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Why is it Important to Restore Biodiversity?
Most everyone is in agreement that something needs to be done about the crisis our country is facing when it comes to oil dependency. What is not being addressed is the crisis our entire planet is facing when it comes to the environment.
We are destroying this planet at a frightening rate. As we destroy the ecosystems and the environment, we need to be prepared for changes in natural events that will severely impact humans living on this planet. Anytime you create an imbalance in the ecosystem, famines, infectious diseases, and other catastrophic events proliferate.
Whether you believe in global warming or global cooling, changes in the weather pattern will disrupt the production of food. Droughts will occur in some areas while floods will ravage other areas. As a result, the production of food decreases and famine is a real possibility.
Infectious disease will also become a problem when ecosystems are unbalanced and unhealthy. Healthy ecosystems keep infectious pathogens in check. Disruptions of the natural balance create breeding grounds for infectious pathogens, which spread quickly through food production sites such as cattle ranches and fish and bird farms. These pathogens often become mutated and spread across species and eventually affect humans. Bird flu, is a prime example. It is globally uncontrolled and could mutate into a form that affects humans at any time.
For years now hospitals have been battling infections caused by antibiotic-resistant superbugs. These superbugs are now showing up in communities. Over use of antibiotics coupled with a less than ideal system of inspecting food, has resulted in our food sources becoming contaminated by bacteria.
In recent years, deaths and serious illnesses have been attributed to commonly consumed products such as peanut butter, tomatoes, onions, and spinach.
Another disease, Mad Cow disease has been spreading over continents. This disease easily passes from the cow to humans and is not killed by cooking the meat.
And if things aren't bad enough, most of our food is produced using practices that have eliminated biodiversity and have artificially produced food-producing crops that are destined to be wiped out by some yet unknown crop disease.
It is also becoming more evident that natural disasters are at least in part, related to human behavior. Hurricane intensity has increased, torrential crop destroying rains have occurred in India, freezes that nearly wiped out the California citrus industry, floods and droughts that are occurring on all the continents. This is evidence that the planet is changing at a rapid rate. Earthquakes, sinkholes and volcanoes, are even more evidence that the plant is changing radically.
Mother Nature is paying us back for the destruction we are unleashing on this planet. Fortunately, there is hope. We can turn this terrible destruction around and return the biodiversity to the planet and return it to a stable ecosystem.
If we continue to dump pollutants, chemicals, emissions and pharmaceuticals into the land, you can be assured the planet will be rebalanced, but in a way that we may not find pleasant. Nature may decide that in order to rebalance, she may need to get rid of the cause of the imbalance-humans. We are the greatest destructive force ever seen on this planet. (Except for the meteor that struck the earth millions of years ago).
We can no longer stick our heads in the sand and hope this problem goes away. It is up to each and every one of us on this planet to make positive changes that will make a difference. Now is the time to go green.
About the Author Beverly Saltonstall is an environmental writer. Visit http://pollutionwebsite.com for news, podcasts, articles and guides covering many aspects of pollution. To understand pollution, read "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Pollution, But Never Dared to Ask". (available on website)
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