Question: Many scientists consider humans as the most invasive species, as humans can greatly change an environment and impact living things that reside there. Are we being stewards of the world? Look at an issue in which human intervention has positively or negatively affected the biodiversity of our ecosystems.
My Answer: First of all, my personal opinion is that I believe that humans are greatly negatively influencing the environment and ecosystems of our planet. I think this due to one main reason:
"Human's uncontrollable need to survive, no matter what"
Humans are the most intelligent organisms that reside on planet Earth. Through their intelligence, humans have been able to basically dominate the entire planet and change it to suit their needs. As humans we believe that we are being stewards of the world and that we must take care of our planet, (and more importantly ourselves), but seriously, look at what humans have done to the planet in the past: They've been the cause of multiple species extinctions around the globe such as the "Passenger Pigeon" or the "Tasmanian Tiger", both species fell to over-hunting. Many other species are extinct or listed as Endangered due to Human Intervention in their natural ecosystems, which leads up to one of the largest causes of global environmental disruption: Global Warming.
The little things that Humans take for granted are actually some of the main causes of this global disruption, things like: cars, electricity, and manufactured goods. These little things that we see every day contribute to the outrageously high and still rising carbon level in the planets atmosphere. The rising carbon levels in the atmosphere increases the effect of the "greenhouse effect", (which we all learned in gr.9/10 science), which would normally help the earth retain heat, but instead is increasing the temperature on the entire planet. Rising temperatures in the global climates affect everything on our planet. Many people don't realize that a global increase in temperature by only one or two degrees can dramatically affect species due to their specialization to their natural ecosystem's climate. Species that are affected by global climate change include: species that participate in seasonal breeding or migrating and ALL of the coral reefs in our oceans.
Our insatiable need to put ourselves before the planet has comeback and stricken us all in the back. If the global climate temperatures continue to rise, not only will more species become extinct, but Humans will also have to suffer as we kill the very planet we call home. So next time you're outside in an unusually hot day, remember this: "Somewhere, species are suffering due to Humanity's selfishness."
P.S. Hope you've liked my little Bioblog, feel free to comment and whatnot.
Brought to you by ProcrastinatorBlogs.
http://www.eco-action.org/dt/pigeon.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine
http://www.bagheera.com/inthewild/van_anim_coralrf.htm
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html#
While I agree with what you said about humans dominating everything with their intelligence, I felt you went a bit far when you stated:
ReplyDelete"...as humans we believe that we are being stewards of the world and that we must take care of our planet..."
Do we, as a race really believe that we have to take care of our planet? It really wasn't until recently that our effects on the environment became household knowledge. And even so, humans are not really helping the environment at all. The eco-friendly craze is simply that; a fad. We buy into it to seem like we're helping the environment heal itself by paying more money for buying eco-friendly clothing or books. Companies just want to make more money, which is what they're doing when they create these 'green' products.
So while everything you say is basically true, I personally don't think that the human race at any point in time felt the need to help the Earth because we're a selfish race, which you said so yourself.
I certainly agree with what you said here. We as humans have an unrelenting need to care of ourselves and forget about the environment with it’s "worthless sharks, mosquitoes, roaches etc." which only irritate us even more. I also certainly agree with your opinion that people may not exactly understand the ramifications of what they are doing to the planet or may take things for granted. Those who think that one or two degrees here and there won't matter are hopelessly mistaken and should seriously get with the program.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that Anthony notes something very important; the eco-craze being a fad. We may tell ourselves (or some of us may tell ourselves) that we must be good stewards of creation in any way we can, but are we really doing it for the good of the planet, or for the good of our ego?
I personally believe that you are right in saying that we are a self-centered egotistical race with no respect for what we have been given, and if we really want improve our outlook on the environment, we must get serious about doing our part.
I agree with all three of you. Your fact is all there surporting the fact that we care only for ourselves, and live only for our race. But as far as caring about the earth, we only care because its our home. We only want to help and be "eco friendly" now because some of us see that if we continue this way, we'll kill ourselves. I find it amazing how after everything we have done for this earth, we are only trying to save it because that means we save ourselves in the longrun. It pathetic and disguisting, but honestly, if thats the only way we will get people to try to "save" the earth, then i say go with it. Prey on humankinds selfishness, its the only way we'll ever survive. So lets use our selfishness and willingness to do anything to survive to "save the Earth.
ReplyDeleteSo first of all i completely agree with you on the whole article about human being the most dominating species to reside on this planet. I also agree that most of us don't realize that little things that we do everyday will affect the future of this planet and biodiversity on earth. If it wasn't for all the environmentalist and science teachers *cough ms saran cough* informing us about how we're destroying biodiversity on earth, our generation would never realize this until it's too late.
ReplyDeleteBut... like Anthony i agree with him about how you went too far about
"...as humans we believe that we are being stewards of the world and that we must take care of our planet..."
Ok, sure past years in religion has taught us that we are suppose to take care of our planet but who really believes in this. Sure some of us do, but most of us? I don't think so. Our species are very greedy as we keep on taking and taking until it's too late. We let the future generations fix our mistake and its in our nature to continue doing this. Sure we have contributed on building preservatives for the animals but we're doing this AFTER we destroy their home and cause them to almost become extinct
The first thing that caught my eye about your blog was
ReplyDelete"Human's uncontrollable need to survive, no matter what"
I can completely agree with you. We go through all the efforts to survive. If it means killing other animals. We being a negative impact to this earth, as we mistreat it and take it for granted. Our actions effect this earth. We do not notice but the littering and pollution we cause damages the Ozone Layer, then leading to Global Warming. We are causing ecological alterations such as shrinking glaciers and permafrost melting. These are all examples of Global Warming, due to our poorly thought actions.
