Human Activities That Threaten the Ecosystem

Humans often take the role a healthy ecosystem plays in daily life for granted. The ecosystem provides clean water, filters pollution from the air and much more. In fact, 80 percent of the world's medicines come from plants, according to the Action Bioscience website. With this in mind, it is important to remember that many of the things humans do on a daily basis have a serious impact on the ecosystem and its ability to continue to provide these things and many more.

Overpopulating

• One of the most significant threats to the ecosystem is the ever-growing population of the human race. As the population grows, there is a larger need for housing, development and a supply of natural resources. With more than six billion people on Earth, the destruction of the ecosystem caused by human overpopulation and urban sprawl is rapidly increasing. For example, humans have already transformed or destroyed around half of the planet's forests and use the vast majority of resources for human needs, according to the Fathom website. This trend is not only a physical threat to the forests, it poses a threat to all natural resources and causes the rapid extinction of other living animal species.

Creating Pollution

• Human activities produce large amounts of pollution that threaten the ecosystem. The use of pesticides on crops can contaminate groundwater supply and kill important insect species that other animals rely on for food or that plants rely on for pollination. Human manufacturing plants often produce air pollution and toxic waste. They also dump massive amounts of waste into landfills. Even driving a car --- something most people feel they must do on a regular basis --- creates air pollution through greenhouse gases that are considered to be a key to global warming and the melting of the polar caps.

Hunting

• Overhunting is a problem throughout the world despite many government attempts to keep poaching and overharvesting at bay. The killing of animals for food can be beneficial to an extent because of the disease and other problems related to overpopulation of a species. But when a species is hunted to extremes, its numbers eventually begin to decline and it becomes endangered or extinct. Since animals all play some role in the ecosystem, this type of hunting threatens the balance in nature that exists.

Deforestation

• The ecosystem is constantly threatened because of habitat destruction. One of the most disturbing human activities concerning the environment is the mass deforestation for agricultural purposes or land development.

  All species of animals have specific needs in their habitat, and some rely on a relatively small habitat that may not exist elsewhere. Once humans level the forest they call home, they are likely to disappear form existence over time.

Non-Native Species Introductions

• The ecosystem is a delicate balance of plant and animal species that belong in a particular area. But humans introduce non-native species to new habitats for their own purposes. For example, an animal is introduced to a new area where it did not previously exist to help cut down on a rodent overpopulation. Eventually the new animal begins to have its own impact on the new area, and often it results in trouble for other native species. Non-native plants may also become a problem by taking over existing native species in a new place, meaning an important flower or herb may be smothered out.