What Do You Think About Human Ecosystem Destruction?

[DannyDesu]

In my Environmental Science class at school, the whole curriculum is centered around 'how nature works-- and how we mess it up'.

If you feel like reading how we are destroying ecosystems :

Spoiler:

Through this class, I've learned that we are dispensing too much carbon dioxide in the air. This results from extracting fossil fuels and burning them and cutting down trees for more housing and other buildings. Since trees are one of the main sinks for carbon by morphing it into oxygen and glucose etc. , more carbon is being built up in the air and the ocean.

The ocean is the 1st major sink for carbon. As waves move around on beaches and other areas of the ocean, it captures carbon from the air and assimilates it into the oceanic ecosystem.

Coral in the ocean start to die as more and more carbon dioxide enters the ocean because the acidity level increases, causing the protists living on the coral (zooxanthellae, to be exact) to run away or die. Zooxanthellae are the main source of energy for the coral, causing the coral to die as well. Coral acts as a natural barrier against strong waves and tsunamis, and without them, our civilizations on the coast could be destroyed.

Also, don't forget the climate change problem. With more Carbon Dioxide in the air, the ozone layer is disappearing, allowing more heat and light to enter the atmosphere, causing global warming.

I could go into how deforestation destroys habitats for animals, but this is getting a little long...

No matter if you read the spoiler or not, I want to know what you guys think of human-induced ecosystem destruction.

Do you believe ecosystem destruction for our survival is inevitable? Are we the only causes of this? Do you even believe that global warming is real? If you find any more ways we are affecting environment, good or bad, you can share those here as well because I find things like that interesting.
Thanks!

[DannyDesu]

I found another really interesting article online. Since I can't post it with the post count I have right now, I'll just give you the background:

By farming with pesticides and deforestation in China, they are losing all of their bees! So, companies have hired workers just to hand-pollinate all of their apple orchards! :O

[MikeMercury]

Do you believe ecosystem destruction for our survival is inevitable?

I believe, sort of the opposite. I believe that ecosystem destruction will lead to our destruction as well. We have evolved to be "above" nature, not a part of it. We are a cancer on the planet. There are too many of us and that is only going to get worse. Over-population will lead to war as resources become scarce.

I thing you are a little confused when you say that the build up of Carbon Dioxide destroys the ozone layer. Global warming (yes I do believe in it) has nothing to do with the ozone layer. Ozone layer was getting destroyed by the use of CFC's. The ozone layer protects us from the short wave, high energy radiation from the Sun. Global warming (greenhouse effect) is caused by carbon dioxide and other gases.

Good luck with your science class.

[himself]

I thought this thread was going to be about other animals destroying human habitats.

[DannyDesu]

[MENTION=21709]MikeMercury[/MENTION] You're right! Thanks for the correction on the global warming topic!
[MENTION=22336]himself[/MENTION] That would be interesting if you could find something on it! Haha, sounds like that Netflix show "Zoo" where the animals finally take a stand against humans