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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>.