World extinction

The Great Panda is an endangered species and is at great risk of extinction.


This article is by Julia Whitty, it is called Animal Extinction the Greatest Threat to Mankind, and was published on April 30th, 2007. Here is the link to the article: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/animal-extinction--the-greatest-threat-to-mankind-397939.html

This article talks about the high rate of extinction and people's blissful ignorance to the extinction problems that are occurring to our planet. Currently we are in a mass extinction period the 6th in the earth's history. Our last extinction period occurred 50 million years ago when dinosaurs went extinct and the ice age occurred. We have been building up for this period in time for 50,000 years. More and more animals have been going extinct since our human ancestors first lived on Africa killing animals with spears and harpoons. Today currently 73% of plants, 51% reptiles, and 52% insects are at risk of extinction. A poll showed that most people had no idea in mass extinction being a bigger threat to human society than global warming. Everyday 73 species become extinct and the mass extinction rate is 100 times what it used to be. 190 different nations signed a treaty to try to save species on the red list which contains endangered, critically endangered, and threatened animals. The loss of one species affects the ecosystem and its surrounding communities. A lot of keystone species at also at risk of extinction such as the army ants which are known to support at least 100 known species. One scary thing is that amphibian species are starting to decline, a species that has played a major role in ecosystems for 300 million years.  By calculations in the next half century half of all species will be lost. The Wildlands Project group is said to implement acts of conservation, that will take 100 years to fully complete. 16,000 species of plants, birds, and mammals are at threat of extinction or endangerment. On the last red list 16, 118 species are said to be at risk of extinction and 8, 390 of those are plants and 7, 725 are animals. 

Opinion/Reflection: I believe that we should do more to conserve animals and plant types. These different species provide us with things we need and are very important for our living. I would like to see these animals around when my children grow up and I want them to be able to get a look at a tiger or a rhino and enjoy the interesting different species in the world. I have seen some of my favorite animals, the great panda and tiger, go on the endangered species list and are now at risk of extinction. These animals are very interesting to me and many others and it would be a shame to see them go extinct. I also believe we should save these animals because they benefit us by giving food like eggs and milk, and giving resources that we now find essential for living. We must save these animals! 

Questions: 1. How many species of plants are expected to go extinct by 2100? 

2. How would some of these animals extinctions affect the world climate? 

3. What genus of species is most at risk of extinction?

 4. What are some more groups that are trying to save the endangered wild life. Why?