Biodiversity the new hazard

Environment | September 21, 2010 | Share

The earth is made up of various things with various degrees of life forms all of which combined can be defined as biodiversity. Biodiversity is one factor which defines the health of the planet and the various biological systems, which consist of more than a million systems and species.

Biodiversity varies in different parts of the world depending on various climatic and environmental factors. For example, the biodiversity in the polar region would be different from that in the tropical regions. Though unfortunately the biodiversity seems to be reducing gravely with time with various biotic systems and species feeling the brunt of the recent human expansion. This has led to the Holocene extinction which has gone to such extents that between 1500 and 2009, around 875 extinctions have been reported with experts stating that around 140,000 species go extinct every year due to the destructive nature of human beings for whom development and selfish interests seem to be overpowering the common interests of humans and nature. Human practices have also led to genetic diversity which has now become an international issue.

Since all the natural elements are inter-connected and work in accordance with each other, it is obvious that if one of the elements goes wrong, the whole system falls in jeopardy. Hence it is not surprising that the well established link between climatic conditions and biodiversity is in turmoil. Since the existence of the earth, it has been observed that with the change in climatic conditions, the various ecosystems have also changed resulting in a loss of biodiversity and thus reducing the ability of the species to adapt to new conditions. Biodiversity can also be related to the food chain which we majorly depend on. The climatic changes and biodiversity loss has a direct effect on the food system, caused by the extinction of various species which leads to an alarming factor for humans as it affects the vegetation, animals, medicines, etc..

One needs to understand that climate and weather are two different things, even though they reflect the condition of the surroundings. Weather is the state of the atmosphere for a short period of time, while climate is what reflects over a longer period of time. For example, the time when the winter seasons would have snowfalls which would come up till the knee as compared to the light snowfalls experienced by us today would be climate, while weather would be an untimely rainfall or any sort of short term condition which stays for some weeks or months.

Climate change has become one of the gravest issues faced in today’s world and is projected that it will progress into a considerable hazard in the years to come. With the depletion in the ozone layer and the melting of the Arctic Sea ice as one of the most prominent issues, the negative impact would soon result in a major change in the climatic patterns which would lead to significant changes in the biodiversity. The various aquatic and non-aquatic life forms such as algae, birds, fish, animals, plants etc are found to be at major risk of extinction or degradation thereby affecting the food chain gravely. All this also leads to an increase in the carbon dioxide level which in turn reduces the oxygen content in the atmosphere and at the same time increases the acidic content in water bodies.

Recent scientific studies have shown some horrific results with lesser and lesser time given to the eco systems to adapt giving rise to a domino effect in the various systems. With various species already reaching their levels of threshold and more going extinct every year, it is high time we show some concern towards out nature.

Tony