Land and Habitat
Whole ecosystems are being wiped out.
The WHOLE planet is a living organism or another way of saying it; everything on the planet is living or contributes to living organisms in some way.
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving (abiotic), physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight. (Wikipedia)
The variety of life on Earth, in biological terms is commonly referred to as biodiversity. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. www.globalissues.org/issue/169/biodiversity
I think the best analogy that we can use for those that don’t believe that everything is connected and believes that every thing is independent of each other, is the human body. The human body for comparison purposes, is the planet earth. Every thing is interconnected but if something disrupts this perfect functioning machine called the body, possibly the body is polluted by a virus, then other parts of the body will be affected as well.
The rainforests and forests are being obliterated. The evidence of biodiversity is striking in a rainforest. Prairie lands with the significant prairie grasses are being lost. Oceans and marine life are being destroyed. Within each area of this planet lives a biodiverse environment with living organisms. We dominate the planet and we have continued to develop and destroy many of these areas, human activity is causing extinctions through pollution, disease, deforestation, habitat destruction, etc. There is a ripple effect to every thing we do.
We are expected to be the smartest animal on this planet (I write this with some consternation), so we must be good stewards to the planet for all living and non-living organisms. Support conservation strategies such as: limit water run off and soil/water contamination, use organic fertilizers, utilize native plants, compost and promote responsible fishing, protect habitats, etc.
Brandy,
ReplyDeleteI love how you compared planet Earth to the human body. It is similar to how Professor Jyl DeHaven compared buildings to a living organism as well. Both the earth - and buildings - are full of components that have to work together in order to make the home (the earth, biodiversity, or the building) operate. I think our society has become so comfortable with having access to everything - or relying on technology to save us - that we tend to forget the basics. If we do not remember, appreciate, and care for the basics (clean water, air, etc), then I do not see us having much hope in the future. Hopefully, we can become the leaders of this change and education that is needed to encourage our peers to embrace sustainability for us and our future generations!
Amy Harris