Welcome to Biodiversity Guide
Ecosystem Causing Loss To Biodiversity Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
What The Loss Of Biodiversity Really Means To Us
from:There has been a rapid loss of biodiversity due to the huge increase in populations and the ongoing consumption of natural resources to support those increased numbers of people. This has caused a vast depletion and/or loss of the goods and services on which we depend for sustenance.
There are many reasons the loss of biodiversity occurs. Some are natural, such as changes in climate. Others, such as deforestation or the contamination of lakes, are caused by humans.
The economic context of civilization, with its ill-thought-out policies, its squabbles over land, water and air rights, and the use and abuse of the resources we have is the largest culprit, although there is some degree of loss due to nature itself. Even a country like the United States has no unified policy, just a hodgepodge of Federal and local restrictions which often conflict with themselves and each other. Agencies fight literal turf wars to have their pet projects approved, and projects of other agencies defeated. The boondoggles and delays only further the loss of biodiversity, by preventing funds from being allocated and actions being taken that would combat the destruction of precious natural resources.
Greenhouse gas emissions, which are a major source of global warming are a prime cause of the loss of biodiversity. Global warming is expected to contribute to the earth eventually becoming uninhabitable by most of the species of plants and animals that now exist. Already, the polar ice caps are beginning to melt, with accompanying rises in sea levels. Concurrently, smaller inland seas, such as the Aral Sea, are evaporating due to changes in atmospheric temperature, seepage from irrigation channels, and changes in the composition of the water itself, which destroy the life they formerly supported.
Another facet of the problem is that, aside from environmental groups and the government agencies they prod into action, many people have very little awareness of the impact they make on biodiversity. Yes, recycling has been made into law in many places, but there are other actions people can choose, which they can turn into habits fairly quickly, that would go a long way to preserving resources and energy. Taking shorter showers, using a plain old fan or a ceiling fan instead of air-conditioning when possible, bringing a reusable bag to the grocery store, riding a bike instead of driving for local errands – all of these contribute to preserving the resources we depend on.
In the long-run, loss of biodiversity will be much more costly to both the planet and the human race than the short-term loss of profits needed to implement measures to preserve it.
Ecosystem Causing Loss To Biodiversity News
Loss of biodiversity will affect ecosystem
Biodiversity loss — the dwindling variation of life forms — could influence ecosystem change more than previously thought, according to a study published May 2 by a team of scientists, including Western biology professor David Hooper.
Read more...The University of California, Santa Barbara's independent, student-run newspaper.
An international research team working at UCSB’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis recently published a study detailing the impact of biodiversity loss as a result of climate change and pollution in the weekly science journal Nature.
Read more...No To Subic Coal
Privilege speech delivered on May 21, 2012, Monday. Drafting of speech was a collective effort. Special thanks to Rubelh. I rise to give voice to the clamor of the people of Zambales against the proposed 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Sitio Naglatore, Barangay Cawag in Subic, Zambales. The project started out with a Memorandum of [...]
Read more...Climate change and marine biodiversity: Saving the ocean’s web of life under threat
IMAGINE a refreshing dip in the ocean during your weekend getaway to the beach. The sun is shining, no cloud in the sky, and the water temperature is some cozy 45°C. A bit too warm for you? Animals of the Ordovician, 480 million years ago, thought so, too, when marine water temperature was that hot, due to a “super-greenhouse effect” with very high carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere.
Read more...Another Week of GW News, May 20, 2012 [A Few Things Ill Considered]
Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor . Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
Read more...