Humans Causing Decline in Biodiversity

To the best of our knowledge, wise modern people have existed about 50,000 years ago, and changed the perception of the Earth at that time (Morrison, 2006). The most obvious in recent years is the rapid development of technological progress during the industrial revolution and subsequent technological advances, which brought enormous ecological costs. With a broad scientific agreement, we are now witnessing species obsolescence at an amazing scale. We now have to accept that human beings may just be the contributing contribution.

Artificial deforestation brings about a decline in biodiversity and is known to extinct many species worldwide. Removal or destruction of forest cover areas leads to deterioration of the environment and reduction of biodiversity. Forests support biodiversity, provide habitats for wildlife, and forests promote the protection of medicines. Because forest community habitats are an irreplaceable source of new drugs (such as paclitaxel) deforestation can destroy genetic mutations (such as crop resistance) irreversibly.

Biodiversity is a mixture of animals, plants, humans and other organisms. Forest loss and deforestation can lead to a decline in biodiversity. People rely on forests for small scale agriculture, hunting and gathering, and harvesting of forest products. Indigenous people, flora and fauna have been kicked out and many of the flora and fauna can be extinct. When forests are destroyed, wildlife is deprived of habitats and pushed to densely populated areas. "Forest destruction threatens most of the global biodiversity given that about 80% of the world's recorded species can be found in the rainforests" (wwf)

Despite years of understanding of the importance of biodiversity, human activities have led to the loss of biodiversity. Biodiversity means the diversity of flora and fauna in certain habitats around the world. The scholars have estimated that "there are 5 million kinds on the earth, only nine species are known". Nevertheless, the number of species vanishes daily by human activity. For example, illegal logging is the cause of the greatest extinction in the world, as tropical forests contain at least half of the Earth's species. Scientists say that "animal and plant species are lost at 100 to 1000 times faster than natural extinction".