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Showing posts from November, 2020

The problems of Earth: Overfishing

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Overfishing is the taking of wildlife from the sea faster than stocks can replenish.   Commercial fishing (Wikipedia 2020).    The number of overfished stocks has tripled in half a century. Highly disruptive to the food chain, what had been isolated and regional depletions became a global and catastrophic impact by the late 20th century due to multinational fishery companies. Today, one-third of the world’s assessed fisheries are pushed beyond their biological limits, meaning that they have already collapsed.  The 90% of the fishing stocks are overexploited or exploited to their top capacity .        State of World fisheries (Environmental progress, 2018).   A study published in 2006 in the journal Science predicted that by 2050 fish populations will crash. Faced with the collapse of large-fish populations, commercial fleets are going deeper in the ocean and farther down the food chain for viable catches. Today, 90% of all large ocean hunters...

The problems of Earth: Deforestation

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Deforestation is the massive destruction of trees. It is the clearing of forests by humans. (Aerial image of Brazilian Amazon Rainforest cleared. Skynews 2017)   In 2010, scientists predicted that in 100 years ’ time the rainforests would disappear completely if human being kept cutting down the trees. In 2020, scientists predict that by 2030 the Amazon rainforest will be a S avannah. The Amazon rainforest is the largest remaining block of humid tropical forest. We are in 2020. We only have 10 years left.   Rainforest ecosystems have a crucial role in the water cycle on Earth. Moreover, they hold a huge amount of biodiversity: 80% of the World’s animals and plants inhabit the forests and rainforests.   (Californian forest. Take Part.)   But… What are the main causes of deforestation?   The first one is agriculture and grazing. Farmers cut down the trees in order to gain more farmlands. Secondly, the wood/paper industry. Thirdly, humans remove trees for construc...