Entry 17: Human Aspect of Nutrient Cycles

As I had mentioned in my last post, this shall be my last informative post before I start on my reflections of this Biology Online-Blog Journal in general. There is no doubt, that humans rely directly and indirectly on nature for their survival and that humans are taking a toll on the environment in which they live. The majority of, the world's population receives its food supply from sustainable agriculture practices, which began with the selection of wild seeds several thousand years ago.
Modern agriculture has done away with the slow process of natural selection and hybridization. For this reason it is important that human kind does not allow the biodiversity of the world to slip away, since the plants we loose today could be the cure for the diseases of tomorrow. Not only do humans effect the environment through agriculture; they also rapidly transform environments into shopping malls, or housing developments, often destroying, habitat for animals. In industrialized nations petroleum products drive the economy, by fueling our cars and other modes of transportation, decayed organic material is essential to the health of the global economy, in less industrialized areas organic matter such as wood and coal are important, parts of the everyday lives of the people. It as been shown that the world cannot sustain another century like the past one with over 1,000 species going extinct for every new species which evolves. Where everything, which is consumed, is replaced, keeping an accurate balance of the diversity of life on earth will be essential to the survival of humankind.
The environment has become one of the most important issues of our time and will continue to be well into the future. The challenge is to find approaches to environmental management that give people the quality of life they seek while protecting the environmental systems that are also the foundations of our well being.

Information obtained from:
1)http://www.enviroliteracy.org/category.php/5.html
2)http://library.thinkquest.org/C007506/aspect.html