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Endangered species

ONE DAY, THERE SHALL BE NO MORE AIR

Environmental Action To


Learn about Consequences


(By Elsa, Alicia, Léhna & Chainez)



More and more species tend to become endangered every day. This is due partly to natural causes but also and especially to man’s action. According to recent studies, more than 26,000 plant or animal species die out every 20 minutes and nearly a quarter might become extinct by the middle of the century. Let’s see why there are fewer and fewer today.

Species suffer firstly from the destruction of their natural habitat, mainly due to deforestation as the use of wood as an energy source and bark extraction are increasing. Changes in our diet also are responsible for these overly fast habitat changes, agriculture alone uses up 70 percent of water consumed and rice growing causes the severe drying up of rivers.
Overexploitation also has a negative effect on the fauna and flora, through illegal hunting and fishing but surprisingly through legal activities as well. These are indeed even more dangerous as some are encouraged by the government itself. Another cause is the introduction of exotic species which greatly disturbs the ecological balance and put native species in jeopardy as some are likely to become preys.
Other disturbing factors are diseases, pollution and climate changes but these are all man-made problems.
So many species are endangered owing to us, humans. For example, the blue whale which lives in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans is dying because of global warming which is killing krill, its main food, and it can't eat anymore. Furthermore, it is entangled in fishing gear and taken in ship strikes. Even if its population has increased of 7.3%, it is still under the 1% of the origins. There were only between 5,000 and 12,000 in 2002. But it isn’t the only one.

Indeed, the blue fin tuna of the Pacific Ocean is in a similar case. On account of overfishing and illegal fishing, between 1980 and 2010, 85% of its population has disappeared.

Let's continue with the giant panda. This lovely animal of the China's Yangtze Basin Region who lives at a height of about 3000 meters in highland is really endangered owing to the poaching for his fur and the bamboo deforestation.

Today there are still 1600 pandas in the world. However the two most critical cases are the mountain gorilla and the Amur leopard. The first one lives in high mountains in Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Deforestation, poaching and diseases like pneumonia which came from humans kill them every year and now there are only 800 in Virunda and Bwindi. The second one, the Amur leopard is the worst case. Living along the border between China and Russia, in forest and rocky areas of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, it is poached for its beautiful and spotted fur, killed for its clearance which has, according to the Chinese population, some medicinal properties; and deforestation takes part too. Nowadays, there are only between 30 and 35 Amur leopard that are still living in the wild including 7 females. The eighth was killed in 2007.

When a species is endangered, there can be a devastating environmental impact. Actually, all species depend on each other because they are part of one food chain. The food chain can, in a velvet glove, be put out of balance. The fact is precisely that if a prey species disappears, the predator species has less food and it has to find another way of eating (unfortunately, the animal dies frequently, because it doesn't manage to change its feeding behaviour). In this case, if the predator dies, it will consequently influence the death of its own predator. This is a domino effect (chain reaction): the death of a species causes the death of its predator, and that indefinitely. In short, all the species are threatened by the loss of one. This is what the US Forest Service support when they say that "Species depend upon each other, like parts of the human body, to make a functioning whole". 
Moreover, if the predator disappears then the prey will proliferate creating an unbalance in the ecological system. The proliferation of one population will cause the extinction of its prey in a short-term. For example, if the osprey became one day endangered, the population of the fish it eats (the pikes) would increase. And as the perch is eaten by the pike, the perch would consequently become endangered. 

