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Does human production and climate change affect wildlife?

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How does the warming of Earth's surface affect wildlife?

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What are the affects that land degradation caused by humans has on species habitats'?

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Why does the burning of fossil fuels cause damage to the environment that animals live in?

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The Earth system today is gradually being affected by climate change and human industrial activities. The total biodiversity of species in geographical regions is becoming increasingly extinct due to the warming temperatures of the Earth and human mass production to produce goods. Climate change occurs when the emissions produced from human activities such as factories, renewable energy, and deforestation or the clearing of trees adds to the increase of greenhouse gasses let out into Earth’s atmosphere.

The greenhouse gasses affect the climate as temperature increases and can create droughts in environments. It contributes to the loss of habitats as the intense heat from the sun causes a lack of rain in environments where animals are more prone to die from extreme heat. Climate change can affect living organisms as their supply of water can be limited and vegetation can wilt off easily. When food is scarce, it has an impact on the food chain as animals can find it challenging to locate food sources affecting predators who feed on wildlife.

The burning of fossil fuels caused by human industrial activities is to assist in producing mass energy for humans to utilize. Once the fossil fuels are burned, such as oil and gasses, the energy is utilized to provide energy for several cases such as light and heat. In the process of burning fossil fuels, the chemicals that are let out into the air can also contaminate surrounding areas of waters that are in proximity to factories. The release of fossil fuel combustion can affect wildlife's health and contribute to poor air quality overall.

Human activities such as deforestation is the process of cutting down trees in a region to create buildings or construct other structures for company profit and production. Deforestation hurts wildlife as animals who currently inhabit that environment will become affected by loss of food and face the potential to die. The clearing of trees has a significant negative impact on wildlife as the struggle to live increases with time. Ultimately, wildlife in the environment face multiple barriers to survive from climate change contributing to the loss of habitats and human activities adding more combustion into to the atmosphere.

Additional Source: “Climate Change and Life on Earth.” Center for Biological Diversity, https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/global_warming_and_life_on_earth/index.html. Accessed 13 November 2023.

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Biodiversity: the variety of all living organisms and forms of life in a specific environment

Biodiversity is the combination of all species and organisms that live in an ecosystem. It includes all wildlife, plants, and living forms of life on Earth that are affected by climate change and human activities.

Extinction: the disappearance of a species over time and is no longer in existence

The extinction of several species is due to several factors, including increased warmer temperatures and emissions released into the air.

Habitat: the environment in which an organism or species lives in

The habitats of multiple species can be negatively affected due to droughts causing animals to find it difficult to find water sources within their natural habitats.

Climate change: The average temperature change over multiple decades that keeps track of long-term temperature change.

Climate change is directly related to the negative affect on species as the temperature patterns affects certain geographical regions more compared to others.

Conservation: The act or preserving, restoring, or managing a geographical region or environment

Wildlife's habitats' needs to be conserved from human production, such as combustion from fossil fuels, to limit extinction and potential health risks towards animals.

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If scientists were to construct biofuels to help against extreme levels of climate change, it could cause more harm than better.

"The authors also note that efforts to limit global warming will be critical, although they caution that the development of biofuels to reduce emissions could end up harming biodiversity by further destroying forests."

This creates a complexity as humans are attempting to fix the ongoing issue of climate change, though by doing so, it can have a negative impact on the total biodiversity when forests are taken down. This counter-argument proves how even if humans take an action to reduce emissions, humans need to be careful that their impact is positively affecting the environment around them.

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The process of burning fossil fuels is to create energy and heat for humans to utilize in production in factories. Fossil fuels possess a contribution towards global warming as it creates an additional factor that negatively impacts wildlife.

The survival of wildlife in the environment could be manageable if climate change and global warming were to only be in existence. With the presence of human industrial activities, such as fossil fuels, animals are finding it difficult to find habitats that they can live in.

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The change in the landscape can be affected due to human activities such as the removal of land for the construction of buildings.

This can cause land degradation as the land is affected causing wildlife to find alternate locations to inhabit in. Food production is a growing industry that causes an immense amount of energy and alternation of land that affects wildlife's source of food.

