Animal Extinction Paper Essay Example

animal-related events in history (Wild). On earth today, although we are not engaging in physical wars between man and beast, we are doing almost the same amount of damage without even realizing it; we are exploiting them, polluting their environment, and destroying their natural habitat.

Leading too 5,000 of the world’s rarest species toward extinction (Numbers). In the United States alone, research completed by scientists discovered that an alarming number of 1,300 species of plants and animals have been added to the U. S. Endangered Species List (Numbers). The number of plants and animals listed as threatened or endangered continue to rise; only a small amount of species have been removed from the list because their numbers have recovered. In a recent analysis of the causes for these astounding numbers, 85% were linked to habitat loss, 49% to disturbance, 24% to pollution, and 17% to overexploitation (Wilcove 147).

Exploitation and Disturbance As explained above, 17% of all endangered animals are near extinction because of overexploitation. Exploitation is any form of endangerment toward species that exterminates the population faster than it is able to reproduce (Endangered Species/Species Extinction). Exploitation is the collecting, trapping, or killing of species for fur, food, sport, horns, or antlers, and it causes a loss of genetic biodiversity and relative species abundance (Overexploitation).

During the early 20th century, one of the world’s most abundant birds, the passenger pigeon, was exploited to extinction. The same fatality has happened to many other animals, including various species of whales, bison, and tigers (Overexploitation). The most startling of them all is the case of the tiger, because currently, almost every species of tiger is endangered, considering that tigers are

highly valued worldwide for their fur and medicinal purposes. The Bengal Tiger has the largest population, which is right around 2,000 (Numbers).

The others – the Indochinese, Malayan, Sumatran, and South China tigers all have less than 500 individuals each; the Caspian, Balinese, Barbary, and Javan tigers all went extinct due to overexploitation in the 1900’s (Numbers). It is not only animals that are being exploited; plants, which cover virtually every continent with a suitable climate, are severely overexploited for food, medicine, cultivation purposes, and building materials (Overexploitation). Global Climate Change and Pollution Global climate change has a severe effect on the world’s oceans and arctic landscapes.

Global climate change is also known as global warming, and it is the average rise of the earth’s oceans and atmospheric temperature; the burning of fossil fuels is believed to be the main reason for the increase of 1. 5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900. Research on global warming has established that the slight increase in temperature has affected soil temperature and begun to thaw the polar ice caps, which has forced the world’s species to struggle to keep up. (What Is). Pollution is when a potentially harmful physical or chemical waste is deposited into the environment.

Pollution harms almost every category of species within a given area, and it can powerfully and rapidly change an entire ecosystem by killing or deforming species. Pollutions that are released into the atmosphere are usually carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide (Causes). These deadly air pollutants are related to global warming, as air pollutants are known to slowly but severely damage the ozone layer. Pollutions in the ocean and on land are typically caused

by heavy metals, pesticide and herbicide deposits, thermal sources from power plants, and large deposits of silt (Causes).

Oceans have been drastically affected by pollution; millions of fish from all over the world die each year from chemicals and waste runoff, which is undoubtedly going to lead to numerous extinctions in the future. Numerous species could be saved if a law was passed to help prevent extinction from pollution, as well as global warming. The federal government could easily contribute to help out our biodiversity by attempting to control harmful emissions and pollutants released into the air.

In an interview with Al Goodman, Julia Marton-Lefevre, Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has likewise said that “hundreds of species could be lost as a result of our own actions…” Habitat Destruction The main foundations of habitat destruction include agriculture, livestock grazing, mining, logging, infrastructure development, road construction, military activities, outdoor recreation, water development, urban and commercial development, and disruption of fire ecology (Wilcove 148). Habitat destruction is by far the worst contributor to the extinction f species, and it occurs in both land and aquatic ecosystems. Forests, deserts, and grasslands are destroyed continually each year by humans, and it is universally known that no species can exist when its habitat is destroyed. Out of 10 million species, 20-30,000 species are endangered annually due to habitat destruction. The rainforest alone has a population of specific species that are only able to survive in that geographic area; therefore, destroying a single square acre of rainforest will have a much more critical and disturbing effect that it would have on any other geographical area.

For example, a particular

rainforest tree may have a population of as many as 1,200 beetles that depend on it, and up to 20% of those beetles are specialist feeders, meaning that they rely solely on that specific tree to survive. On average, there are around 50,000 tropical trees, and each has its own populace of beetles. If, due to the habitat destruction in the rainforest, this tree becomes extinct, then so will the hundreds of other species associated with it (Endangered Species/Species Extinction).

Endangered Species In conclusion, after all of the studies and appalling facts, it is clear that humans should be putting forth a greater effort to protect the earth’s vital species. Once a species is gone, it is gone forever, and the numbers of both plants and animals are quickly declining. Almost every species contributes to the ecosystem in some way; species of plants clean air, control specific water conditions, and some predators even control the population of mass-produced pests (Endangered Species).

Species offer a very extensive genetic library, and for medicinal purposes, some plants could hold the key to life-altering scientific discoveries. By allowing a species to go extinct, we are possibly lowering the chances of finding cures for terminal illnesses such as cancer. Any species could hold the answer and have undiscovered values; therefore, if we destroy our chances of finding cures through the species we are killing off, our very outlook on humanity may develop a high likelihood of becoming extinct in the near future. (Endangered Species). Whether we know it or not, by the harmful and selfish acts of xploitation, pollution, and habitat destruction, are not only damaging the environment, but we are damaging

ourselves. Out of everything that could possibly happen to our environment, the loss of biodiversity is the only one that is apt to be permanently irreversible (Fitzpatrick). After the loss of so many valuable species, biologists agree and believe that there is another mass extinction underway; they have concluded that if current activities continue to do this much destruction, then by the close of this century, as many as half of the earth’s species will have vanished.

One of the main dilemmas of extinction is why the resourcefulness of our life on earth seems to break. CO? levels within our atmosphere have been altered so severely, that just in the last century, the change that has occurred can be compared to that of a 100,000 year cycle. Animal and plant species are not the only ones that may go extinct – but Homo sapiens will as well (Walsh). When push comes to shove, the most strikingly terrifying thing to judge “may simply be the pace itself. ” (Kolbert)