Unit V Journal
Instructions
Watch the following video segment titled “Humans: Destroyers of Ecosystems”:
New Atlantis (Producer). (2002). The sixth extinction: The human role [Video file]. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=33721&loid=27830
Click here for a transcript of this video segment. How much time did you spend outside as a child/teenager? Describe your experiences with forestland or other natural environments. Are those areas still in their natural state? Even if you have not spent much time outdoors, have you seen natural areas become fragmented due to land-use change (housing developments, industry, clear-cutting, etc.)? Consider the benefits and services provided by natural lands (clean water, air, biodiversity, etc.). How does the loss of forests and other natural lands affect you personally? Give specific examples.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words. No references or citations are necessary.
Submit Unit V Journal ยป
Biodiversity suffers from the demands of the dominant species, which is now destroying natural habitats
on a scale equal to its population and its technological capacity. For urban and agricultural purposes, or
simply for exploiting the wealth of the region, all kinds of ecosystems are being stripped. The forest
habitats are the most notable example.
Every day, and all around the world, approximately 1 and 1/2 million trees are felled. Barely half of them
are replaced. And when they are, the 100-year-old trees are substituted by very young ones, which are
not capable of carrying out the same functions.
The forest is the most varied, complex, and qualified scope of land for providing basic elements. It is the
most nourishing and where the most living species nourish. Without a doubt, it is the home to the largest
number of species. More than half of all species on the planet live in the forest. And at least 70% of the
vital multiplicity of the planet is aided by it.
But above all, and at this time, the forest is considered, more than ever, to be the great solution. One of
the great disasters of our world is the loss of soil. The forest creates soil and maintains it. And the forest,
right now, could also be the best therapy for climate change because they even act like a fixer, not only
for CO2, which we already know, but the forests fix noise pollution. They fix water pollution, and they fix
soil pollution.
Trees have also invented isolating control and reduction systems for the strongest contaminants,
including the most aggressive heavy metals like mercury, lead, and cadmium. Right now, there isn’t
anything wiser than having the maximum number of trees in the world because what they are doing is
creating good living conditions. They are creating raw materials, and they are curing the worst
environmental diseases.