The article states, "The decline of wild bees and other insects that help pollinate fruits and vegetables is putting up to $577 billion in annual crop production at risk."

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The impact that human activities is having on the environment and wildlife is detrimental. With proper steps, the impact can be reduced gradually with time.

In order to limit extinction and take action to make change, farmers are initiating plans to utilize less land in agriculture and farming. The idea is also stated in the article that a larger initiative would have to be enacted by informing governments to maintain a track of where people are logging and enforce stricter laws.

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The living organisms in the entire ecosystem make up the total biodiversity of Earth. The decline of biodiversity is due to several factors including the rise of global warming and rising temperatures.

Based on studies, it is stated that from the total population of species approximately five percent face the risk of extinction due to the warming of Earth's atmosphere. Climate change causes the warming of Earth's atmosphere which eventually alters the temperature conditions in different environments.

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Are the affects of climate change and production affecting wildlife exponentially or is it approximately constant each year?

On estimate, how many species become extinct each year due to the affects of fossil fuels and air pollution?

Are certain geographical regions more prone to experience extreme poor air quality compared to others?

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https://cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2019/11/renewable-energy-poses-challenge-for-wildlife-conservation/

https://www.idausa.org/campaign/wild-animals-and-habitats/green-energy-and-bird-deaths/

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Forests, a vital component of life on Earth, -cover approximately 31% of our planet's land area You might also like: 10 Deforestation Facts You Should Know About. However, more than 75% of the Earth's surface has been modified and degraded by human activities such as deforestation. Destroying forests alters weather patterns, destroys habitats, and negatively affects rural communities, leading to food insecurity and causing irreversible damage to entire ecosystems. So how does deforestation affect the environment and what threats does it pose to living species?
To answer the question of how deforestation affects the environment, it is important to look at why humans need forests in the first place. Deforestation is the purposeful cleaning of forest land for other uses. Among the main reasons for this damaging practice are agricultural expansion and cattle breeding as well as to obtain raw materials such as palm oil, a key ingredient in cosmetics and food products widely used around the world, and timber used for fuel, manufacturing, and infrastructure development. Studies show that 15,3 billion trees are chopped down every year and over the past 12,000 years, nearly 50% of the world's trees have been purposefully cleared by humans. This practice threatens our environment, from altering the climate and various ecosystems to compromising the existence of millions of humans and animals.

How Does Deforestation Affect the Environment?

1. Effects on Climate Change

The scientific consensus on deforestation is that it intensifies climate change at a dramatic rate. The Global Forest Watch made it clear: protecting tropical rainforests is essential for achieving the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. Trees are known for their capacity to absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Healthy forests act as extremely valuable carbon sinks, with the Amazon rainforest being one of the world's most important ones. However, deforestation is turning these sinks into huge net emitters , something that can have huge implications for slowing the pace of climate change and contributing to a steep rise in global temperatures. The current rate of rainforest-loss generated emissions is nearly 25% higher than those generated in the European Union and just slightly below US levels. Deforestation also increases the risk of uncontrollable wildfires because of humans burning vegetation. This, in turn, contributes to destroying forests, intensifying deforestation even more.

2. Effects on Soil Pollution and the Water Cycle

In addition to their role as carbon sinks, forests are a crucial component of the water cycle and have the all important function of preventing desertification. Cutting down trees can disrupt the cycle by decreasing precipitation and affecting river flow and water volume. In the case of the Amazon rainforest, research shows that at least 80% of its trees would be needed in order to keep the hydrological cycle going. With nearly 17% of the forest lost already, the Amazon is currently at its tipping point . Statistics show that deforestation in the tropics reduces precipitation over the Amazon by around 10% , or 138 millimeter, every year. In the South Asian Monsoon region, the reduction in rainfall is even higher, with around 18% less rain recorded in India in a single year.

Aside from their contribution to the water flow, trees help the land retain water and sustain forest life by supplying the soil with rich nutrients. Deforestation deprives the land of its cover, leaving the soil exposed to wind and rain. This makes soil vulnerable to being washed away, and prone to erosion. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as much as half of the world's topsoil has been lost as a consequence of the nearly 4 million square miles of forest that have been lost since the beginning of the 20th century.

