What's happening to our biodiversity?
Over-population
The greatest threat to biodiversity is the size and rate of growth of human population. Everyday, more people need more space, consume more resources and generate more waste as world population continues to grow at an alarming rate.
Human population growth is reducing biodiversity in the following ways:
- We cause habitat change through agricultural, urban and industrial development, and the exploitation of natural resources.
- We pollute soil, water and air.
- We overharvest resources which reduces both population sizes and genetic diversity of commercial species, such as fish.
- We introduce exotic species which damage land and water resources and sometimes bring diseases with them. In addition, they may compete with native plants and animals for food and shelter. Some animals, such as cats and foxes, directly destroy native species.
- We cause global warming by releasing increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere, which will alter the nature of ecosystems everywhere. One of the causes of increased levels of carbon dioxide is the burning of carbon-based fuels such as coal, oil and gas.
