The Interdependence Of Species

Since earth was created, there has been a natural phenomenon of species across the globe appearing and disappearing. However, in the past century, many species of animals have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Mainly, this rapidly occurring issue is caused by humans. Humans that contribute to the harmful actions that cause side effects such a pollution, deforestation, habitat loss and poaching. The natural rate of extinction pales in comparison to the extinction rate caused by all of these. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the current rate of extinction is 11,000 times greater than the natural extinction rate. Several different efforts have been made in order to stop or slow down the extinction of earth’s species. The Endangered Species Act is possibly the most successful example of these efforts. It’s main purpose is to get a commitment from the American people that they will work hand in hand to help save species that are at risk of becoming extinct and never returning. This act was put in place in 1973 and since then, no other law about the disappearance of wildlife has been quite as accomplished. Many different species that are protected under this law are either fully recovered or on their way to becoming safer. Laws like these are helping many different creatures left and right, however, at the alarming rate that they are disappearing, something else needs to be done. What people don’t seem to realize is that we depend on many of the animals that we are

American author and journalist, Michael Pollan, in the article titled, “Why Bother?”, published in The New York Times Magazine, addresses the topic of environmental issues and argues that the phrase, “why bother?”, is what is keeping society from changing the ways citizens use up resources. His main focus of reasoning is supported by his idea that specialization has a significant role in reducing the average consumer’s chance of changing their lifestyle and also highlights that planting your own garden would be a task which in turn would benefit the consumer in many ways, while also decreasing their carbon footprint size. He concludes that these actions taking place could have a chain reaction that would spread these practices across the nation and lead to positive impacts on the environment.

Decisions regarding environmental problems require both knowledge and values. Placing value on specific issues can be sorted into four categories of justification: utilitarian, ecological, aesthetic and moral. California Blue focuses on the interplay of environmental issues and ethics emphasizing the conflict between industry and species preservation. Timber cutting in the Northwest United States is a mainstay of the economy. Although clear cutting is not as environmentally sensitive as selective harvesting and redwood cutting, some is essential to America's continued growth and prosperity. To ban timber operations and to throw people out of work, all to preserve an endangered blue butterfly, is to test the limits and logic of ecological priorities. The national policy of preserving endangered species serves the purpose of promoting biological diversity, which if not followed might threaten the ecosystem. This national policy of species preservation is a matter of social policy balanced with the competing interests of the local economy and human needs. Under the utilitarian approach one must balance the benefits of species preservation with the detriment of stopping human activity which threatens that species or the environment in which the

“Many current discussions about sustainability focus on the ways in which human activity...can be maintained in the future without exhausting all of our current resources… there has been a close correlation between the growth of human society and environmental degradation - as communities grow, the environment often declines” (603).

As environmental and suitability movements continue to evolve and grow, the importance of bringing society from a state of awareness to one of consciousness is key to their long term success. Finding a way for people to have an emotional connection and reaction to the issues that face our world today as they relate to sustainability will likely be the turning point for more universal support and

Americans, as a whole, do not care about the environment anymore. When we watch the news or simply talk about our day, there are always more pressing topics that come up. However, as a nation, the threat of a failing environment seems to be forgotten because the effects are not as obvious as other threats. Bill McKibben’s “Waste Not, Want Not” discusses how much time, money, resources, and people America has actually wasted and how little effort has been made to try to change. McKibben causes readers to think it is too late to save the environment from our wastefulness because we put our efforts into systems that do not help the environment, spend more money and resources than necessary, and refuse to acknowledge how much were wasting.