3. The Effects on Humans

In answering the question of how does deforestation affect the environment, you may discover that in fact, it also has a direct impact on the human population. With the loss of trees and entire forests, homelands are also being destroyed in the process. Indigenous communities who live in forests and depend on them to sustain their life bear the brunt of impacts from deforestation. As their houses are destroyed and resources compromised, these tribes are forced to migrate elsewhere and find other ways to sustain themselves. The Amazon rainforest is home to over one million Indigenous people , mostly of Indian descent, divided into more than 400 indigenous tribes. They live in settled villages by the rivers, and grow and hunt their food. These "uncontacted" tribes live by the rules of nature but are becoming increasingly vulnerable to deforestation, which has forced many of them to migrate. While some of them move into areas occupied by other tribes, straining the land's resources, others are forced to relocate to urban settings and completely change their way of living.
You might also like: 12 Major Companies Responsible for Deforestation
4. The Effects on Animals and Plants

Along with Indigenous tribes, animals are some of the biggest victims of deforestation. Forests around the world are home to more than 80% of all terrestrial animal, plant, and insect species . However, the rapid destruction of forests is contributing to a decline in biodiversity never seen before. The main effect of deforestation on animals and plants is the loss of their habitat. Many factors related to cutting down trees contribute to driving species to extinction. Through land erosion, the soil is depleted of its nutrients, a huge source of nourishment for animals and plants. Furthermore, many animal species are heavily reliant on specific plants and their fruits for food sources. When these resources are lost, animals become weaker, more vulnerable to diseases and often succumb to starvation. Another important role of trees is to regulate the temperature of forests and maintain it constant. When deforestation occurs, temperature variates more drastically from day to night and this extreme change can often prove fatal for many animal species.
Featured image: Global Water for Sustainability
5. The Effects on Food Security

One last major effect of deforestation is its impact on food security through the loss of biodiversity. While food availability for Indigenous tribes and animals that live in forests is reduced in the process of deforestation, its effects on weather patterns and soil degradation also drastically decrease agricultural productivity. Populations located in the proximity of tropical forests are mostly impacted by the worsening trend. Indeed, millions of people living in these areas depend almost entirely on agriculture and are thus extremely vulnerable to the impact of deforestation on food security, struggling to grow enough food and prevent crops from damage. It has been shown that the deforestation of the Amazon contributes to a decline in pasture productivity of about 39% as well as a drop of soy yields of nearly 25% in over half of the Amazon region and of a staggering 60% in a third of the area.

Can We Halt Deforestation?

Knowing how deforestation affect the environment more than one way and its catastrophic effects on the planet, it is crucial that people around the world take action to mitigate its impact. This can be done on an individual level, for example by reducing meat consumption, going paperless and recycling products as much as possible, opting for natural products that do not contain ingredients such as palm oil and supporting organisations and sustainable companies that are committed to reducing this dangerous practice. On a governmental level, the consequences of deforestation can be mitigated by introducing policies that protect natural forests and regulate mining and logging operations as well as other operations that require the destruction of tree plantations.

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How Does Deforestation Affect the Environment? | Earth.Org

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Forests, a vital component of life on Earth, cover approximately 31% of our planet's land area. How does deforestation affect the environment and humans?

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When fishers fish in large waters, the use of ships and energy are utilized to fish in the water. This a major concern in regards to the legal side of where fishers are allowed to fish.

In restricted areas, the government does not keep track on where people are fishing. The fuel that is released from ships causes a threat to marine life that lead to health concerns and injuries. Once the fishers bring the fish for distribution and manufacturing, the process of doing so along the way illegally causes many sea creatures to become injured and at risk.

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While I was exploring the complexities of my selected source, I was surprised how there are multiple intricacies of human industrial activities. The affect that it has on marine life and wildlife is severe, yet I did not notice how it is actually affecting wildlife in ways that may not be intended to cause harm. Although a small amount of air pollution from a factory may not seem as it is causing animals to become extinct; however, gradually with the time it can be seen.

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