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We Must Maintain our Natural Habitat

By Abdullahi D. Hassan
17 January 2020   |   8:35 am
I wonder why our ecosystem across the universe is plagued by human idiosyncrasies; a debilitating misfortune hampering the sustainability of all biomes. Since the beginning of the 21st century, a lot of acts of negligence are done against the sanctuary of biological habitats; notably, ones are population explosion, flora and fauna depletion, soil debasement, greenhouse emission,…

I wonder why our ecosystem across the universe is plagued by human idiosyncrasies; a debilitating misfortune hampering the sustainability of all biomes. Since the beginning of the 21st century, a lot of acts of negligence are done against the sanctuary of biological habitats; notably, ones are population explosion, flora and fauna depletion, soil debasement, greenhouse emission, oil spilling, mining activities, and melting of the ancient iceberg. Numerous views, assertions, and frameworks are being stated from intelligentsia to thinkers; from noble prize winners to laymen on the street corners, affirm that this millennium, our climate is severely deteriorating. Myriads of catastrophes are on the rise in the entire world.

We are supposed to be the custodian of Mother Nature; to protect and maintain her. Rather, nowadays we basically treat our ecosystem recklessly. In 2002, a Swedish Professor, Paul J. Crutzen referred to ‘The Anthropocene’ as a new trend in geological epoch in his piece, “The Geology of Mankind” he proposed that humans have done irreversible damage to biodiversity, leading to loss of natural habitats, extinction and endangerment of various plants and animal species, global warming and biosphere degradation. For so long, scientists and researchers caution us explicitly that the air we breathe is poisonous; our watercourse is polluted with toxic waste and plastic items. Also, such things are horrendous to all marine animals and their ecosystem. That is why marine biodiversity shrinks often times. The coral reef, for example faces a serious threat; and about twenty-five percent of fishes in the world depend on healthy coral reefs. More so, plastics have led to the death of so many marine animals–these animals eat the microplastics mistaken to be food.

Nonetheless, several times, United Nations’ climate and environmental talks and conferences held from COP Berlin to COP Kyoto Protocol; from COP Marrakech to COP New Delhi; and from COP   Geneva to   Katowice are concerned with discussions based on how   to create a   peaceful environment for humans, animals, and plants; to mitigate climate-change challenge around the world. More or less, it’s as if we, humans, are being triggered to scar our natural heritage. Plants and forests are unsafe due to our unkindness to the nature about us. From way back, plants are our lifeblood. Plants, since time immemorial, are always most necessary for the conversion of the countless number of carbons.

Plants are habitations of hundreds and thousands of mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. Eight of ten species of animal dwell in the forests. They are home to a great number of indigenous people. Half of the world ecosystems and vegetation–seasonal forests, deciduous forests, boreal forests, and savannas–are dependent on the forests for their existence. The aforementioned forests constitute a score of a number of organisms and compose of millions of species of fauna and flora. In countless ways, we need the physical, geological, chemical, and atmospheric space to balance our existence around nature.

Consequently, our biological life is also in a state of peril. The question is, “how can we survive?” Our forests are virtually terrified on account of humans’ attitude, such as logging, ranching for cattle, agricultural use, and ravaging wildfire in nearly all continents across the globe. By these despicable acts, humans have destroyed almost half the forests on earth. Consider the Amazon rainforests, also known as ‘lungs of the planet,’ which I’ve always personified as a ‘demigod’ behind our survival; it is currently maimed by man owing to man’s foolishness. Albeit, it is the domain of millions of insect, thousands of rare plants and animals are only found in it. The Amazon is liable to extinction due to day after day deforestation, poaching, and bushing phenomenon. Within a decade alone, over one thousand new plants and vertebrate species were discovered in the Amazon. One-half of the Amazon rainforests are in Brazil and a small fraction each is found in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and French Guyana. The Amazon used to cover about 4.1 million kilometers, but presently, it has decreased to 3.4 million kilometers. In just five decades, about seventeen percent of the forest has been destroyed by a means mostly connect with wildfire.

Additionally, a rise in temperature causes parts of the Amazon to dry out. Recently, the Amazon Rainforests are undermined fiercely and the Brazilian Government trivializes the issue, for example; last year President Jair Bolsonaro jokingly referred to himself as ‘Captain Chainsaw’. As a result, Germany and Norway have withdrawn from contributions to the preservation fund of the rainforest. What is greatly a cause for concern is indigenous people who live there, whose lives are often made miserable, and their race is at the verge of being wiped out.

In conclusion, it is now crystal clear that humans of our generation are unwittingly endangering the condition of our climate through the combustion of fossil fuel, gas pollution, and all sorts of nasty trends in regards to nature. In recent years, we have been witnessing intense catastrophe in the world; for example, droughts, hurricanes, cyclones, flood, and consequences of man-made disasters. We ought to care consciously for nature, and we ought to consider the pivotal role which every natural thing plays. Each organism – dependent on terrestrial, aquatic or any other biomes–is extremely beneficial to us. All natural habitats of any kind can thrive without us and we cannot survive them.

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