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BIO DIVERSITY

Intro:
As by famous quote ; -I love nature dearly and all creatures that contribute to make it what it is. I see the beauty in all
expressions of life, and I see how blind so many of us still are. Our planet is remarkably
abundant and there's more than enough for us all.It is greed and shortsightedness that create the
illusion of scarcity.
Yossi Ghinsberg
Bio diversity makes ones to lead their life in a peacefull manner ,it helps a lot to everyone
; The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity is commonly referred to as biodiversity. The
number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in
these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs
are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Appropriate conservation and sustainable
development strategies attempt to recognize this as being integral to any approach. Almost all
cultures have in some way or form recognized the importance that nature, and its biological
diversity has had upon them and the need to maintain it. Yet, power, greed and politics have
affected the precarious balance.

Also, Biodiversity, is a complex topic, covering


many aspects of biological variation. In popular usage, the word biodiversity is often used to
describe all the species living in a particular area. If we consider this area at its largest scale - the
entire world - then biodiversity can be summarized as "life on earth." However, scientists use a
broader definition of biodiversity, designed to include not only living organisms and their
complex interactions, but also interactions with the abiotic (non-living) aspects of their
environment. Simply biodiversity is defined as:
The variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, and the ecological and

evolutionary processes that sustain it.


There is also an important spatial component to biodiversity. The structure of communities and
ecosystems (e.g. the number of individuals and species present) can vary in different parts of the
world. Similarly, the function of these communities and ecosystems (i.e. the interactions between
the organisms present) can vary from one place to another. Different assemblages of ecosystems
can characterize quite diverse landscapes, covering large areas. These spatial patterns of
biodiversity are affected by climate, geology, and physiography. The structural, functional, and
spatial aspects of biodiversity can vary over time; therefore there is a temporal component to the
analysis of biodiversity. For example, there can be daily, seasonal, or annual changes in the
species and number of organisms present in an ecosystem and how they interact. Some
ecosystems change in size or structure over time (e.g. forest ecosystems may change in size and
structure because of the effects of natural fires, wetlands gradually silt up and decrease in size).
Biodiversity also changes over a longer-term, evolutionary, time-scale. Geological processes
(e.g., plate tectonics, orogenesis, erosion), changes in sea-level (marine transgressions and
regressions), and changes in climate cause significant, long-term changes to the structural and
spatial characteristics of global biodiversity. The processes of natural selection and species
evolution, which may often be associated with the geological processes, also result in changes to
local and global flora and fauna.
Many people consider humans to be a part of nature, and therefore a part of biodiversity. On
the other hand, some people confine biodiversity to natural variety and variability, excluding
biotic patterns and ecosystems that result from human activity, even though it is difficult to
assess the "naturalness" of an ecosystem because human influence is so pervasive and varied .
FACTORS OF BIODIVERSITY : "what are the factors that affect biodiversity in an
ecosystem?"
Sunlight
temperature
presence and amount of liquid water
substrate (in terrestrial ecosystems, more things grow on soil than on bare rock)
availability of chemical limiting factors such as sulfates, phosphates, iron
presence of superpredators (humankind being the current holder of that title)
and age of the ecosystem -- how long it's been since there's been a major disturbance. I
live in North America. I suspect that to some extent our forest ecosystems here are still
recovering from the recent ice ages.
Terms comes under bio diversity :
Ecology , ecosystems, climate change, global warming, temperature rise , and the most common
word environment .

ECOLOGY : Ecology is a subdiscipline of biology, the study of life. The word .ecology.
(.kologie.) was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst
Haeckel (1834.1919). Ancient philosophers
of Greece, including Hippocrates and Aristotle, were among theearliest to record observation
s and notes on the natural history of plants and animals.
ENVIRONMENT : The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things
occurring naturally on earth or some region .

CLIMATE CHANGE : The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now
overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global
warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for
ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be
one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in
various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.
Addressing Biodiversity Loss :
At the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit), the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was born. 192 countries, plus the EU, are now Parties
to that convention. In April 2002, the Parties to the Convention committed to significantly reduce
the loss of biodiversity loss by 2010. Perhaps predictably, that did not happen. Despite numerous
successful conservations measures supporting biodiversity, the 2010 biodiversity target has not
been met at the global level. This page provides an overview on how the attempts to prevent
biodiversity loss is progressing.
Biosafety Protocol 1999
The February 1999 Biodiversity Protocol meeting in Colombia broke down because
USA, not even a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, to which the protocol is
meant to be part of, and five other countries of the "Miami Group" felt that their business
interests were threatened. The safety concerns were unfortunately overridden by trade concerns.
Some technological advances, especially in genetically engineered food, have been very fast
paced and products are being pushed into the market place without having been proven safe. All
over the world, concerned citizens and governments have been trying to take precautionary
measures. However, 1999 was not a successful year in that respect.
Biosafety Protocol 2000

A Biosafety Protocol meeting was hosted in Montreal, Canada January 24 to January 28.
Compared to the fiasco of the previous year, this time, there had been a somewhat successful
treaty to regulate the international transport and release of genetically modified organisms to
protect natural biological diversity. However, there were a number of important and serious
weaknesses too.
Biodiversity 2010 Target Not yet met :
Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 official video, Convention on Biological Diversity, UNEP,
May 2010 . As the Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 report summarizes, despite numerous
successful conservations measures supporting biodiversity, none of the specific targets were met,
and biodiversity losses continue.In addition, despite an increase in conservation efforts, the state
of biodiversity continues to decline, according to most indicators, largely because the pressures
on biodiversity continue to increase. There is no indication of a significant reduction in the rate
of decline in biodiversity, nor of a significant reduction in pressures upon it. Furthermore,
Action to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity has not been taken on a sufficient
scale to address the pressures on biodiversity in most places. There has been insufficient
integration of biodiversity issues into broader policies, strategies and programmes, and the
underlying drivers of biodiversity loss have not been addressed significantly. Actions to promote
biodiversity receive a tiny fraction of funding compared to infrastructure and industrial
developments. Moreover, biodiversity considerations are often ignored when such
developments. Actions to address the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss, including
demographic, economic, technological, socio-political and cultural pressures, in meaningful
ways, have also been limited.
Consensus of scientists regarding global warming :
IPCC has been established to assess scientific, technical and socio-economic information
relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation
and mitigation. A few of the main points of the third assessment report issued in 2001 include:
An increasing body of observations gives a collective picture of a warming world and other
changes in the climate system; emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols due to human
activities continue to alter the atmosphere in ways that are expected to affect the climate;
confidence in the ability of models to project future climate has increased; and there is new and
stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to
human activities.
Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?

Thank god men cant fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth
Henry David Thoreau
Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all
have an important role to play. For example, a larger number of plant species means a greater
variety of crops; greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms; and
healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters. And so, while
we dominate this planet, we still need to preserve the diversity in wildlife.

References :
www.globalissues.org ; www.upscportal.com ; www.wikianswers.com ;
www.yahoo.answers.com www.sciencedaily.com ; www.envfor.nic.in ; www.nbaindia.org ;
www.brainyquote.com ; www.alive.com .
V.HARISH Kumar

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