“99% of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities, primarily those driving habitat loss, introduction of exotic species, and global warming.” (DoSomething). Extinction is become a very large problem in today’s society. The three main causes of extinction are overexploitation, global warming, and the introduction of invasive species.
Overexploitation is the overuse of both plants and animals for many different purposes. While humans are dependent on both plants and animals, taking in more than can be reproduced is a big problem. One species being overexploited is fish and other aquatic animals. Fishing has become a very industrialized part of today’s society. Many people also enjoy eating seafood and other types of fish
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so there is an increase in demand for it. This has led to the decrease of fish populations in both lakes and oceans. Fish are also caught for sport, which is unnecessary for humans. Fish are also harvested and sold to aquariums which decreases the population of them in the wild. Another species that is overexploited are mammals. People have hunted many different mammals for a very long time. Now, many hunting many mammals is now illegal. Even though it is illegal to kill these animals, animals like the elephant are hunted due to valuable items, such as their ivory tusks. Mammals are also trapped and sold into zoos and to biomedical researchers. Many animals are sold to zoos where they spend their whole lives in captivity. Animals are sometimes alone in their cages and are unable to reproduce which can lead to a decrease in the number of their species. Although many people don’t think about it, plants are also overexploited. Plants are necessary to life as they provide food, medicine, and materials to help build things. Too many plants are being taken from nature which is causing many to be endangered and possibly go extinct. The orchid plant is now protected from being poached by the law and is a prized possession. Many types of wood are also endangered due to overharvesting. Overexploitation is a very serious problem which is leading to the extinction of many species. Global warming is becoming a big threat to many species.
“Average temperatures in the U.S. over the last century have already increased by more than one degree fahrenheit.”(NWF). There has been many noticeable changes due this minor change in temperature. These changes in temperatures are causing problems such as when animals migrate or when they go to hibernate. Warmer temperatures cause the animals to think it is earlier than it actually is and can lead them to migrate or hibernate at the wrong times. These increases in temperature are also leading to the melting of ice in the arctic. Many animals, such as polar bears and seals depend on the ice for somewhere to live and survive. This melting of the ice also leads to sea levels rising. The rising of the sea levels also causes loss of habitats because coastlines and beaches are eroded away. Global warming leads to the extinction of animals because many habitats are lost. With the loss of habitats, animals are completely lost and they have to change their whole way of life in order to survive. If they are not able to adapt to their new surroundings many could become endangered or extinct as the result of lack of food or shelter. Clearly, global warming is adding to the extinction of many …show more content…
animals. One of the biggest threats to wildlife is the introduction of invasive species. Invasive species are any type of living organism that is not native to a certain ecosystem and causes harm. These invasive species are spread by boats, wood products, plants and the trading of animals. They are harmful because they can quickly invade an ecosystem because they don’t have any natural enemies. These species prey on the native species and take their food sources and habitats. When the invasive species invade an ecosystem they tend to take over many other species habitats. Not only do they take their habitats, they can also ruin them completely making them not suitable for any species to live. Global warming also adds to the spread of invasive species. The increase in rain and snow allows for some invasive species to spread and cause more damage to other places. The introduction of invasive species is causing the extinction of many species. Extinction among plants and animals is becoming a serious issue in today’s world.
Every type of living organism is capable of becoming extinct and there are many different causes for it. Overexploitation causes animals to become extinct due to the over harvesting of these species. Global warming is another cause of extinction which causes animals to lose habitats and change their patterns in life. Lastly, the introduction of invasive species into an ecosystem causes many other species to lose habitats and cause extinction. If something is isn’t done soon to help stop these causes of extinction, planet earth could be seriously changed for the
worse.
For years, we have heard of the devastating effects of global warming and how the melting of the polar ice caps will cause severe climate changes. One animal that has suffered most from global warming is the polar bear. Global warming has caused the polar bear population to decrease due to the results of having to swim longer distances, loss of habitat, and lack of mates to reproduce offspring. Global warming has caused this species to become endangered and has some attention with social media. Global warming has caused much damage to the polar bear population due to the warming of their habitat.
On a day to day basis, most people take for granted the lives we get to live, and put too much value on the extra things such as materialistic items. Also, the majority of humans are too invested in their personal lives or with themselves that they do not look at the big picture of how what we are doing now will effect us later. As humans, the routines in our lives can bring us harm, and within time a we may become the sixth extinction. In “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert, she gives many examples of animals that are or may become extinct. Along with ways humans contribute to the effort of putting them in danger or having them become extinct. In the end having a summary of how this all comes together and impacts us humans in more
The effects of global warming on earth's ecosystems are expected to deepen. The rise in temperature had made the life very difficult for many animal and plant species. Some common warning signs can be seen today. A recent study shows that changes due to global warming compel many animal species to migrate at a higher altitude. Some polar bears in arctic side are drowning because they have to swim longer distances to reach ice floes. In California, shoreline, sea life is moving towards north, as a result of warm water and change in
The age of the invasives: The anthropogenic effects leading to the increased spread of tropical marine invasive species in 2050 and beyond
Habitat destruction, deforestation, ozone depletion, global warming, and poaching. These actions and ecological happenings are creating a world where animals are going extinct at rapid rates. Our world is on the brink of what scientists believe is the sixth mass extinction. Unlike the five previous mass extinction, the latest one killing a majority of the dinosaurs, the main causes for this current extinction are anthropogenic reasons, not natural events.
