National Science Committee on Endangered Species recently released the "Evaluation Report on the Endangered Status of Primates in China 2022". The report shows that in the past few decades, the white-palm gibbon and the northern white-cheek gibbon distributed in China have not been monitored in the wild, and meet the standards for the extinction of in the wild. Earlier this year, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) officially announced that the Yangtze River endemic species white sturgeon was extinct. This ancient species that has lived on the earth for 150 million years has left us.
article | Liu Weipeng
The extinction of most modern organisms can be traced back to human behavior, and this conclusion is probably unfair. There are many reasons for biological extinction, but there is always a shadow of human beings behind it.
has a bird that looks like penguin , called the Big Puffin. It lives on the North Atlantic island. It cannot fly, but can only swim. In the Age of Discovery, the crew ate this bird when they supplemented food. What's even more terrifying is that there is no wood on the island. The crew uses the oil of the big puffin to burn the meat of the big puffin and exterminate this bird.
Big Puffin is a record of the early animals that were extinct due to human greed. The same experiences since then include Javanese rhino, Zanzibar leopard , South China tiger and other animals.
Scientists calculated that a tribe with a moderate hunting level could exterminate a large mammal in a region in a few hundred years. This is what humans who have obtained the advanced productivity of on the earth for thousands of years and tens of thousands of years have been doing, so we can imagine the experiences of some species. In addition to hunting,
, the invasion of species with human-based activities as the main pathway, is also the main factor in species extinction. Species invasion destroys ecological balance and has a catastrophic impact on local species. For example, fires caused by human activities will gradually cause local fire-resistant plants to be replaced by fire-resistant plants unintentionally brought by humans, and changes in plants will trigger changes in animals. Humans, plants and animals will jointly cause changes in microorganisms, bringing a series of ecological reactions. In the meantime, some plants and animals became extinct. Human invasion will also force species to form several isolated individuals that cannot cross the divider and cannot use group forces to deal with the impact of emergencies, thus weakening their ability to fight against nature.
In the ocean, the impact of human activities also exists. Human activities increase the temperature at all altitudes, and the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities causes ocean acidification, and human activities cause the ocean to be extinct. The destruction of the underlying organisms of these marine food chain networks has an impact on the living environment of other species, which is very likely to cause the destruction of tens of thousands of species.
After the first industrial revolution in , humans' ability to make tools has made rapid progress, and human behavior quickly surpassed the biological energy level. The result is that the speed at which human activities change the environment far exceeds the normal level in nature. Humans can flatten a mountain within a few days, build a path within a few weeks, or divide a field within a few months... Humans can change their environment too quickly, so fast that natural creatures cannot keep up with the speed at all, so their fate can only be extinction.
And everyone on the earth is part of the grid, and they are all related to each other and inseparable. The extinction of one organism will eventually affect another organism. Such a cycle will bring about a huge change in the environment and ultimately affect humans themselves.
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column· Scientific Exploration
Not long ago, astrophysicists at Stanford University in the United States observed the light behind a black hole using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton and NASA's NuSTAR space telescope. This is the first time scientists have directly observed the light from behind a black hole.
column · truth
This summer, the heat was hard to endure, and many people were tortured by the high temperature and relied on hiding in the air-conditioned room to "spend their lives" every day. However, the scorching sun did not affect the activity of rumors. They are still making waves online: the air conditioner cooling is the most power-saving to 26 degrees Celsius, this year is the coolest year in the next 10 years, and the cooling spray is zero harm... With the end of this year's dog days, there is also a hint of autumn coolness across the country. The reporter took a look at the rumors about summer one by one, so that the autumn wind could "heat" them.
column · focus
According to the data for the first half of 2021 released by the China Bicycle Association, among the 19 major industries of light industry, bicycles are one of the few industries with a growth rate of more than 30%, 16.8 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the entire light industry. The number of enthusiasts is increasing, and cycling events are in full swing. Qinghai Lake International Road Bike Race , Hainan Island International Road Bike Race , Huangshan International Mountain Bike Open... Various events have attracted a large number of riders to participate, and cycling has become a new promoter of economic development in some local areas. And for individuals, do you need a reason to fall in love with cycling?
column · Wanxiang
Recently, the news that Huairou Reservoir reappeared peach blossom jellyfish has attracted attention. The reporter learned from the Municipal Water Affairs Bureau that since August this year, the city has also found the figure of peach blossom jellyfish in Yizhuang Regulatory Pool and Huangsongyu Reservoir. Peach Blossom jellyfish have extremely high requirements for water quality and frequently appear in Beijing's waters, marking the continued improvement of Beijing's water quality and water ecological health.
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