Threats to Ecosystem

As humans interact with the ecosystem, they modify their ecosystem which has led to threats to our ecosystem. Various threats to our ecosystem are as follows:

• Pollution: It is the biggest threat to the ecosystem. Pollution leads to changes in air, water, and land which are the major components of the ecosystem. Pollution disturbs the ecological balance which directly affects the lives of humans as well. It also leads to interference with natural cycles such as the water cycle, oxygen cycle, etc.
• Eutrophication: Excessive use of fertilizers in farms has led to an increase in the phosphorous content in water bodies which causes dense plant growth in these water bodies. It leads to a reduction in the level of oxygen in water bodies which is harmful to aquatic animals and also leads to poisoning of water bodies.
• Global Warming: Global warming is a major problem today. It is causing the increase in Earth’s average temperature which is causing untimely rains and modification in the seasons on Earth. It is also causing depletion of the ozone layer which is leading to the melting of ice in polar regions and a rise in sea level. Thus global warming is affecting each and every component of the ecosystem.
• Deforestation: Reckless cutting of trees is leading to loss of forest cover which is leading to global warming. It also leads to soil erosion as in the absence of trees, the soil is not held by the roots of plants and is easily washed away. This soil erosion is causing the removal of topsoil which is very fertile and thus reduces the fertility of the land.
• Invasive Species: The introduction of invasive species in the ecosystem causes a threat to the indigenous and endemic species of a region. This leads to an imbalance in the ecosystem.

Types of Ecosystem Services: Ecosystem Services is an effort sponsored by the UN in order to study and analyze the impact of human actions on the ecosystem because humans directly interact with the ecosystem and derive a number of benefits from the ecosystem and these actions of humans also lead to changes in the ecosystem. This effort under the title of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment classified the ecosystem services into 4 major types. In this article, we shall study these 4 ecosystem services.