, running your dishwasher may not. However, electricity is required in order to run household appliances, including that dishwasher. Electricity production is actually the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States (QUIZ). 66% of our electric energy comes from burning fossil fuels, which contributes heavily to the greenhouse effect. Normally, when the sun shines on the earth, some of heat is absorbed and warms the earth, but the rest is bounced back into the atmosphere (*Greenhouse). However, with the emission of greenhouse gases, a barrier is created and not all the heat can escape back into the atmosphere. Instead, it bounces back towards the earth and transfers more energy into the earth. This concept is known as the greenhouse effect. Without this heat trapping layer, earth would be too cold to support life as we know it. However, since the Industrial Revolution period, the amount of these gases being released has been higher than ever before. This large influx is enhancing the greenhouse effect and is one of the factors of global climate