INTRODUCTION
The human population on Earth has been growing at an alarming rate bringing with it an ever growing need for food, energy and land use, amongst many others. At the same time, the list of animal species recorded as being extinct or on the verge of being extinct gets longer and longer.
Is this phenomenon coincidence or are these two occurrences directly link to each other? This research task aims to investigate if there is reliable proof that human population growth and species extinction are indeed correlating.
In order to investigate the correlation between the two, the research paper will first take a closer look at the terms and definitions of species extinction and human population growth. It will put both phenomena into historical …show more content…
Figure 4 below illustrates the increasing loss of species, a process that has gained momentum in the 18’s and 1900’s. This is the period in which agriculture and industrialization grew exponentially.
Figure 4: Species extinction
In discussing the correlation between human population growth and species extinction, it is important to understand the main contributors to species extinction.
AUTHOR names LOSS OF HABITAT to be the single most dominant factor. If a species is pushed out of its natural habitat, or loses it completetly, then it becomes very vulnerable. Olive Heffernan confirms in her article that deforestation is considered a main factor that drive species to extinction. Climate change also leads to loss of habitat. Deserts grow, ice caps melt and the sea level rises, all of which have detrimental consequences to those species reliant on habitats that are affected by those changes.
Poaching, for instance rhinos and tigers, pollution of rivers and lakes and overharvesting of the oceans are further causes of species extinction. It is important to note that all of these causes derive from human activity.
A HISTORICAL …show more content…
How will the human race deal with it? The exponential growth of the human population undoubtedly leaves a detrimental footprint for others that share planet Earth with them. There is an urgent need to reverse this process before it becomes so unstainable that mother nature finds its own ways.
One contentious point of discussion is to control the population growth itself by reducing the birth rate. This involves religious aspects, political and economic considerations and last but not least the basic human right of free will.
Almost all factors that cause species extinction are economically driven. The industrialized nations have taken the benefit. Poorer countries which strive for prosperity shall now be denied the opportunity for environmental reasons. This is a very difficult argument to accept by the poorer nations and requires enormous concessions from the industrialized
The human population on Earth has been growing at an alarming rate bringing with it an ever growing need for food, energy and land use, amongst many others. At the same time, the list of animal species recorded as being extinct or on the verge of being extinct gets longer and longer.
Is this phenomenon coincidence or are these two occurrences directly link to each other? This research task aims to investigate if there is reliable proof that human population growth and species extinction are indeed correlating.
In order to investigate the correlation between the two, the research paper will first take a closer look at the terms and definitions of species extinction and human population growth. It will put both phenomena into historical …show more content…
Figure 4 below illustrates the increasing loss of species, a process that has gained momentum in the 18’s and 1900’s. This is the period in which agriculture and industrialization grew exponentially.
Figure 4: Species extinction
In discussing the correlation between human population growth and species extinction, it is important to understand the main contributors to species extinction.
AUTHOR names LOSS OF HABITAT to be the single most dominant factor. If a species is pushed out of its natural habitat, or loses it completetly, then it becomes very vulnerable. Olive Heffernan confirms in her article that deforestation is considered a main factor that drive species to extinction. Climate change also leads to loss of habitat. Deserts grow, ice caps melt and the sea level rises, all of which have detrimental consequences to those species reliant on habitats that are affected by those changes.
Poaching, for instance rhinos and tigers, pollution of rivers and lakes and overharvesting of the oceans are further causes of species extinction. It is important to note that all of these causes derive from human activity.
A HISTORICAL …show more content…
How will the human race deal with it? The exponential growth of the human population undoubtedly leaves a detrimental footprint for others that share planet Earth with them. There is an urgent need to reverse this process before it becomes so unstainable that mother nature finds its own ways.
One contentious point of discussion is to control the population growth itself by reducing the birth rate. This involves religious aspects, political and economic considerations and last but not least the basic human right of free will.
Almost all factors that cause species extinction are economically driven. The industrialized nations have taken the benefit. Poorer countries which strive for prosperity shall now be denied the opportunity for environmental reasons. This is a very difficult argument to accept by the poorer nations and requires enormous concessions from the industrialized