Murder is Murder, No Matter What Species

Millions of animals are killed every year---why?

The article, "One species in four 'could be gone in 50 years'. " from the Global Issues in Context Database can help us answer these questions.

1.What human action’s effect animals most?

The largest problem animals face today is our carbon emissions. This can be exhaust from cars, houses, or factories etc. It is creating a sort of “greenhouse” with our planet, meaning it is keeping all the heat in that should be getting out. Carbon emissions are to blame for the rapid decline of the polar ice caps, effecting all animals that live there. Another human practice that is causing extinction is poaching. People will illegally kill endangered animals for their rare hides or bones. They have no sympathy for endangered species because all they care about is money. Our greed can make us do horrible things.

http://africageographic.com

2. How much are humans really to blame for extinction of various species?

Humans are almost entirely to blame for most animal extinction in recent years. Before we were around, animals enjoyed stable environments with minimal change over thousands of years. Now with all the hunting, deforestation, and pollution animals have mear decades to adapt which just isn’t biologically possible. Humans have actually increased the extinction rate by between 1,000x and 10,000x. Because of us ecosystems are shattering and animals are dying. We need to accept that we’re not alone on this planet.

3. What kinds of species are threatened with extinction?

Thousands of species are threatened with extinction today. The animals we hear of such as polar bears are actually just the tip of the iceberg. Truth is, although some are, mammals are not the kinds of animals that most commonly go extinct. It is mostly small creatures such as bugs that you’re likely to never hear of or encounter. Nevertheless it is still something that is happening as a result of human actions. Smaller animals cannot adapt with their environments as simply as larger animals can. The littlest difference in their ecosystem can have fatal consequences.

FUTURE RESEARCH: In my future posts I hope to learn how we can stop poaching and other harmful effects to animals.