Ecosystem services are many of the little things in nature and ecosystems that human cant fully create on their own or replace. Such as pollination and clean water. these are both needed for an ecosystem to work. It seems like they are the thing that many people take for granted and never think about what would happen without them.
A podcast I was listening to talks about why these services matter and how they are not being considered when turning things into dollar. This is because it is hard to measure clean water or air in a budget so they are hardly ever brought to the table. This is a podcast that is two minutes long by David Biello. he says when we do start valuing these services in dollar they will never be completely accurate because they can never be measured correctly in dollar amount.
I find he is probably right. We do need to start taking these thing in to consideration. Because when thinking about these small services, they really are a big part of living. without pollinators there would be many plants and without plant no animals, and then there would be no humans. the same with clean water too. Many people don't about this stuff because they say to themselves "I'm just one person. What difference would I make." well if we all decided to do something anyways like recycle and such we would be able to change this world for the best.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
A World Without Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes can be a real pain when they bite or bother us when we are trying to have a good time outside in nature. Whether you are swimming in a lake or hiking a mountain you will always find a swarm of mosquitoes ready to attack you if you get close, which can sometimes ruin your day and occasionally sleep because you itch to bad. Well I'm sure we have all asked ourselves if mosquitoes even have a purpose other than to annoy you and spread diseases. Well there are actually a few good reasons to keep them
A article I have Recently ready talks about some of the hazards and benefits of the mosquito. the article is written by Janet Fang and has quotes from many entomologists trying to figure out whether or not it would be ok to eradicate the mosquitoes. One fact said there are 3,500 named species of Mosquito and only a couple hundred bite or bother people. One Hazard that many of us know about is their ability to spread diseases and viruses, a few being West Nile Virus, Malaria and Yellow Fever. This alone gives many people the want to kill them, but they also pollinator plants. Not necessarily plants that many people use (other than cacao which you make chocolate from). But plants that other animals use in their diet. Mosquitoes can even kill a Caribou in the Arctic valleys by swarming them and suffocating to death the animal. One Scientist says its not just the adult mosquitoes but the larva too. They are often in pools and lakes which can make some people not want to swim in them. But many creatures feed off of them such as fish and some of these fish could die out if they couldn't eat mosquitoes larva. By the end of the article many people still want to get rid of Mosquitoes.
I don't. I understand that they were put here for a reason, even if we don't like it. These creatures feed other animals if not by their own body by killing another. They pollinate plants that are useful to other animals to eat. The viruses and diseases could be a problem but they aren't the only thing that carries stuff like that. Plus they probably keep some populations in control, maybe not a lot but some, contributing what they can, So therefor I think we cant get rid of them unless we could do their jog which we cant.
A article I have Recently ready talks about some of the hazards and benefits of the mosquito. the article is written by Janet Fang and has quotes from many entomologists trying to figure out whether or not it would be ok to eradicate the mosquitoes. One fact said there are 3,500 named species of Mosquito and only a couple hundred bite or bother people. One Hazard that many of us know about is their ability to spread diseases and viruses, a few being West Nile Virus, Malaria and Yellow Fever. This alone gives many people the want to kill them, but they also pollinator plants. Not necessarily plants that many people use (other than cacao which you make chocolate from). But plants that other animals use in their diet. Mosquitoes can even kill a Caribou in the Arctic valleys by swarming them and suffocating to death the animal. One Scientist says its not just the adult mosquitoes but the larva too. They are often in pools and lakes which can make some people not want to swim in them. But many creatures feed off of them such as fish and some of these fish could die out if they couldn't eat mosquitoes larva. By the end of the article many people still want to get rid of Mosquitoes.
I don't. I understand that they were put here for a reason, even if we don't like it. These creatures feed other animals if not by their own body by killing another. They pollinate plants that are useful to other animals to eat. The viruses and diseases could be a problem but they aren't the only thing that carries stuff like that. Plus they probably keep some populations in control, maybe not a lot but some, contributing what they can, So therefor I think we cant get rid of them unless we could do their jog which we cant.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)