Introduction Do we all know what biodiversity means? Well I think some of us do not know what biodiversity is, but it is important for us to know is the meaning of biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variety of life. Most of the people recognize biodiversity by species but biodiversity is more than just species. A species is a group of living organism that can interbreed for example white-tailed deer, blue whales, and bacteria that you cannot even see with your eyes. Species is only one part of biodiversity. Biodiversity can be studied on many levels and at the highest level you can look at all the different species in earth. Biodiversity occurs at multiple scales of ecological organization, from genes all the way up to the entire biosphere. …show more content…
(2002) Biodiversity plays a crucial role in human nutrition through its influence on world food production, as it ensures the sustainable productivity of soils and provides the genetic resources for all crops, livestock, and marine species harvested for food. Adequate nutrition, in turn, is the prime requirement for ensuring the normal development (both physical and mental) of children, as well as the continuing health and productivity of adults. Reciprocally, world food production has affected biodiversity significantly in the past, and continues to do so up to the present, through its use and modification of biotic resources—on land, in freshwater environments, and in the oceans. The imperative to produce and supply nutritious food for all humans, already numbering over six billion and projected to number eight or nine billion in the course of the 21st century, is certain to become ever more challenging. An equally vital necessity is to devise food production systems that protect and enhance natural ecosystems and their diverse biotic resources. Given the poverty and famine that prevail in many regions, and the foreseen change of the earth’s climate (which is inherently unstable in any case), it is an open question whether, and how, humanity can provide for itself while avoiding irreversible damage to natural ecosystems and their
Anth. 105 Human Species – Lab 4 Report Rumaysa Sharif 05/14/18 Introduction Primates, apes and humans all have varying body masses, brain sizes and life spans. One species may have a longer life span or a larger brain than the other.
Grazing and growing feed for livestock now occupy 70% of all agricultural land and 30% of the ice-free terrestrial surface of the planet. If these current events continue, meat production is predicted to double between the turn of the 21st century and 2050. Yet already, the Earth is being overpowered by livestock that consume massive quantities of energy and resources, whose wastes contaminate waterways and farmlands, and when eaten excessively, degrade our health. Pollan makes a considerable point when discussing concentrated animal feedlot operations, “The economic logic of gathering so many animals together to feed them cheap corn in CAFOs is hard to argue with; it has made meat, which used to be a special occasion in most American homes” (pg. 67, An Omnivore's Dilemma).
This lecture is trying to shape what people are going to eat and where they are going to get their food from. Mark clarified that, “we need to start acting”, (Mark Bitman 2007, transcript 8:35). on the overproduction and consumption of meat and junk food. It is proven that the more plants we eat the longer we will live. This information is backing up his idea and showing that it is logical making him more trustworthy.
“Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat”, is a famous quote by the well known philosopher Socrates, who believed this is the perspective we should take when we are eating food. Unfortunately, the times have changed and so has the way we eat. We no longer have to go hunting for our food, or grow crops to receive all of our fruits and vegetables. Because we have become a society that has grown into the new world of technology, there would be no need to rely on ourselves for what we need-- we can simply gather our resources from other people. In the book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, written by Michael Pollan, takes us on a journey full of concerns of the “Food Industrial Complex”.
The U.S. agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. But it does so at a high cost to the environment, animals and humans”
Eating Towards Global Warming Global warming has been a topic of debate for many years now. A more recent argument is that food production is a key contributing factor to the global warming epidemic. In the article “A Carnivore’s Dilemma”, Nicolette Niman provides an insight to the logistics being said in these statements.
Biodiversity is the variety of life in the world. Biodiversity is important everywhere because it is a resource in which all living organisms and future generation organisms depend on. It is important to California because California has many different bioregions. If California did not have biodiversity in its bioregions, one animal would have to adapt to all the different regions. By adapting, it would have to live off the land and eat its own species.
Both the local sustainable and hunter gather are the healthiest food chains for the consumer. Again, another problem arises. Hunter gather and local sustainable food chains couldn’t realistically feed a whole nation.
In the US, 40% of food produced, or approximately 365 million pounds of food, is wasted each day. Food waste, however, is a problem that extends beyond America, affecting billions of people as a global issue. The overwhelming amounts of food that are being discarded contribute to global warming and climate change, and prevent the massive number of hungry people from being able to eat nourishing meals. Humanity as a whole must be more mindful of the Earth and its health, as we are the source which most directly affect it. Due to the profound environmental impacts of food waste, a reduction in the amount disposed is necessary to create a more sustainable environment, and humans have a responsibility to protect the planet, even if it requires drastic changes to the current food system.
In the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, Pollan claims we should be more knowledgeable about what we consume as omnivores. As omnivores we have a variety of food, we can choose from, however, we don’t regularly make the best decisions for ourselves. Pollan argues this by showing us where our food really comes from and how we can find many unwanted extras. Pollan shows us that we’ve evolved as humans from how we used to eat to how we eat now. Pollan argues this by introducing us to all the food chains we value today, some much more than others.
In recent years, there has been an ongoing debate as to what caused the extinction of the Neanderthals around forty thousand years ago. Some researchers speculate that Neanderthals did not develop sufficient tools that would allow them to gather and hunt food efficiently while others speculate that early modern humans introduced deadly pathogens into Neanderthal populations which led to their extinction. However, researchers led by zooarchaeologist Jamie Hodgkins have found that frequent and lengthy glacial periods may have led to the extinction of the Neanderthals. They hypothesized that glacial periods may have reduced the quantity of prey that the Neanderthals hunted therefore they were unable to intake the required amount of food to survive.
If our future generation has less food, people from all over the world will suffer from starvation. They will not only suffer from the lack of food, but also from the disease that pollution causes. Our world will become something so frightening and unsuitable for any living
Biodiversity is all life on the planet. How much life is out there, however, is still quite unclear and by this time, possibly many new species may find out. Appraise of around a range from 2 million to 100 million species, with only about 1.4 million are named at this current time. The attainable diversity of uncharacterized species is very much frustrating, visualizes how many species are here and others are still missing or unrecognized. However, now days where globalization intercepts species have begun to dissolve at a very alarming and devastating rate.
Review of Literature Environmental issues began to be discussed and debated only towards the end of the 20th century. Since then significant amount of literature has been penned down raising awareness about issues of pollution, deforestation, animal rights and several others however it has failed to result in major changes, ideas or even actions to save the environment. Several species of animals have become extinct; pollution level is at an all-time high, global warming is leading to severe climate changes all across the globe but these problems do not seem to alarm the decision makers. Leydier & Martin (2013) also states that, “despite the increasing expression of concern in political and media debates about issues such as climate change, pollution and threats to biodiversity, “political ecology” (operating at the confluence of scientific developments, political engagement and ethical debates) is still trying to find its bearings” (p.7). It is quite evident that environmental issues are not treated in equivalence to political, economic, social or even religious issues.
According to the royal society, between1930 and 2010 the world’s population grew from 2 billion to 6.8 billion ,so the Continuing population causes a consumption growth and that means the global demand will increase over the next years and growing competition for land, water and energy will increase too(Black, 2010). Growth of population will affect on some countries ability to produce food especially in the poor developing countries, so improved nutrition is central to improved income generation, poverty reduction, and provide a good food quality. Lack of food quality has an impact on mother’s nourishment because they are more likely to give a birth, so mothers which are malnourished later will give birth of babies with a less healthier, growth retardation are associated with reduced physical activity, impairment of