My guess is that if you have reached
this blog, I don't need to persuade you about the importance of preserving
animals. I imagine most people naturally think this is a good idea, but
why should we even care? Animals have become extinct before, right? I'm sure
there have been animals that have gone extinct without you even knowing it
happened, so what's the harm? Are you really affected?
Throughout this blog I hope to be
able to give a few reasons to care about species becoming extinct. If you
already believe it is important to try to save these animals but don't know
exactly why, here are a few ideas to get you started.
1. All animals contribute to our
ecosystem
While we may not notice an immediate
difference when one species dies off, some animal surely will. Animals
depend on plants and other animals to survive, and when one is no longer there to
support its surroundings, other animals have a higher risk of dying. If this trend continues, even those who don’t
care will eventually be forced to see the effects.
2. Animals are becoming extinct at
an alarming rate
Of course animals have become
extinct naturally in the past. The rate
of extinction in the past 100 years or so, however, has grown exponentially. Scientists have found that fewer than one in
a million species should naturally become extinct per year. Currently, the rate of extinction is estimated
at 100-1000 times this natural rate.
This rise in extinction is not a coincidence, but rather a result of man’s
carelessness.
450 × 267
450 × 267
Graph from
http://www.peakprosperity.com/
3. It just doesn’t feel right!
This argument does not have any hard
evidence to support it, nor do I think it needs any. I believe that people inherently know that killing
animals is generally a bad thing. Whether
you believe that God or evolution or something else has created all of these
animals, each animal is here for a reason.
I’m not talking about hunting for food or game, but to see a species that
is about to completely die off and to not do anything about it is simply
wrong. If everyone does their part,
people can make a big difference.
Throughout the next few blogs I will
be going over more specifics on the what, why, and how we can make a difference
for one animal that is very much endangered: the sea turtle.
Photo from
http://www.flickr.com
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1eax2kEwAm758XmeGH53JVnx0y1EQjbNhwH5BkwkqQY0/viewform
