This post is published to commemorate the World Environment Day 2020.
By Abubakar Ali Gumel
By Abubakar Ali Gumel
The theme for this years world environment day is " BIODIVERSITY" so I sort to write on the topic and seeing desertification as one of the greatest environmental threat faced in northern Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. Lets talk about desertification first, what is desertification?, How does is come about? .
Desertification or desert encroachment as its also known according to NASA is land degradation in typically dry areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This is the most simple definition of desertification. The primary factor leading desertification is deforestation. Deforestation is the indiscriminate cutting down of trees. Desertification is a very big threat to environmental sustainability in so many places around the globe. Huge amount of forest and vegetation cover are been lost to desert encroachment around the world as a result of climate change which makes it an evil which we most all combat together, desertification destroys fertile lands in the process destroying habitats which displaces plants and animal diversity which brings us to main topic of discussion BIODIVERSITY.The term Biological Diversity is the variety of plants and animal life in the entire world. Each region of the world has its own distinct type plant and animal species with some endemic while some can be found in other place. Why is important that we study plant and animals. Each plant or animal species existing on earth has a role a specific role it plays in sustaining the balance in the world ecosystems. No matter how huge or small its, no matter how abundant or scarce a specie might be it has an important role it plays in maintaining ecological balance.Biodiversity is not limited to only plant and animals we see, it comprises of the genetic diversities that are available in different ecosystem. The fact that the theme for this years world environment day is Biodiversity goes to show how vital and important plant and animal diversity is to environmental and economic sustainability. yes I said economic sustainability. all over the world there is an increasing effort to conserve plant and animal diversity, a significant number of species are been lost to extinction either as a result of climate and other environmental changes or hunting and pouching. The IUCN red list is a list published to indicate species that are extinct or are prone to extinction. This list is being updated according to species that are found to be extinct or prone to extinction.
Plant and animal species around are exposed extinction as a result of factors such as over exploitation and poor conservation efforts, climate change as well plays an important role in biodiversity. Climate change is one the biggest threat to biodiversity in our contemporary world, its causing imbalances ecosystems, destroying ecosystems and displacing organisms both in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem. Increasing population around the worlds asserts pressure available plant and animal resources.
Climate change is a great threat environmental sustainability, its a threat to animal life, its a threat plant life. Effects of climate change are felt at highest dept of oceans as the temperature is rising leading thermal expansion water bodies it is posing different kinds of threat to aquatic biodiversity.. Melting of ice scalps in the polar region is destroying habitats forcing endemic species to either adapt or become liable to their death. So the faster we develop strategies to combat climate change the better for our changing environment.
Biodiversity being the theme for this years world environment day, I would like say that the earth cannot survive without animal and plant diversity, the world is not all about human s we are just part of complex system, we just happen to be superior animals, if we keep on destroying ecosystems and biodiversity, one day we will surely wakeup to a planet were we cant feed or at the very least breath oxygen.
#savetheearth
#saveourbiodiversity
#worldenvironmentday2020
#biodiversity
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