Why are species becoming endangered?

“Today, the rate of extinction is occurring 1,000 to 10,000 times faster because of human activity,” says Renee Cho, environmental scientist. Our species numbers decline fast across the world, and they will continue to decrease as time goes on. 

Many species become endangered because of human activities. Logging, habitat destruction, and loose laws all affect species.

Logging

Logging can destroy an entire ecosystem. Killing the trees removes viable habitats for countless species. Trees are a necessity to keep an ecosystem healthy by producing oxygen and storing nutrients.

The World Animal Foundation says “Habitats are cut into fragments, affecting food availability, migration patterns, and shelter. Forest fragmentation is threatening the survival of many species.”

A question you may ask: don’t we need trees for wood and many other things? If we didn’t cut them down, how would we get that? We can still cut down some trees at natural resources for our needs. However, we could continue to plant more trees to replace the ones we cut down. Also, we can set up designated areas that are exempt from logging to save those ecosystems for species.

Habitat Destruction

Habitat destruction leads to species becoming endangered. Habitats get destroyed and remolded for human purposes. When habitats get destroyed, these species either have to continue moving till they find another home or die off because they are not able to get the nutrients and lifestyle that they need to survive.

“It (habitat loss) is identified as the main threat to 85% of all species described in the IUCN’s Red List (those species officially classified as “Threatened” and “Endangered”).”

But humans matter too. Shouldn’t we be able to take resources from our own planet? The answer is yes. However, we need to learn to share the resources with everyone, whether they are human or not. We should take resources in a sustainable way so that no habitat gets destroyed and so there is some left for others.

Loose Laws

The loose laws we have in place regarding endangered species don’t protect them enough. Many politicians don’t care about environmental health, so when it comes down to it, many regulations remain left unchecked and illegal hunting/poaching occurs. We need to enforce our laws protecting endangered species before it’s too late.

“In a way, this is nothing new because the ESA has been under attack for decades from construction, development, logging, water management, fossil fuel extraction, and other industries that contend the act stifles economic development,” says the Columbia Climate School.

When they hear this, most people ask why it matters. Why have laws in place to protect a few animals? A lot of the time endangered species are keystone species of their habitat. This means that their role in keeping that habitat running is vital. Without them, the habitat’s food chain and life cycles mess up, resulting in the collapse of the environment. We need the laws in place to protect endangered species so this doesn’t happen.

Why protect them?

So why do we need to protect endangered species? The answer is simple. Without these species, ecosystems crash, meaning resources crash, resulting in resource deprivation for everyone, especially humans. If humans want to continue using this planet’s space and resources, we need to protect everything else on it too.

“Everything in nature is connected. If you remove one animal or plant it upsets the balance of nature, can change the ecosystem completely, and may cause other animals to suffer.”

I can’t do anything, so why should I help? Anyone can help, no matter who you are or where you live. Even small things can put in an effort in saving species. For example, you can do small volunteer opportunities in your neighborhoods like cleaning up trash, taking water samples, or removing invasive species. Anything helps.

All these reasons go hand in hand in protecting our planet’s endangered species. If we don’t start caring more about our planet and the struggling species on it, we will lose so much more than people realize. If we want our world to be happy, we have to protect the endangered species that tie the world together.

Examples of endangered species