Human beings are using renewable resources 68% faster than they are being replenished. Earth is on the verge of another mass extinction if we don’t start taking care of our Earth. Humans have a huge impact on the environment because of habitat loss, pollution, climate change, overfishing, and invasive species. Earth has approximately 7.7 billion people. Consequently, no population can continuously grow due to limiting factors because Earth simply runs out of space and the environment cannot be sustained.
The economy relies on the environment’s natural resources and goods from the ecosystem. Natural resources are not unlimited but humans seem to act as though it were otherwise. Presidential candidates and those in power often make decisions that don’t necessarily help the environment. Politicians make decisions for the short term and often see environmental protection as losing money or not beneficial for the economy.
The illegal trade of wildlife products has led to steep declines for many animal populations. For example, poaching has caused some elephants to be born tuskless due to natural selection in order to survive, but tusks are important for the survival of the elephant species. Tigers and rhinoceros have also fallen victim to poaching. Polar bears have nowhere left to go due to climate change.
According to the Racing Extinction film directed by Louie Psihoyos, a film which received an Emmy award, future generations will see the effects of the destruction the baby boomer generation has caused. China has played a major role in the illegal trading and selling of endangered species. Humans life has had a drastic impact on the Earth. Over half of all frog species could be gone in a year. There are 300-330 species of turtles left. Over the last 50 years, the ocean has lost 40% of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton produces a portion of the oxygen humans beings need to live. The extensive amount of CO2 in the air is absorbed by the ocean and the ocean then becomes acidic. We have 12 years people! 12 years until the earth becomes unfixable.