Lost species affect the environment negatively and can disrupt ecosystems. Since the 1940s, many conservation efforts have been successful in helping the whooping crane population increase. By failing to ensure that whooping crane habitats have enough food in their winter habitat, the positive effects of conservation have been set back. The State of Texas breached the Migratory Bird Treaty and is liable for the deaths of whooping cranes. Given the outcome of the lawsuit, this situation could happen again in the future. As Canadian citizens, it’s extremely difficult to impact foreign legal decisions, but we can lobby our own government and legislators to encourage more participation in future international issues like this. We can also work with environmental organizations to work towards common goals for the benefit of the environment. We know that habitats must be properly protected and maintained by all parties involved to help not only the whooping crane, but other species as well, recover their population and thrive. Even just on our own as concerned citizens, we can raise awareness about the whooping crane. Although it might not seem like much, the effort that citizens put in can make a huge difference in the health of our endangered

Conservation of our biodiversity not only demonstrates foresight, it protects the natural resources so vital to our own continued existence. The value of any single species to an ecosystem is immeasurable; the environment will not endure without its species, despite size or niche. These animals are not dispensable. And, they are apt to face extinction in the not too distant future, unless a resolve for their preservation is insisted by the public and enforced by governments internationally.

Fish and wildlife in Northern Ontario is facing a crisis created by years of mismanagement and hidden agendas of politicians who have little or no clue how to manage this Northern resource. Too often politicians have use this Ministry to win over voters in the large urban centres by making policies that are considered green and trendy.

Even if the lands are protected, they are not safe from the ecological burden of protecting our borders. Due to changes in legislation the Border Patrol Agency is exempt from stringent environmental laws. This is true in any of the areas surrounding the border, and they are looking to expand the radius of exemption, to better protect our borders. The Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, and the Northern Jaguar Project are looking to reinstall a social rule which the United States already implemented with the Endangered Species Act. This legislation created the social rule that no species should be forced into extinction due to human activities. Riders on the Illegal Immigration Act and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 and the Real ID act of 2005 allowed this social rule to become obsolete. Social rules changes in favor of the environment occur when the public is largely in support for saving the environment. However this support can be splintered by another need of the country especially when the opposing discourse has a crisis wave to ride. This case shows how the issue of border security triumphs environmental needs due to the pertinence of immigration reform along with the crisis impact caused by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition is questioning the effectiveness of the Act, as well as its impact on people. Pointing to the poor progress of removing species from the Endangered and Threatened lists, the group calls on reform of the Act, to reform the methods for determining eligibility for listing, opening the listing and regulatory processes of the Act to include participation from all groups affected by the legislation, and providing more incentives for private citizens and businesses to pro-actively participate in conservation of listed species.

Around the world, humans are aware of the environmental crisis going on, yet, the issue is brushed under the rug and ignored. This issue is ignored due to the fact that some people are unwilling to change their lifestyles, it is expensive to be environmentally friendly, and there is a lack of effort towards change worldwide. Scientific evidence has proven that there is a crisis happening, but people show disinterest in it. Some people feel helpless because there is no way that the individual effort that is made can possibly make a global difference.

Over the past decade, permitted by the Species at Risk Act (“SARA”), the former Conservative Government of Canada made a series of decisions that raise troubling ques-tions with regard to the conservation of endangered species in Canada. This essay exam-ines how the lenient wording of SARA permitted the Federal Government to circumvent the intent of the Act and to inadequately protect the country’s endangered species.

When a potential endangered species is found in a certain area the commercial interest of landowners must be weighed as well as the consequences of the species not being protected. There must be a balance between the biological and economical interest to find a cost-effective solution that protects both the landowner and species. Next, scarcity must be considered as society will have to decide between saving a species and a good or service they value just as much. Lastly, incentives must be in place to reward landowners for giving up land or else they may not report endangered species on their property for fear of losing it and thus lose income. All together these economic precedents must be used to better implement the ESA by weighing how human circumstances effect species risk of extinction, the costs of protection weighed against other societal goals, and by using incentives to help open up more opportunities with

Franck and Brownstone define biological diversity as 'the variety and variability of living organisms and the biological communities in which they live' (36). Decades of progress in both the scientific and political arenas have advanced environmental legislation to protect biodiversity at not only the ecosystem level, but for specific species and genetic material as well. Research has shown the importance of every organism and their role in the global ecosystem, and legislation has gradually matured to protect not only species which may become endangered, but the habitats they need to survive as well. Growing consciousness surrounding environmental issues has enabled these protections to be