Species are decreasing and becoming extinct over time due to climate warming. Animals and plants have developed and diversified from earlier forms to become more complex organisms. Not only have living organisms changed, but so has the Earth. Over time, the world itself has changed drastically, not just the climate but the way it looks as well. The ice on the arctic is melting, causing oceans to become more acidic, oceans became deserts and pollution from our everyday lives are affecting the ozone. It all adds up and changes the world negatively. When the world changes, so do the animals within it. Climate warming has been a big part of the change we see in the population of different species. The speed of climate change is excelling, which
In 1996, the Asian Longhorn Beetle made its way into the New York and New Jersey creating the decimation of the forests. The Asian Longhorn Beetle has so far caused the cutting of over 10,000 trees in New Jersey, and quarantine of 109 miles in New York today . The spread of this foreign beetle has created great impacts on the environment. The Asian Longhorn Beetle is an invasive specie, a harmful specie from another locations, mainly other countries, that has ended up in a foreign habitat. As time has progressed, invasive species have continued to come into our environment more frequently creating many unforeseen consequences. The relationship of invasive species within the United States’ environment and ecosystem has been changing ever since the arrival of the Europeans in the 1700s to present day. Due to these encounters with other species whether harmful or neutral, the majority, if not all, of the United States has been affected with the threatening encroachment of native species due to the industrialization of waterways and transportation.
Any species which fall into the categories vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered are considered to be at risk of extinction. Robert Redford said “I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security defense of our resource’s because it’s just as important as defense abroad otherwise what is there to defend?” People should all take the environment more seriously and protect the future for those to come. It’s our responsibility to ensure that the children to come may enjoy all of earth’s beauty, and not through old issues of National Geographic’s.
The movie, Racing Extinction, was a great insight on how humanity is about to cause the 6th mass extinction. One way that humans are causing the sixth mass extinction is carbon emissions. Our factories, methods of transportation, and dietary needs are putting an awful lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The carbon we release then enters the oceans and this is making the oceans more acidic, which is killing aquatic life. Another way humans are causing the 6th mass extinction is over hunting. This was prevalent in Indonesia and China, where people were bringing mantas and a particular species of shark close to extinction trying to profit from the species’ valuable body parts.
Invasive alien species are disrupting and changing the normal ecological functions of biomes, ecosystems, and the biosphere as a whole (CBD, 2009). They are a threat to biodiversity and can cause damage to, or even eradicate native species which natural cycles and other organisms depend on. While disrupting energy flow, food chains, and shaking the structure of ecosystems to the core, invasive species create not only ecological, but also a whole host of social, economical, and health issues that affect the livelihood of almost every organism on earth, including humans (CBD, 2009).
Earth has gone through five fully major extinctions before. We currently are in the process of Earth’s sixth mass extinction. This mass extinction is closely related in severity to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Earth’s extinctions are broken into three different areas. The first area was the large number of animals caught by hunter-gathers. The discovery of agriculture led to the second area of extinction, wildlife habitats. These wildlife habitats were destroyed due to humans starting to stay in one area.
Invasive species are species non-native to the ecosystem and its introduction causes or is likely to cause economic harm, environmental harm, or harm to human health. Most invasive species can be animals, plants, or other organisms. Invasive species are more likely to be introduced to a new ecosystem by humans. There are three specific invasive species that are causing huge harm in the United States: Asian carp, quagga and zebra mussels, and earthworms. Invasive species can be native in one place and can be pests in other places.
Everyone’s all seen those wildlife shows on tv. The shows on National Geographic and such, showing animals in beautiful environments, everything lush and growing and nothing at all wrong that could threaten these creatures and places. But, have anyone seen the other side? The side where all these beautiful creatures and plants starve, are decimated by predators that have never been there before, and sometime even become poisoned by their very own homes and habitats? Of course no one has. That doesn’t mean that its not happening. It is happening, and its happening everywhere. And guess who is to blame? People. Society. Humans as a race pollute the environment, hunt animals simply for their parts, fish way more than humans will ever need just for the sake of money, introduce new species to new places for our own gain, and even purposefully destroy entire regions just for human expansion. And its starting to take its toll. While it is true that nature is constantly in flux and certain species come and go, humans are causing more species to disappear in the past few hundred years then nature has ever caused since the age of the dinosaurs, and therefore it is up to humans to repair the damage caused, be it cleaning the environment and habitats of these creatures, or taking more direct action to protect and preserve the species that are on the brink of extinction.
Climate change is one of the major issues surfacing on Earth over the past century. The earth’s temperature has increased over the years, leading to detrimental effects on the economic and life sources of people, especially that of agricultural production and livestock. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2014), defined climate change as a change in global climate patterns apparent from the mid late 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, (2007) predicts that by 2100 the increase in global average surface temperature may be between 1.8° C and 4.0° C. With increases of 1.5° C to 2.5° C, approximately 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species are expected to be at risk of extinction. Moreover, the IPCC (2007) purported that climate change has severe consequences for food security in developing countries.
In our world today we have approximately 26,021 endangered species. Endangered species are organisms that may possible become extinct. The term 'endangered species' refers to all species that fits this description. However some conservation biologists and scientists normally use the term ‘endangered species’ to refer to species that are put on the IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature)Red List. Many factors can be looked at when considering the conservation status of a species. Factors such as human threats or environmental threats can cause a species to become endangered.