Similarly, as regards the flora, if a species that consumes a particular plant starts to proliferate, the plant won’t have the time to regenerate while the species is eating. All the species whether it is fauna or flora serve to regulate the ecosystems. That is also a means of counterbalancing gases into the air or clean oceans as all the animals are supposed to preserve the water and the air which are vital for the survival of the human kind. For example, thanks to the bees, pollen is brought from one flower to another, which allows the sexual reproduction in flowers. However, the bees are on the verge of extinction. Flowers wouldn't survive without bees. And what about oxygen? The human kind is drastically concerned about this scourge.
Currently, there are different ways of helping endangered species. First, everyone should pay attention to their habitats because it is the place where animals live and grow. If they lose their habitats, animals are threatened, without resources and therefore endangered. In fact, we can take the example of the polar bear which, like many species is on the verge of extinction. In part, this extinction is due to many factors like the polar ice cap melt down, disposal of waste into the sea, nuclear fallout and global warming which put wildlife in jeopardy. This is why everybody ought to become aware of the situation and say «I have a role to play».

Everybody needs to get involved by reducing their ecological footprints, pollution, and energy consumption. For example people should recycle their domestic waste carefully by sorting plastic, metal, paper by using a bottle bank. Households can also control their waste disposal in order to limit their consumption. Moreover people can buy sustainable products without packaging so as to reduce waste. Similarly to economize energy, households should turn off their lights, taps and also the TV when they are not using it. They can also use energy-saving lights to reduce consumption.
To some extent, urban dwellers can take public transportation and reduce the use of cars or buy ecological cars. Roads constitute obstacles for a lot of animals when they cross from one side to the other, as they are often knocked down by cars particularly in the countryside. Therefore it is important for drivers to slow down and be careful on roads. All this is a vicious circle as everything is linked. If some species disappear, others which usually depend upon them will little by little disappear as well.

Moreover, endangered species also include plant life, consequently plants are also affected by ecological disaster. In fact, they are also destroyed by pesticides and fertilizers which are dangerous for vulnerable species. To remedy this problem, industries ought to reduce the use of chemicals on plants, GMO and find natural solutions to produce more.

Nature drastically damaged by human activities has to be protected by everyone! It is not only for their beauty that we have to preserve different species but also because they are vital for the environment. In fact, these species regulate weather and have an impact on water conditions. Moreover, the fur trade has to be regulated. Several laws have been voted to fix quotas and unlawful hunting is punishable by law which is a radical step in the right direction.

All these little everyday actions are a simple way of decreasing overconsumption and of warning people that they have to take care of the fauna and the flora. If everybody acts, it is enough to save nature. As far as the environmental issue is concerned Mahatma Gandhi declared «Whatever you do will be insignificant but it is very important that you do it». Through his words, he shows that everybody has to make an effort because the survival of future generations is at stake. So, it is necessary to continue to keep nature alive otherwise it will be too late to bring the lost species back. It is important that people speak about these species and join national organizations like World Wide Fund or Greenpeace who work with communities in order to preserve our nature. Conservationists try to find new solutions for species habitats for example to reintroduce endangered species in national parks like Everglades National Park to reestablish their natural balance.

To conclude, little can be done to repair the damage we caused to the fauna and flora but there is still time to try to slow down the extinction of endangered species. We must do all the necessary to protect them; otherwise one day there shall be no more air… into their lungs.

Sources: WWF, Greenpeace international, endangeredspecies.com






Toolbox:
in a velvet glove: sth that doesn’t seem to be important at first sight but that proves to have irreversible consequences
food chain: a series of living things that are connected because each group of things eats the group below it in the series
US Forest Service: an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's forests.
to proliferate: to increase quickly
osprey: a large bird with black and white feathers that eats fish
pike: a large fish that lives in lakes and rivers and eats other fish
perch: a fish
ecosystem: all the living things in an area and the way they affect each other and the environment
drastically: severely
scourge: cause of widespread suffering
bark: the hard outer covering of a tree
in jeopardy: in danger
man-made: caused by the man
to entangle: to cause something to become caught
to poach: to hunt
waste disposal: an electrical machine, connected to a kitchen sink, that cuts up food waste so that it will flow easily through the pipes
dweller: inhabitant
fertilizer:  a natural or chemical substance that is spread on the land or given to plants, to make plants grow well
GMO: genetically modified organism: a plant or animal whose genes have been scientifically changed




Bibliography :

  • Ways You Can Help Endangered Species by Lauren Kurpis. Page visited the 2013-04-09URL Address: http://endangered.com/







                                                                                                    

POLAR BEARS

(Nina Clothilde & Emma)


* What is a polar bear?

