Biodiversity and Ecosystem Loss

(Driving Question: How does Biodiversity and Ecosystem loss affect the earth and what are the future
repercussions of ignoring it?)

What is Biodiversity loss? It is the loss of a number of animals and plants. What is ecosystem loss? It is
the destruction of a group of living organisms that interact with each other. The reason I chose this as
my topic is because it is a worldwide problem and nothing much is being done about it. Now you may be
thinking: “how does this affect me in anyway? We have already seen the extinction of multiple species
and it has done nothing to us so how is this important.” Well, the entire world is one big system and
when a single creature is taken out of it, it can cause many problems.

(G.P) Biodiversity loss to the human’s eye is just one of many problems that can be solved if we put our
minds to it, however this is much more serious than that. As we all know, Global warming is a huge
problem that cannot be solved within seconds, however what if I told you that Global warming is related
to Biodiversity and Ecosystem loss. Global warming is causes due to the greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere of our planet. This increase in temperature has always been happening though now we
humans are speeding this up. It also doesn’t help that the amazon rainforest is burning down. The
Amazon is one of the most important rainforests in the world as it produces 20% of the entire oxygen in
the world. Although a more pressing matter is that number of humans and other living in the rainforest.
If the amazon burns down completely many people will lose their lives and even more animals and
plants will die out. This will lead to the extinction of many creatures.

As I said before our planet is a humongous system in which each part has a role to play. For example,
when the population of passenger pigeons decreased the population of its predators also drastically
declined. And when the predators declined their pray increased in number as there was nothing to
control their population. This will also happen to many ecosystems around the world if the biodiversity
of the world narrowed. This example was not a very serious one however imaging the same with a
natural grazer such as deer or antelope. It would lead to a massive crisis that would be impossible to
stop ending in a mass extinction.

Let us look at this from another perspective. If we look at it as an actual problem then we might start
working towards a solution however we humans are more interested in how to solve problems that
affect a countries economy or a political issue rather than looking at everything. I do not mean to say
that these problems do not require solving however I am suggesting that we need to prioritize what is
more important than others. If we do continue on this path not only will the biodiversity and ecosystems
collapse, but so will mankind. How exactly, well when an animal or plant species dies all that depend on
it also die, which means that when an ecosystem dies the entire environment will start to wither, and
when an entire ecosystem starts to wither all the ecosystems around it start to wither and eventually
this will lead to the destruction of mankind as we know it.
When we look at this from a more local perspective we already see the damage being done to the
environment. All you need to do to see this is to look outside our school building and you can see the
sheer amount of damage already been done to the environment. By destroying the home of the animals
living there we start slowly destroying the species. Before aircrafts where introduced the population of
the passenger pigeons where high in the billions, by due to poaching and aircraft their number
drastically declined and by the time we realized there were only a few thousands left. The same thing is
happening to many species of animals and the main reason for their extinction is habitat loss and illegal
poaching. Another main problem in India is pollution which our school is trying their best to help.
Recently grade 9 had a presentation of sorts by a group of students who are collection plastics and
waste and giving it to a company which turns plastic to fossil fuel. Although this does worsen global
warming, the advantages out way the disadvantages.

Ecosystems play an important role in balancing the earth’s climate and that is exactly why it is important
to make sure that we don’t lose our ecosystems. Climate change has already altered each and every one
of our lives and will continue doing so unless we take drastic measures. The mass extinction that we
feared has already begun however we are not helpless to stop it. Unlike the other Mass extinctions
(there have been five others before) this is not causes by nature. It is caused by us and as we started it,
we are the only one who can stop it. All over the world many countries have already started working on
solutions and only together can we stop it. The solution to this problem is not one, but many. Let me
explain what I mean. This problem is so huge that one single solution is not enough. First we must step
up and do something about the amazon fires. This is the most important step as without this the value
of all other solutions are diminished.

We have gone so far into the problem that there is no solution that is financially cheap. One of the
reasons why I had chosen this topic is because of the story of Prometheus the titan. He is the one who
created human kind according to Greek mythology and he felt pitiful for them thus he gave them fire
despite being told not to by the king of the gods Zeus. The reason why Zeus had not let him is because
he believed that if humans were given fire they would start acting like gods. If we look at the current
state of mankind we can see that this is slowly coming true. Who are we to choose what lives and what
dies? According to scientist across the world humans aren’t on top of the food chain. The only reason
why we are able to advance so much is because we are smarter that a lot of creature.

This entire problem leads to another problem. Overpopulation. The only reason why our world isn’t
overgrown with plants is because their population is kept in check by animals that feed on them. Now
the same thing is happening to us humans. Although we do not have a predator that keep our
population in check. I do not mean that this is a problem but it will lead to the destruction of all the
other animals and plants on earth. This is not the only reason why this is bad. When the population of a
particular species goes unchecked its food source will also die in which case the species will also go
extinct. Imagine this with humans. The devastation that this can cause is unimaginable. There is only
one solution to this entire problem. Population control. Although this is not one that will be very
effective it is the only one that can stop humanity from ending.

I would like to conclude by saying that saving the world ecosystems and biodiversity is not only for the
animals and plants but more importantly for humans. Although to the many people this may not seem
like much of a problem, if left unchecked it could lead to our downfall. It is happening faster that we think
and soon it will result in mass extinction, however we can stop it but only if we do something about it
together.

-Jeffrey Thomas 9C