All World
Gayatri Pariwar

The jungles which were adorned with a wide variety of animals, teeming with flora and fauna are on the verge of extinction today. The animals and plants which were an active part of the human evolution are slowly vanishing from the face of earth, some have already perished (Sundarban is the recent example). This has created a great imbalance in the earth’s environment, as all the elements are interconnected and survival of one species is closely interlinked to the other.

The rising temperature of our planet is partially responsible for the extinction of these species. India is one of the extremely susceptible nations affected by global warming. India is very unique in terms of atmospheric conditions. If it possesses a lot of diversity of flora and fauna it also has one of the highest rates of disappearance for endangered species. Animals and plants often have very little control over their existence when temperatures are rising. If this trend continues then thousands of species will be completely wiped out from earth in the coming 50 years.

Environmental researchers have estimated that about 1103 species will either be extinct or struggling for their survival by the year 2050. During the last 500 years, more than 800 rare species of plants and animals have become extinct and nearly 17 thousand are on the verge of extinction. The organization called IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature, has reported these numbers. The analysis of this report tells that since the year 1500 AD, 869 species have become extinct and 290 are bordering extinction. The absence of these species is hurting the ecological balance of nature.

According to this report, 16928 species are transitioning to the endangered list; one-third of them are sea dwelling, one-eighth are birds and one-fourth are mammals. These figures are just a tip of the iceberg, as only 2.7% species were analyzed for this research out of the 18 lakh species existing on earth. A London Zoological Society study points out that over the last 39 years the population of flora and fauna has reduced by 25% for land dwelling species, 28 % for sea dwelling species and 29% for river/pond dwelling species. This huge drop shows no signs of slowing down.

According to IUCN, 124 species of mammals in India are struggling for their survival. This list includes tiger, deer, bat, macaque etc. On the Western Ghats of India the rate of extinction of endangered species has increased very rapidly in the last decade due to global warming. The rate is so high that more species became extinct during last decade than in the last 1000 years.

The increasing temperatures have led to the reduction in duration of winters in the northern plains of India. This has resulted in lowering of water table and reduction of pastures or grazing land. The reduction of grazing land creates a problem for availability of animal fodder.  The reduction of pastures also leads to the increase in the size of deserts and arid land, further raising the temperatures. If temperature increases by 1.5 to 2.5°C  more than 25 % of all endangered flora and fauna will be completely wiped off.

Irregular weather patterns due to increasing temperatures produce untimely rain, cold, heat which affect the lifecycle of species that breed in that season. If it does not rain in the rainy season then insects, frogs, snakes etc. will not be born, which will affect the food chain directly as all species are interdependent; insects are eaten by frogs and frogs by snakes. If the population of frogs declines in large numbers then number of insects will increase as there is nobody to control them and population of snakes will decline as they won’t have enough frogs to eat. This higher number of insects will cause a lot of damage to the crops and in turn affect the food availability for humans. The decreased number of snakes will also lead to an increase in the population of rats which will lead to higher damage to crops and stored grains which could otherwise have been available for human consumption. As of today, many varieties of snakes have already become extinct and a very few varieties of Cobra are remaining.

A new list of endangered species has been prepared by scientists from developed nations. Analysis of various species of mammals reveals that Australia leads the pack among developed nations with 6% extinction rate, nearly 1 % of existing species have become extinct in Italy, USA, France and Japan. In Australia some species like Tasmanian devil (an animal resembling dog) have dropped drastically in numbers to about   40% in last 10 years. Researchers of monkeys, lemurs and chimpanzees have reported huge decline in their numbers and so is the case with whales, sea cows and dolphins.

A large number of bird species, 130 to be precise, have become extinct in last 500 years and this rate of extinction will accelerate towards the end of this century, increasing the count to 1250 species. Out of 2700 species of birds in Asia 323 are now endangered: 78 in China, 73 in India, 69 in Philippines and remaining in other Asian countries. The parrots which used to roam freely in the skies are now limited to zoos and pet houses across the world. The beauty and freedom of birds has been reduced to just a dream.

Environmentalists and bird specialists agree that many varieties of vultures have become extinct. In the decade of eighties, Banaras had more than 2000 vultures; this has reduced significantly and the number is below 100 today. Banaras is just an example of the disappearance of vultures around the world. We do not realize the importance of flesh eating bird species like vultures but the vultures are instrumental in eating rotting flesh of dead animals and human beings and preventing the contamination of natural resources like land, water and air. Vultures are known to be effective in digesting the flesh ridden with deadly micro organisms like Anthrax and cholera, thus preventing the outbreak of many diseases. But as the number of vultures drops, the contamination has increased unabated and humans are at increased risk of a widespread epidemic like plague.

Two-thirds of all species are estimated to be extinct by the end of this century due to the environmental change and disastrous methods of human lifestyle. American botanist and environmentalist Peter Raven suggests that there are a lot of species which are not known to us and are nearing extinction. Endangered species not only include trees and animals but also many varieties of shrubs and grasses. In earlier days, teachers use to punish undisciplined students with cane but now cane itself is hard to find. In Chhattisgarh State of India, acacia tree was found in abundance; now it is disappearing fast. Bamboo is another example of grass which is reducing in numbers and is now mainly found in exhibitions and botanical gardens.

A very high number of flora and fauna species are under threat of extinction and we are still on the stage of analyzing our losses instead of trying to prevent the decline. It is imperative to remove the root cause of this mass scale extinction. Greed of man is a major factor behind the extinction of animals and plants. We do not think even once before hurting nature if it is for our immediate gain.

Man has to stop his selfish and exploitative behavior else the remaining animals and plants will also be wiped off this earth. The rapid growth of industrialization led to the felling of trees and the animals and birds living on the trees lost their habitat and perished. The trend still continues unabated. Thus selfish and exploitative behavior has to be controlled first, whether it is of a single man or a nation. A nation cannot truly progress until it cooperates with nature and establishes a harmony with its various elements. Only this will prevent the rapid destruction of wildlife and nature and in turn prevent our own destruction.