 Polar bears live in Artic, on the ice floe, and they are present in five countries: Alaska (the USA), Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia. You won’t find any polar bears in Antarctica! It is a carnivorous mammal which belongs to the Ursidae family, and its scientific name is Ursus Maritimus. Polar bears live on average 20 years in the wild but they can live until 30 years in captivity.
They weigh from 400kg to 600kg -adult females are a bit smaller- but they both measure from 2m to 2,5m. The temperature of their environment is often -45°C, but they are not cold thanks to their layers of fur and fat that keep them warm and their black skin which keep the sun’s rays. They also have furred paws which are covered with small pads called to keep them from sleeping on ice.
Polar bears mainly eat ringed and bearded seals. When they hunt many of them, they keep a big part of seals’ fat to keep them from hunger. In 2008, Scientists estimated there were 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears.

 * Why are they endangered?

In May 2008, the United States listed polar bears as “endangered species” in the Endangered Species Act. Moreover, in 2009, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reported that 8 out of 19 polar bears population were decreasing, as opposed to 5 out of 19, in 2005.
Because of global warming, the ocean gets warmer, thus melting the ice on which polar bears live. As a consequence, they have to swim to find another icecap to live on, and they often die trying. For example, a bear once swam for nine days-straight, which decreased her weight of 22% and caused her baby’s death.
Furthermore, sea ice gets thinner and thinner owing to global warming, which makes it harder for polar bears to catch seals, their main food. Indeed they depend on the sea because it is their hunting spot. Besides, food scarcity weakens female polar bears, which need to be well-fed in order to have babies.
As a matter of fact, in the famous Hudson Bay, a female bear weighed 290 kg in 1980, and 230 kg in 2004, that to say a weight drop of 15 to 20%. Still in Hudson Bay, the glacial period has decreased of 20 days over the last twenty years.
That’s why, if global warming goes on, 2/3 of the world’s polar bears might disappear by 2050, including all the bears in Alaska. However, we can act in many different ways to avoid polar bears’ extinction.

* What are the solutions to save polar bears? 

The Polar Bear Specialist Group, created by the IUCN, has committed to improve their working and reconsider their resolutions about polar bears. They want to:
  • Reconsider how global warming affects polar bears
  • Warn people about its issues
  • Limit human contact with polar bears
  • Make sure bears aren’t moved all the time, in order for them to keep their landmarks.
The main company trying to mobilize people is the famous Greenpeace association. They manage to make governments care about the way bears are protected, as for example, about the modification of their natural habitat.
A lot of websites offer instructions to improve our behavior towards the planet and our knowledge about the situation as: stopping hunting, using more ecological products, using less our cars, reducing our oil, gas and electricity consumption, encouraging associations helping polar bears, recycling... These little acts could sound ridiculous whereas they're important if everybody act like this.
Many groups, firms and associations such as WWF and Polar Bears International, make ads and interventions in order to make people aware of this plight, through the media. Defenders of Wildlife and the National Wildlife Federation also encourage people to write letters to governments to make them react.

Toolbox:
Plight: a terrible situation
Floe: a segment that has separated from an ice mass
Paws: the feet or hands of an animal
Seal: an aquatic carnivorous mammal (“phoque”)





Bibliography:

  • POLAR BEARS INTERNATIONAL, Polar Bears, [online]. Page consulted on 04/12/2013. URL : http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/about-polar-bears
  • NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, Polar Bear, Ursus maritimus, [online]. Page consulted on 04/12/2013. URL : http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/polar-bear/
  • Denis, What is a Polar Bear? [online]. Page consulted on 04/12/2013. URL : http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-polar-bear.htm

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