Post on 16-Mar-2016
description
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Save our
Species
By: Enrique Acosta, Alvaro
Sevilla, Alejandro Madriñan
LOSS OF
BIODIVERSITY
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Table of Content
What is loss of biodiversity...............................3-5
Causes and Effects………………………………...6-7
Visual Maps…………………………………….…8
Breaking News…………………………………9-10
Possible Solutions…………………….….…….11-12
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Enrique Acosta
Loss of biodiversity
what is it?
In the world there are many current global issues that
we need to be solving day by day to prevent severe
consequences for humanity. One of them is the loss of
biodiversity that people are facing in the entire planet.
Believe it or not, this problem affects you directly in each of
your lives. However many people do not see this problem as
a priority one, but in fact it is. Through this magazine you
will see how humans are destroying and exploiting the biodiversity of the world, causes and
impacts of this loss, possible solutions to it and how it affects you directly.
Since ancestral times people have been killing nature but in the last fifty years this
problem has increased extremely fast and constant. Today bio life is not affected just by
one problem but because of many ones. Animal poaching has been a problem difficult to
solve because poachers are very aggressive and mobs
manage these fierce poachers. Another way in which
humans kill a lot of animals is the destruction of animal’s
habitats. When humans look for resources to exploit it is
evident the destruction of environments in order to exploit
"InterMaNews.com :: Home." Web. 22 Apr. 2012.
<http://intermanews.com/pages/home/?ppcid=110
35>.
"Why Efficiency and Conservation?" Flex Your Power.
Web. 22 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.fypower.org/partners/ilg/why_efficiency.html>
.
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the resources found in them such as: petroleum, metals, natural gas, and other dangerous
gases. There are also accidental forms to cause the loss of biodiversity that have been very
harmful for animals. Bycatch is the accidental fishing of animals like dolphins, sharks,
whales and sea turtles that are catch in the fish nets when humans are looking for tunas and
salmons. Other ways by which animals can die are caused by, some predators that are
almost extinct cause other species of animals to have overpopulation and humans are forced
to kill this overpopulation. An example is the excessive hunt of sharks for their fins in the
Gulf of Mexico. In 2010 the minority of sharks led to the overpopulation of rays in the Gulf
of Mexico and fishers had to kill almost all the rays to prevent the extinction of some
fishes, natural from the Gulf.
The main reason for the increasing loss of biodiversity is global warming. The
greenhouse effect that global warming causes in the planet, makes the ambient temperature
to increase by one or two degrees Celsius. Humans are not quite affected by this
temperature increase but animals like amphibians and aquatic reptiles are very sensitive to
"The Economist Daily Chart: Endangered Species. Over 19,000..." The Economist � Daily Chart: Endangered Species. Over 19,000... Web. 22
Apr. 2012. <http://theeconomist.tumblr.com/post/6599612196/daily-chart-endangered-species-over-19-000>.
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changes in temperature and they die with no hope when temperature rises abruptly. Every
species of bio life has increased its endangered number of species except for mammals.
This has happened because in the past ten years humans have been rescuing all types of
mammals from environments in danger or with a high range of poachers. Today we can
find many mammals in zoos or in captivity due to the excessive danger found in natural
habits. By this program, we decreased the endangered species from twenty-four to twenty-
one. However the eventual poles melting and rise of temperature will cause the endangered
species to be increased by a twenty percent over the next forty years.
On the other hand, we have amphibians as the highest
endangered species and the highest extinct species due to the rise of
temperature. In the next fifty years, amphibians will be more likely
extinct from the wild. This extinction will have less changes and
effects on the food web but eventually in the next eighty to one
hundred years, other species like plants, mammals, birds and reptiles will affect largely the
food web. This loss will make humans in poor economic zones to increase the range of
malnutrition almost a double from today. Other global issues like food scarcity, food prices
rise and economic crisis increase will be largely affecting every person in our planet if we
do not make the change on loss of biodiversity today. The loss of biodiversity is an urgent
problem to be solved if we want to prevent human’s extinction.
Works Cited
"Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions." - Global Issues. Web. 02 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions>.
"What Are the Major Reasons Why We Are Losing so Much Biodiversity?" WWF -. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.
<http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/biodiversity/threatsto_biodiversity/>.
"200Frog Art Contest Winners."
SAVE THE FROGS! Web. 22
Apr. 2012.
<http://savethefrogs.com/art/200
9/index.html>.
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Alvaro Sevilla
Causes and Effects…
In the last century species of animals and plants are disappearing because of the
massive changes on the environment. Biodiversity is important in our world because many
of the food chains and cycles of life depend on the existence of many species. The loss of
biodiversity alters dramatically natural habitats and because of it more and more changes
are happening on the Earth. Humans are mainly the reason of the problem because of the
overexploiting of resources that kill animals and plants´ existence. Pollution, deforestation,
overhunting, water depletion are contributing more and more on this big problem that needs
and immediate solution.
In the last 35 years more than 25% of biodiversity has been lost. One of the reasons
is that people have used resources 40% faster than they can be produced. Trees are cut
faster than they can regrow and fishes are caught faster than they can repopulate. Also
many resources contribute to global warming emitting a higher number of CO2 than it can
be absorbed. Altering the air, the environment and consequently damaging species natural
habitats. Trash and waste is very common in humans and this is a very big cause for global
warming. Also animal trafficking, petroleum exploitation, fishing in excess, bycatch is
affecting natural life enormously and the rate of loss is increasing and increasing.
