Natural habitats and diversity are being destroyed by humans and most people are ignorant to the consequences of such destruction. The loss of biodiversity can be observed in Hawaii, as Wilson explains in his book “The future of life”. In Hawaii, before people populated and changed the island, there used to be 125-145 types of birds (p43), vast exotic landscapes, and species that could not be found anywhere else. Today, after years of hunting and population, only about 35 species of birds still exist, 24 of them endangered (p43). It is important for us to understand the consequences of our actions, as is otherwise demanded of us anyway. While we are told to know that police will chase us if we steal, our friends will hate us if we cheat, and our families will be disappointed if we lie, no one teaches us in the same way that species will go extinct if we destroy their ecosystem, they will go extinct if we bring in other animals, bugs, and plants into their home, and perhaps most importantly, our actions will impact future generations negatively.
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In Hawaii, 902 flowering plant species (p44) and 35% of insects (p47) are alien. With Polynesian seafarers also came pigs, rats, plants, and other organism that did not previously occupy the island. This invasion did not stop then, as Americans also brought other birds, mammals, and plants with them for domestication. Causing extinction like this can stop us from reaping the benefits of this exotic land we are destroying. Perhaps there are medical benefits of some plants that have now been destroyed by non-native plants and insects? Perhaps a native mammal could have become another popular meat product that would have spared us so much waste of grain and pollution of the environment that is being caused by, for instance, China’s pig industries or large bovine industries. But with still continued destruction of ecosystems we will never be able to learn everything we would like to from species now endangered or extinct.
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Not only the have we lost some benefits from species now endangered or extinct, many ecosystems have non-native species destroying their lands already in delicate condition since human population. Countries such as Australia are working a lot harder to keep foreign species out of their country, although such animals as the cane toad were already brought into the country long ago and have caused a great deal of damage over the past decades, especially to crops and native wildlife and insects. Other animals, such as the rabbit, are also abundant in Australia and are affecting agriculture greatly. With a lot of ground uninhabitable or unfertile to crops such as maize or oats, the agriculture in Australia greatly relies on the available land. However, non-native species that destroy these lands may cause them to be destroyed for a very long time, long after they have left the area. This has hopefully obvious disadvantages for future generations, as agriculture becomes more important with more people inhabiting the world, yet fertile land and other resources for agriculture become more difficult to obtain.
While many people ignore the fear expressed by ecologists, the long term impact of such careless distribution of species and destruction of the biosphere may not go unnoticed for long. The human population is increasing like never before and countries are scrambling to be able to provide both food and other needs for their people. While “balance” is a difficult word to use in science, it is a word that can be used to make things more clear. People need to recognize the “balance” needed in nature, the “balance” we need to find as inhabitants of this biosphere. “Balance” is not equilibrium, but rather understanding and acceptance that we are not the only inhabitants that need help and need the earth.
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