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  • Essay / The importance of conserving biodiversity

    Thesis statement: As a global society, we must find solutions to overpopulation, pollution, misuse of natural resources and rapid climate change to try to conserve biodiversity; the interdependence that makes the world work. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay As the human population continues to grow and consume additional resources, biodiversity is under greater threat than ever. Humanity's actions, such as clearing forests, burning fossil fuels and urbanization, have a direct effect on biodiversity. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), published in 2005, named the top five threats to biodiversity. The five main sources of threat cited in this publication are: habitat change, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation and pollution (Ed. Debra Rowe, 2014). Each of these five threats is directly caused by human actions. For example, habitat modification that threatens biodiversity is the result of human action of deforestation. This can often lead to a chain reaction effect. Deforestation causes organisms to lose their habitats and also causes more carbon to be emitted into the atmosphere. This brings us directly to one of the other threats, climate change. Climate change is depleting biodiversity in many ways. When the temperature starts to rise, the different ecosystems cannot withstand the effects and therefore die out. Over the past 100 years, the Earth's climate has warmed and precipitation patterns have changed (Araujo and Rahbek, 2006). Climate change is predicted to affect the species composition of many ecosystems, affecting the continued functioning of ecosystems due to a decline in species abundance. The expected invasion of non-native species into many ecosystems has also been highlighted as a major problem. factor in ecosystem change resulting from climate change (Hellmann et al., 2008). These adjustments will ultimately lead to changes in the functioning of ecosystems across the world. The previously mentioned impacts will undoubtedly affect the accuracy of ecosystem services for local communities and society in general. Studies carried out in different regions of the world have already demonstrated that the impacts of climate change affect fisheries, water flow regimes and carbon sequestration processes. (McCarty, 2001). The three remaining threats accentuated by ME are quite self-explanatory, and humanity's responsibility for these outcomes is equally obvious. Invasive species occur when humans move into a new area, causing the species that were there to leave and invade a new environment. Additionally, humans are overexploiting animals faster than they can reproduce, causing them to become endangered or extinct. And of course, humans pollute the earth to such an extent that life becomes almost unbearable for animals. Truth be told, if humans stop and realize the results of their actions, biodiversity will continue to decline and eventually reach a point of no return. Another effect on biodiversity is globalization. Globalization is the process by which people, ideas and goods spread across the world, spurring greater interaction and integration between the world's cultures, governments and economies. (Darité, 2008). ThereGlobalization advances society by lowering consumer prices, breaking down divisions and improving overall living standards (Takacs, 1996). However, nothing can come without a price. Unfortunately, the price of exponential growth in consumerism is that ecosystems have not had time to adapt to such rapid depletion of resources. Some of these misuses of natural resources include deforestation, oil fracking, commercial agriculture, excessive mining, etc. On a small scale, all of this was beneficial at one point, but due to globalization, these actions are overexploiting the resources around which many species evolve for survival. Globalization has had a huge impact on biodiversity and, because of this, we are losing more species than ever before (Ehrenfeld 2003). Over time, we have exhausted our natural resources and other living species on Earth cannot evolve fast enough to compensate for these severe changes. Current research indicates that twenty percent of species on Earth could become extinct in just a few decades (Post 2004). Drastic changes must be made if humanity is to preserve remaining resources and slow the current rate of extinction. This concern is not new. More than twenty years ago, there was growing concern about this problem, and today, as the situation continues to worsen, serious action is needed. Throughout Earth's history, we have lost 99% of the species that once inhabited Earth. But our current rate of extinction is much faster, about 1,000 times faster (Tobin 2010). Even though we are constantly discovering new species, this does not compensate for our rate of depletion of other species. Even though it is impossible for humanity to reverse all the impacts caused on Earth, there is still hope for progress to save what remains. Global society has become more focused on economic gains and the state of the environment has been greatly compromised. Simply put, this needs to change if we are to have a positive impact on the environment. Another problem that contributes to a reduction in biodiversity is the misuse of resources (Food Security, 2011). Humans use nature for food, water, clothing and shelter. We build our lives around nature and we have greatly abused it to the point where we don't have much left. When we misuse nature, it leads to pollution, erosion and extinction. Consumerism plays a major role in how we have begun to misuse our resources. We are unnecessarily using resources for all the additional products we think we need. For most people, it is difficult to establish what they need and what they do not need, and this is where misuse of resources occurs. Instead of seeing economics as supreme, it is important to examine why biodiversity is important and why it is important for biodiversity. environment. Having a large amount of biodiversity ensures the natural sustainability of all life forms, healthy ecosystems and creates a stronger foundation in the face of various disasters (McCarty, 2008). Biodiversity also provides a multitude of natural services such as ecosystem/biological resources and social benefits. The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has become a central question in ecological and environmental sciences over the last decade (Loreau et al., 2001). In addition, adapted biodiversity provides a surplus of natural services forall, including the protection of water resources. , storage and recycling of nutrients. Biological resources include food, medicinal resources, wood products, plants, future resources and the diversity of genes, species and ecosystems. Social benefits include research, education, recreation and tourism. In our opinion, that’s a lot of services we get for free! The cost of replacing them would be extremely high. According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the monetary value of goods and services provided by ecosystems is estimated at US$33 trillion per year. It therefore makes economic and development sense to move towards sustainability and preserve as much biodiversity as possible. Reducing biodiversity means that millions of people will face a future in which food resources are more vulnerable to pests and diseases, and fresh water supplies are irregular or insufficient. Biodiversity should also be valued more significantly because it constitutes a primordial factor that supports many ecosystems. These ecosystems provide humans with natural resources and create a balance between nature and human well-being. Responsibility for biodiversity ensures many factors that connect ecosystems to humans, including: food security, health, freedom of choice and general basic materials for sustainable living (MA, 2005). While it is clear that human societies have benefited from these factors over the past century, the loss of biodiversity has also caused human societies to suffer. Losses of biodiversity and changes in ecosystem services have caused a decline in human well-being. Biodiversity loss is a major concern for human well-being. Without the balance between ecosystems, ecosystem services and human societies, balance cannot be maintained and the decline of ecosystem and human life is at stake. The issue of biodiversity loss and biodiversity conservation must be addressed in all human societies, so that humans can begin to make a difference and restore biodiversity, because it is so important to our survival. Biodiversity provides a plethora of natural services, such as: services, biological resources and social benefits. Food and security are one of the few factors that make the relationship between ecosystem services and human well-being important for biodiversity. Thousands of dependent species participate in a vital network of biodiversity within the ecosystems on which food production depends. With continued loss of biodiversity, humans are losing the ability to adapt ecosystems to new challenges such as population growth and climate change. The food security of human societies is directly linked to the maintenance of biodiversity. In order to ensure food security for an ever-increasing population, it is necessary to create a system integrating biodiversity conservation and food production (Sunderland, TCH, 2011). The nutritional and livelihood benefits of expanded production systems are one of many possible methods to address food security. Achieving food security will provide agricultural and other food resources to human societies. On average, there are about seven thousand plant species and a few hundred animal species that human societies have used for human consumption (MA 2005). The overexploitation of these and other resources such as :.