The temperatures have been changing dramatically. I remember last school year around October, it already started to snow! Students we're freaking out. This summer, we were expecting 30 degrees + but all we got was mid 20's. Our temperatures change little by little. Not only are the humans affected by this, but also natural resources, land, and animals.
There have been many tragedies all over the world such as the well-known Hurricane Katrina and the most recent one in the Philippines, a Typhoon. All these are affected by weather.
Even fish are starting to become extinct. We must take action and make a move wisely. SAVE OUR PLANET.
I found that the whole blog flowed and was interesting because you said we are stewards of the earth when we are basically killing it more and more and species are going extinct daily. Personally i don't know if we will be able to stop global warming on time. Everything IS out fault though and we DO need to spend more time on making a change. Also i completely agree with Anthony Vu and Xianhe. We cannot let the future generations have to deal with the past and present generation's abuse to the world and it's wildlife. I also think that it's unfair to leave problems for the future generations to fix. It's unfair to them and what were have done and continue to do to the planet and it's ecosystems is unfair. Especially to the animals. ALSO, we do have the power and we need to make the choice to protect the world from global warming although it is so close anyways. So future commenters hear my words!!!
ReplyDeleteHeey Perrin! :)
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with you because I also do think that we the human species have affected the environment for hundreds of years now. This on-going cycle has left an outcome with extensive damage. It is also true that humans don't realize the simple things we do in our daily lives can have such a major impact in our ecosystems, such as throwing out our garbage and keeping the lights on when not in use. Seriously, people fail to recognize that they're hurting the place in which other wildlife and other organisms live in..not to mention we also reside in these areas. We need to keep many things in mind concerning the environment.
While I agree with the fact that humans are negatively affecting our ecosystems, I don't necessarily agree with your reasoning behind it.
ReplyDelete"Human's uncontrollable need to survive, no matter what"
It's evident that every organism since the beginning of time has had a instinct or inclination towards self-preservation. Sometimes it even manifests itself in biological traits like a skunk's spray or a gecko's tail. I think what separates humans from other organisms is that we confuse survival with enjoyment...or want with need. By our own basic definition, all we need besides air is food, water and shelter to survive. However human want has kind of made it that we need money and the latest environmentally harmful technologies to survive or at least feel content with ourselves. I feel that our survival instinct only kicks in when we face the threat of imminent danger. An example of this would be right now when our very way of life is affected by issues of climate change. Up to this point in time anything we've done to the planet to me is a result of our own greed.
I don't mean to make your BioBlog responses sound like a broken record but I have to dispute this point as well:
"...as humans we believe that we are being stewards of the world and that we must take care of our planet..."
The concept of human stewardship is only being solidified now, and really going green and taking care of the world are fads. And I think that deep down most people know they are just that. I think we buy green products to kind of relieve our guilt about the other ways we scourge the earth. If we as a global community accepted our responsibility for the earth, we wouldn't have waited till polar bears started dying to start doing something about the environment. In that sense, the statement does seem like a stretch. I think a majority of us still feel some sort of connection to our natural surroundings that but I don't think its strong enough to claim stewardship. If you think about it for a second, you'll realize that ever since the recession started, we've stopped making serious attempts to go green.Stewardship requires us taking care of nature. The society we live in makes it difficult to take care of ourselves, and if we can't even do that how are we supposed to take care of the world?
Hey nice "about me" info. Your post eh... Just kidding your blog is short, sweet, and straight to the point. I actually pretty much agree with everything your saying. "Humans have an uncontrollable need to survive." I agree with this quote , but I also believe some of us go BEYOND surviving. People in 3rd world countries do their best to survive through farming, collecting cans and selling them, but do they really negatively impact the earth? People in third world countries try the hardest to survive, yet they impact the world the least.
ReplyDeletePeople in 1st world countries however already have everything they need to survive, but what really causes the damage is us going BEYOND what we need to survive. We create houses, ride in cars, create factories, video games, many things we don't need to "survive" are what negatively mpacts the earth. Which relates to what you said aswell, it is the small things that we do without a thought that cause harm to the planet.
If humans ever plan on being stewards, I don't think we need to over come over uncontrollable need to "survive" but to overcome our need to "yearn for more." Many small actions can effect the world in a negative way over time, but if we do many small thoughtful actions overtime we can all impact the earth in a POSTIVE way. We don't need to give all our time and effort to help the earth, just small actions overtime made by everyone inorder to change the world.
"Human's uncontrollable need to survive, no matter what"
ReplyDeleteI like this statement because this goes to my blog because, humans mistreat everything and do what they want.
"Through their intelligence, humans have been able to basically dominate the entire planet and change it to suit their needs. As humans we believe that we are being stewards of the world and that we must take care of our planet"
this statement to me seems like we humans are changing the world to suit our own needs, instead of taking care of the planet.
I think that what your saying about humans is true. We do whatever we can to survive, especially the homeless people. If we all help out even just a little i think that we can change the world slowly, so that there would be no homeless people, and we would not mistreat everything that we need.
The effects of global warming are debatable, in fact, so is its very existance. If you read kyle michaels blog, there are some interesting facts against global warming. However, assuming that it is in fact occuring, what can we do to stop it?? there are namy initiatives to help combat global warmingm, but none of them seem to even put a dent in the problem. With all of your hybrid cars and energy efficient appliances, the carbon emissions of humans is still at an all time high, and although it is decreasing slightly, it doesn't seem to be taking any huge turns, nor does it seem like it will be likely to in the near future.
ReplyDelete