Throughout the years, deforestation has destroyed ecosystems and made various species go extinct. However, through human action, this has become much worse. As of now there are approximately one million species of animals and plants that are at risk of extinction in the near future. Most major land habitats have seen a drastic reduction of almost 20% in their levels of biodiversity. Biodiversity is the amount of different species of plants and animals that we have, and the higher the level the better. With the human population rapidly increasing, activities like farming, fishing, mining, etc are causing further strain on the environment.

Loss of biodiversity is still accelerating through the year 2050 if we continue at current rates. Unless countries start to make some changes, these conditions will only worsen. Some may think that the lack of healthy ecosystems does not affect humans, and that it’s only bad for the animals and plants, but they are sadly mistaken. Humans are dependent on biodiversity because it connects with clean water and food security in both rich and poor countries. Some examples of the natural services that high levels of biodiversity provide are rain forests absorbing immense quantities of carbon dioxide (helping to slow the pace of global warming), wetlands purifying drinking water, as well as many medical components coming from a wide array of plants in high risk areas.

Just because these things do not personally affect you or the region you live in now does not mean it will not in the near future. The only way to preserve the earth is to make changes in your daily life, whether it be cutting out plastic, not littering, eating less meat or taking a shorter shower. While not intending to scare, this information should cause you worry. Without drastic action soon, the world in 50 years will look very different from the world today. Little by little, you are helping the earth and all the inhabitants of it. The real change starts with you.

Today, scientists released one of the most stunning images ever taken: a picture of a black hole. Located 55 million light years from our solar system (light travels almost 6 trillion miles in one year, so don’t expect to visit any time soon,) this was the first image ever taken of a black hole. What is a black hole? It is an area that has such a high concentration of gravity, that light cannot escape it. Every beam of light that enters never leaves. Formed from the death of a super massive star, black holes are something everyone knows of, but not many people know much about. Even the scientists who have studied them all their lives say they know almost nothing about them. Black holes are often at the center of a galaxy as they create the only gravitational force strong enough to hold millions of stars, planets, asteroids, gas clouds and more together. There is even one at the center of our galaxy! But do not worry, it will never swallow us up and suck us in. The sun will expand and destroy us before that ever occurred (you still have over 7.5 billion years before that happens!) Check out the amazing image below and see history for yourself!

What you are seeing is not so much a picture of the black hole itself, but the lack of light as it crosses the event horizon – or the plane where gravity becomes too strong and no light, or anything else, can escape. Cool, right!?

Hydrogen fuel has had much research done on it recently, and for good reason: it is a potentially powerful and clean energy source. The process of gaining hydrogen generally comes from a process called electrolysis, or the process of using electricity to split molecules, in this case splitting H2O (water) into Hydrogen (H) and Oxygen (O). The problem with this is that fresh water is a very precious resource, one that many areas of the world are running out of. This means that using what little they do have to make an energy source is not exactly the most attractive option. But recently researchers have found a way to perform this action using salt water…which is one of the most abundant substances on earth! Hopefully this provides humanity with an ample source of a clean and essentially renewable resource, because as many of us are well aware, this is something we certainly need.

Plastic plays a big role in our everyday life and is involved in practically everything we use. Although it is plenty useful, plastic is a substance that the earth cannot digest. With the ever growing pollution problem in the world, it would be wise to ease off of it. Yes, it sounds crazy, but it’s even crazier that babies are being born pre-polluted, our groundwater and food chain are being spoiled, the plastic attracts other pollutants, etc. Some people may go further than others to take plastic completely out of their lives. For example, a woman named Beth Terry felt very strongly about this and decided she was not going to use any plastic products. She started by cleaning out any food that had plastic packaging. This was an easy start but things got more challenging when she went onto the bathroom. She had to switch to shampoo bars instead of bottles and she started making her own conditioner, as well as toothpaste, because she couldn’t find either that didn’t contain a plastic packaging.

“I thought I’d be able to find a plastic-free version of all the convenient foods I was consuming,” Ms. Terry said. “I didn’t realize that plastic made those foods possible.” Even though avoiding using plastic may seem impossible, it’s not. It also gets easier overtime as you learn and become more familiar where all the specific plastic-free products you want are. Instead of looking at it as an inconvenience, some look at it as a little game.

 

 

Unfortunately, the negative impact of climate change, pollution, and deforestation are clearly visible in recent years. The population of various species have been declining at an alarming rate. In particular, insect populations have been decreasing faster than any other species. Insects are vital to different food webs, so a decline in insect pollutions could cause a large drop in other animal populations. Not only are insect primary food for other animals, but they are also the biggest pollinators in the world. There is a strange phenomenon called colony collapsed disorder, where honey bees are not returning to their hives, causing colonies to die out.  Honey bees make up a large portion of insect pollinators, so losing bees could mean a great loss in various food sources.

Some of these crucial insect groups are populations of bees, dragonflies, ants, and beetles. A decrease in these insects may cause a large increase in pest insects such as cockroaches and houseflies. Pest species are more adaptable in warmer climates, specifically in man-made habitats. Of course, no one wants to live in an infested home, filled with cockroaches, but sadly, many of these species have evolved resistance to many different pesticides.

Society as a whole, needs to become more aware of the negative impact we are causing to the natural world around us. Factors like pesticides, deforestation, chemical pollutants, and fertilizers, have created a great loss in key insect populations. Moving forward, we need to start caring for our environment. Some ways in which we can achieve this is by buying organic food, gardening and planting trees, and buying products that do not use plastic packaging. Hopefully, in the future, we’ll see the insects we love so much back in action!