WHY DOES EXTINCTION MATTER?
What is extinction?
Extinction is when any species, be it animal, plant, or insect, no longer exists for any reasons, a.k.a they die off. This can be natural, or caused by some other force.
Why is extinction bad?
Food webs are when the basis of how animals and plants get their energy. Plants take in energy from the sun. Herbivores and Omnivores eat said plants. Carnivores and Omnivores eat Herbivores and smaller Omnivores. Then the top of the food chain, usually a carnivore, eats those. When things die, Decomposers break down the body, it turns to soil, and the process may start again. When you permanently remove something from a food chain or web, things above it began to die out unless they find another food source quick enough, and things below overpopulate. This causes a dangerous unbalance. This doesn’t just effect things in that food chain. It effects everything in that habitat’s food web. This causes serious problems. And since human eat or kill almost everything, this causes problems for us too. Don’t forget that humans are animals, and are part of most of the world’s food webs. Dying food webs hurt us too.
What causes extinction?
Numerous things can cause extinction. Dehabitization, poaching, overfishing, pollution, climate change, and natural causes such as the process of evolution all causes extinction.
How can we stop extinction?
The easiest way to stop extinction is to stop. Stop engrossing on the habitat. Don’t use any of its resources, nor destroy or ‘improve’ it. Let it be. Do not let pollution near it, try to get involved in ways to stop climate change that you can do yourself. Try set up or advocate for organizations and care centers to help the creatures. Support zoos that care about animals. Just remember to get more people involved, and to not negatively impact any of the creatures. The natural rate of extinction is far less than the human altered one.
How many species are extinct?
More than 99% of 4 billion species that have ever existed on earth have gone extinct. 900 species have gone extinct in the last five centuries. It is natural process. The difference is the rate, which is much accelerated with our contribution of negative impacts.
Above is an overview on extinction. I hope this has cleared things up for you and made an impact on how you think. Good day and night to you all!