Cutting Down Trees or Cutting Down the Concrete Jungle?

High-tech buildings shooting high up into the sky one next to the other, creating the concrete jungle of Hong Kong. The impatient cab drivers of Shanghai honking through the congested traffic. The stampede made by the massive crowd rushing in and out of the subways of Japan. The occasional black out in California. The hustle and bustle city life of New York. Those are the superficial side of the planet earth. Those are the daily routine and daily encounter that human beings go through without taking a second thought about it. All we see is our own selfish needs most of the time. “Oh! There’s a piece of bare land. Let’s cut down the trees and build a factory on it to boost up our economy!†What about the inner side of the planet earth? Can we see that the planet earth is slowly deteriorating? Do we know that the earth’s temperature is rising? Do we know that the sea level is rising? Do we know that we are losing planetary biodiversity?
To answer the questions stated above, one might say: “Yea I sort of know what you are talking about, I mean I’ve heard about it... but I don’t know.†Truthfully speaking, the uncertainty is only pointing towards one area- human ignorance. It is human ignorance, and the selfish s

Fragmentation of habitat is also one of the major factors that contribute towards the rate of species extinction. For example, there is a large population of a certain species and if this population is fragmented into numerous small populations, it is harder for us to rescue this certain population. Why? The answer is simple. It is easier for us to work on a large area at once rather than working in several small areas at one time. By working on a large area we will not have to disperse our effort and concentration but rather, we are able to combine the power together all at once. Hence, fragmentation allows species isolation that eventually leads to rapid extinction.

Now imagine being alone, standing at the zenith of a mountain. It is just you and mother nature alone. As you spread your arms wide open to embrace the natural beauty of the world, you took a deep breathe of that clean fresh air. You can even taste the sweetness of the water vapor as you admire the scenic view in front of your eyes. That is the part of the world most of us have lost touch with. However, it is possible to regain the biological wealth of the world. If you think you can, you can.

The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide mentioned earlier contributes towards global warming as well. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, global warming is also becoming a bigger threat to our cold-water fish. Fishery as a whole is declining globally. It is important to acknowledge the disappearance of our two major cold-water fish- trout and salmon. Not only does it directly affect our economy in terms of jobs, recreation and regional culture, analysis shows that by the year 2090, approximately 38% of trout and salmon will disappear from their natural habitat.

The act of wastefulness all began during the industrial revolution. Human beings are ambitious. They are never satisfied with what they have. We are constantly striving for the best. In this case, we are always finding ways to boost up our living standards to levels that have not been dreamed of before. Hence, for new technology adv