Module 12
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angelo aquinoModule 12
Uploaded by
angelo aquinoMODULE 12
BIODIVERSITY AND HEALTHY SOCIETY
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to:
• Define what biodiversity.
• Explain the impact of biodiversity on human population growth.
• Apply how we can protect our environment by knowing the signs of contamination.
INTRODUCTION
Our Planet Earth share trillions of varied species.
The different species of our plants and animals and the places they live is called BIODIVERSITY.
All together they give us all our needs in our life like food, clear drinking water, medicines and
provide us our homes. Biodiversity is like a safety net.
We take into consideration, the huge variety of animals and plants in our planet Earth as threads
in the net. The more threads that adhere and intertwine, the net get stronger, and the better nature
can provide for us and less threats for a climate change. Unfortunately, people have been
disregarding the safety and help of the net for decades. The forests were flattened to give way for
farming. We have netted young fishes until their numbers have collapsed. Wetlands were
bulldozed causing floods and wreak havocs. The great impact man has done for the very first time
in human history is full understanding of when to start mending the affected net wherein our natural
world we love and depend upon. There is still the need to reverse the losses of nature, but we
need to move swiftly to avoid any catastrophic change.
THE IMPACT OF BIODIVERSITY ON HUMAN LIFE
The human species is just one of Earth’s 1.9 million living forms. It has arisen by the same
mechanisms as other species. It has the same physical requirements as other, similar species. It
is dependent for its survival on its successful interactions with Earth’s plant and animal species.
Ultimately, it is a subject to the same limitations to growth as any other species.
HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH
Unlike all other species, human population growth has risen at a very rapid rate over the past
centuries. The development of medical technology has reduced the incidence of disease in many
in many parts of the world; modern agriculture had reduced the likelihood of starvation in
developed nations. This rapid increase in human population and technology that supports the
growth has put extreme pressures on the natural world, threatening the survival of natural species
and habitats.
In many less developed areas of the world, the human population has grown faster than the food
supply, causing widespread famine that threatens to eliminate large portions of the populations.
Poverty and hunger in these areas had led to the resurgence of diseases that have been all but
eradicated in the world’s developed nations. These same conditions have forced some people to
abandon their homes in search of food and to be exposed to the elements, further reducing their
ability to survive. Such occurrences are becoming more frequent and severe. It remains to be seen
when similar collapsed will occur in develop countries. Apparently, the human species is rapidly
approaching a point where it will be unable to sustain continued growth.
POLLUTION AND DESTRUCTION TO OUR ENVIRONMENT
Technological and industrial processes have led to the production of chemicals and by-products
that are harmful or toxic to living things. Such toxic chemicals have contributed to our global
environmental pollution. Examples of pollutants include acidic ions, pesticides. When they are
released into the environment, these pollutants contaminate water, air, and/ or soil, and make
survival of natural species difficult or impossible. To that extent, humans are exposed to these
pollutants, and we are also subject to their toxic effects. The industrial by-products such as dioxin
pose similar dangers to many species, including humans the combining of acidic ions with
atmospheric water has resulted in acid precipitation (acid rain), which has acidified lakes and
disrupted natural ecosystem.
DESTRUCTION OF HABITAT
Human have used their technologies to remove trees and other plant life from wide areas of their
natural habitat for the purpose of creating agricultural lands, industrial zones, roadways, or
residential and commercial developments. Humans have drained, filled, or redirected wetlands,
ponds, streams and other natural water habitats for these same purposes. Collectively known as
habitat destruction, these activities have had the effect of displacing plant and animals species
important to the maintenance of a balanced ecosystem.
EXPLOITATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS
Humans who have great desire to possess exotic animals and plants or their products have been
enabled by modern transportation, communication and economic technologies. This resulted in
the exploitation for exotic species of primates such as monkey, cats, birds; such as parrots eagles
and other pets. Some animals are killed for their horns, elephants for their tusks, tigers and other
species for their pelts. Each species loss has impacted its ecosystem in a negative way. Each
exploited species is to one degree or another, in danger of extinction because of this exploitation.
Forest trees were directly harvested from our mountains to provide lumber for building purposes,
and denuded in the process, allowing fragile soils to be washed away. This activity resulted in the
destruction of entire mountain habitats. Worldwide, direct harvesting activities for exotic
hardwoods in tropical rain forests has resulted in similar habitat destruction and loss of biodiversity.
SIGNS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION
Many warning signs exist indicate that a dangerous disequilibrium is being created in our
ecosystems. Some researchers suspect that toxic chemicals by-products, heavy metals,
pesticides, hormones, pharmaceuticals and other contaminants are responsible for an increased
frequency in deformation of illnesses, death and natural populations worldwide. An example is the
dramatic decline and deformation on frog populations which have been observed in aquatic
ecosystems around the world. The culprits suspected by some scientists are hormone-disrupting
chemicals in agricultural runoff.
Other examples includes:
• reproductive cycle disruption in birds as a result of high concentrations of DDT and
other pesticides.
• deaths and population declines of birds and fish linked to contamination from oil
spills deaths and disorientation of marine mammals (tortoise and whales) possibly
due to coastal pollutant runoff
• contaminated waters
In our own species, adverse health effects linked to chemical exposure are Increasingly prevalent
among infancy and early childhood. These are the periods of vulnerability to environmental
pollution, because they spend more energy, require more food, water, and oxygen per unit of mass
than adults, hence young children are likely to take in and store more toxic chemicals per pound
than adults. Recently, the incidence of birth defects and diseases linked to environmental pollution
has risen among children living in environmentally-contaminated areas of the world. Childhood
cancer has become the second leading cause of childhood deaths. Other health problems being
experienced today by children living in contaminated communities include chronic lung disease
and childhood asthma..
Consumption of Energy
Worldwide, industrialization has brought an increased demand for use of energy resources. It
brought both the positive and the negative effects on humans and ecosystems. The world
industrialized nations have used tremendous quantity of energy to fuel their business. Countries
like the United States and England have long been the major consumers of energy.
China, formerly a light user of energy resources , lately became a major consumer of petroleum
as a source of energy to operate its growing economy.
For sometimes the source of energy has changed, with traditional water, wood coal, and oil
gradually being replaced with natural gas, wind, wave/tidal, nuclear, solar, geothermal and fuel
cell technologies. The development of these energy sources often uses valuable agricultural land
for the construction, storage and transport of energy they produce.
Fossils for Fuels
Fossil fuels are commonly used as an energy source in industrial processes for the past 200
years, include naturally occurring materials such as oil, coal and natural gas. These fuels are
obtained from underground deposits formed million years ago by biological and geological
processes, and these fossil fuels are not being replenished. The chemical by-products of fossil
fuel combustion are released into the atmosphere and contribute to the worldwide air pollution as
well as a phenomenon known as acid precipitation or acid rain. Acid precipitation results from
combining of sulfur and nitrogen oxide ions with atmospheric water to produce sulfuric and nitric
acids. When rain snow and sleet containing these acids fall on aquatic ecosystems they can
significantly alter the acid/base chemistry. Any alteration often leads to elimination of acid/base
sensitive species of fish and amphibians in the ecosystem. The burning of fossil fuels has also
been linked to the phenomenon known as global warming.