Dustin Kesselberg
Illuminator
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2004
- Messages
- 4,669
Extinction is a bad thing. Especially extinction caused by humans. Many people don't seem to understand this and I hope to provide just a few reasons to care.
What many don't seem to be understanding is that all life on earth is part of the global ecosystem. This means that every single species has evolved to be part of a fragile chain of other species. If one species goes extinct it can cause many other species to go extinct which in turn can cause many other species to go extinct. Humans, being part of that chain, have an invested interest in the well being of all species, even the ones that don't seem to make much of a difference. Scientists can't predict how the extinction of a single species will affect the entire ecosystem let alone the extinction of hundreds or thousands of species. This has effects for all humans in every way imaginable. If humans care about the existence of their species then they should care about the extinction of any species.
Another important reason is the fact that many of our medicines are derived from natural products including numerous plant species. Who remembers the story of Penicillin? Penicillin was one of the most widely used antibiotic agents. It is derived from the Penicillium mold and was accidentally discovered 1920's. Imagine how many people would have died if this specific Penicillium mold had somehow gone extinct centuries earlier? This story attests to the fact that preservation of species, any species is of the utmost importance. We currently simply don't know which DNA of which species might be able to be used in the future to cure any number of diseases, cancer for instance. It could be that in the near future we will discover a method of using the DNA from some obscure jelly fish to breast cancer. But unfortunately that Jelly Fish might of went extinct because we didn't think it could of been of any use. A potential cancer fighting drug derived from some obscure amazonian plant could be going extinct as we speak!
More reasons to care about extinction of species is simply the fact that we want future generations to be able to observe their beauty directly, and not just from a text book. How tragic would it be for your offspring to blame your generation for not being able to witness first hand, many species that are currently going extinct? I for one, would of loved to of seen the Dodo bird or the Thylacine, or even the recently extinct Chinese river dolphin.
These are just a few of the many reasons to be concerned about extinction, especially potential mass extinction. People who don't care about mass extinction are generally uneducated about the science concerning extinction or simply realize that they will be dead before they notice the effects of it and simply don't care. Either way, anyone with any sense is worried about extinction of any animal let alone mass extinction. Scientists simply aren't able to "clone" extinct species and likely will never be able to due to the fact that many recently extinct species in the past 500 years, their DNA is simply too degraded to be of any use. The Dodo for instance will never be cloned. It's gone, forever. This is why it's so important for us to be concerned about extinction. Once they are gone, They're gone for good.
What many don't seem to be understanding is that all life on earth is part of the global ecosystem. This means that every single species has evolved to be part of a fragile chain of other species. If one species goes extinct it can cause many other species to go extinct which in turn can cause many other species to go extinct. Humans, being part of that chain, have an invested interest in the well being of all species, even the ones that don't seem to make much of a difference. Scientists can't predict how the extinction of a single species will affect the entire ecosystem let alone the extinction of hundreds or thousands of species. This has effects for all humans in every way imaginable. If humans care about the existence of their species then they should care about the extinction of any species.
Another important reason is the fact that many of our medicines are derived from natural products including numerous plant species. Who remembers the story of Penicillin? Penicillin was one of the most widely used antibiotic agents. It is derived from the Penicillium mold and was accidentally discovered 1920's. Imagine how many people would have died if this specific Penicillium mold had somehow gone extinct centuries earlier? This story attests to the fact that preservation of species, any species is of the utmost importance. We currently simply don't know which DNA of which species might be able to be used in the future to cure any number of diseases, cancer for instance. It could be that in the near future we will discover a method of using the DNA from some obscure jelly fish to breast cancer. But unfortunately that Jelly Fish might of went extinct because we didn't think it could of been of any use. A potential cancer fighting drug derived from some obscure amazonian plant could be going extinct as we speak!
More reasons to care about extinction of species is simply the fact that we want future generations to be able to observe their beauty directly, and not just from a text book. How tragic would it be for your offspring to blame your generation for not being able to witness first hand, many species that are currently going extinct? I for one, would of loved to of seen the Dodo bird or the Thylacine, or even the recently extinct Chinese river dolphin.
These are just a few of the many reasons to be concerned about extinction, especially potential mass extinction. People who don't care about mass extinction are generally uneducated about the science concerning extinction or simply realize that they will be dead before they notice the effects of it and simply don't care. Either way, anyone with any sense is worried about extinction of any animal let alone mass extinction. Scientists simply aren't able to "clone" extinct species and likely will never be able to due to the fact that many recently extinct species in the past 500 years, their DNA is simply too degraded to be of any use. The Dodo for instance will never be cloned. It's gone, forever. This is why it's so important for us to be concerned about extinction. Once they are gone, They're gone for good.
