Our modern society faces many environmental problems like air pollution, deforestation, global warming, loss of particular species of plants and animals etc. It is debated whether the extinction of some species of plants and animals is the greatest environmental threat of our time, or if other environmental challenges are more urgent. I personally believe that biodiversity loss is as crucial a problem as the others, and we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to any of them.
On the one hand, proponents of the fact that extinction of particular species of plants and animals argue that biodiversity influences all life on our planet. There is a biological chain in nature, the destruction of which may cause serious damage not only to animal life, but even to life of mankind. Moreover, extinction of some plants and animals is an irreversible process, lost animals or plants are lost forever, and nowadays we can’t change anything yet. In addition, some specific plants have irreplaceable medicinal properties that are vital for creating medicine and pharmaceutical research, which could save millions of people.
On the other hand, advocates of urgency of other environmental problems are convinced that other challenges affect people’s lives much more than the loss of biodiversity. The main problem that is the reason for all other environmental threats is global warming. The loss of biodiversity is just a symptom, not the real problem. It is useless to save polar bears, if their natural habitat is shrinking because of global warming. Moreover, in some regions real people face air pollution and water pollution every day, which causes such diseases as cancer or even death.
In my opinion, all environmental threats are vital for the survival of humanity and the well-being of our planet. The rapid speed of global warming, lack of clean water, depletion of ozone layer and other problems destroy our own habitat and worsen the quality of our life and health. However, the extinction of animals and plants would provide the domino effect and disrupt the ecosystem balance.
In conclusion, while the irreversible loss of flora and fauna severely damages biological chains, other challenges like global warming and water pollution act as causes of these crises. I personally believe that no single environmental issue is more important than the other, because all areas of our nature are interconnected and destruction of one of them would result in collapse in another part of our ecosystem.