Another reason is overexploitation of fishing and hunting and as a result species of fish and
animals are rapidly becoming extinct.
Alteration on the habitats is the main reason of the problem. In many parts of the
world new species have been introduced to new locations. An example is Galapagos where
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goats and dogs have entered the environment of species killing many animals and altering
food chains because they have taken away the plants and animals in which others sustain.
Pollution has totally altered the world’s climate and many species cannot adapt to new
conditions especially on the poles. Polar bears are one of the species that are rapidly getting
extinct because of the glacier melting. Additionally the lack of resources is being noticed,
water is not available for living organisms. Animals as birds have lost their natural
environment with deforestation; coral reefs are being lost causing the extinction of
hundreds of fish species, glaciers are melting due to the immense change in temperature
and its affecting animals as penguins and polar bears. Africa is experiencing the biggest
loss of biodiversity equal to the permanent loss in United States. Many species of plants are
in danger of becoming extinct especially on South America and Africa. Ecuador is where
most plants are becoming extinct because of the overexploitation of petroleum on the
rainforest.
Human depend on plants to get resources as food, trees to get oxygen and materials,
animals and plants to get fuels and energy, and every animal is equally important not only
for other species but for humans too. Finally, the loss of biodiversity is increasing and
becoming one of the biggest global issues. Everyone should contribute to stop with it and
fast because at this rate thousands of species will vanish on the next years.
Works Cited
"Biodiversity & Human Well-being." Scientific Facts on. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.greenfacts.org/en/biodiversity/>.
"What Are the Major Reasons Why We Are Losing so Much Biodiversity?" WWF Global.
Web. 2 Apr. 2012.<http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/biodiversity/threatsto_biodiversity/>.
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Alvaro Sevilla
Species Extinct Map
Plants at Risk Map
"Worldmapper: The World as You've Never Seen It before." Worldmapper: The World as You've Never Seen It before. Web.
17 Apr. 2012. <http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=267>.
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Enrique Acosta
King Juan Carlos of Spain was caught in an expensive safari elephant hunt
The Spanish king, Juan Carlos was caught when he was in a private elephant hunt in
a safari in Botswana. The new of his trip was unknown for Spanish and even for some
members of the
parliament. The news
became public when the
king was injured in his
hunting trip on his back
and he had to return to
Spain immediately to be
treated. Back in Spain
some pictures of him with
some elephants in a hunting suit with weapons were spread over Spain and the world.
Today, Spanish and people from all over the world critic Juan Carlos as an irresponsible
king for his negative actions in the past weeks at Botswana safari. These actions are having
a very negative impact for the Spanish royal house’s reputation.
The relevance of the king’s actions is how it affects some of the most important
global issues in our planet. The economic crisis in Spain is extremely delicate at this
moments and it is unacceptable for the king to spend a lot of euros in a private trip to a
safari. The other part of the problem and what it has angered the world is how a king, who
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is supposed to be a model and example for all his people, can be hunting elephants that are
in danger of extinction. Even worst is that the king is part of an animal rescuing
organization and he is hunting elephants in his free time. His actions are a total
disappointment for all the people who fight against the loss of biodiversity in our planet.
Works cited
"Mundo." En Espana Perdonan Al Rey Por Su Polemico Viaje a Cazar Elefantes. Web. 23 Apr.
2012. <http://www.clarin.com/mundo/europa/Espana-perdonan-polemico-cazar-
elefantes_0_687531299.html>.
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Alejandro Madriñan
Possible Solutions
Loss of biodiversity is something that affects us all, every man, women or child.
While we are overpopulating the world, we need to expand to be bigger, so what we do is
go to the wild zones. We expand into the animal habitat which significantly reduces wild
animal population. Our governments should have laws that are severe against poaching that
only thinking about them so poachers will be dismayed to even think about poaching. We
also need to have more human free zones, protected areas were animals could be safe but
still be able to live their natural course. Even though addressing this now is out of context
it´s important to analyze it. How does losing different species of plants and animals is a
matter that affects us?
1. It unbalances the food chain.
2. We have a very high animal extinction rate.
3. Plants actually help this world from global warming. And here in Ecuador we
have an extreme plant extinction rate.
Deforestation, to our biggest lung which is the
Amazon is something that must stop. Rainforests play a vital
role at this fight we have with global warming by absorbing
massive quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere and
changing it into a breathable air, which is oxygen.
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We need to get rid of
any invasive species we
have, like in its time in our
crown’s jewel the
Galapagos, we need to clear
out the wild goats there
eating local fauna and flora.
Making it extremely difficult
for native species to live in,
why? Because the change in the food chain and the natural resources is a huge change.
There should be a law about logging, if you cut one tree down you should plant two
trees. There should be more programs protecting animals in extinction, helping sick
animals, programs that protect wild life from poachers and extinction. Currently there are
not enough programs like these, if there are any at all. So we need to start this change, we
should take the reigns for this programs to work and to exist. But we don’t, so stand up
against the mass, be unique and help this poor animals, and you should help us, humanity.
So stand up and make a difference.
Works cited
"Ecological Problems." Possible Solutions to Halt Biodiversity Loss. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.
<http://ecological-problems.blogspot.com/2011/03/possible-solutions-to-halt-
biodiversity.html>.