Research Question – May 26

For my research project I will be looking to investigate the areas in the U.S. that are seeing increased numbers of extinct or endangered species and trying to evaluate the causes of these extinctions. I am questioning whether or not humans can be blamed for the current sixth extinction period that we are going through now. Therefore, I will be investigating what human structures (housing developments, factories, power plants, etc) are in the surrounding area of these critically endangered and threatened areas to see if there is a correlation between the two. The scope of my research is very broad and going forward I know that I will have to scale it down to be more direct as I delve deeper into the topic.

 

Working Thesis and Outline Draft – May 31

Thesis: As a result of the encroachment and invasion of humans on the natural environment, through the construction of roadways, the demolition of natural areas for buildings, and the expulsion of toxic pollutants into our atmosphere, land and waterways, the world today is currently facing the next great sixth extinction period.

DRAFT

Introduction and Thesis

-Background information on endangered species and extinction

-Endangered species numbers and statistics for America

-Human induced climate change and other human caused problems

-What do I hope to accomplish with this project

-Thesis: As a result of the encroachment and invasion of humans on the natural environment, through the construction of roadways, the demolition of natural areas for buildings and the expulsion of toxic pollutants into our atmosphere, land and waterways, the world today is currently facing the next great sixth extinction period.

Literature Review

-Study on endangered species

-Analysis of the research/project

-Study/research/project on human induced climate change/ human caused problems

-Analysis of the human impact and discussion of the factors that may affect nature

Methodology

-What projects/resources inspired my project

-How did I design my project

-What decisions and tools changed along the way

Analysis

-Discussion and summation of the project

-What challenges did I face and how did I alter my project to overcome these challenges

-If I could redo or change anything now looking back, what would I change

Conclusion

-Final concluding remarks

-What is the big take away message

-My journey embarking as a DHSS student

Thesis and Introduction- July 7

Thesis: Ecuador, The United States, Malaysia, Indonesia and Mexico are the top 5 countries in the world with the largest number of endangered species as a result of the encroachment and invasion of humans on the natural environment, through the demolition of natural areas for buildings and farming and the expulsion of toxic pollutants into our atmosphere, land and waterways.

Intro:

The earth is home to millions of unique species that are vital to the survival of not only mankind, but the entire world ecosystem. If certain species were eradicated the balance within the natural world would waver and we would face catastrophic food chain collapses. If this occurred we would experience massive waves of starvation, disease, and even death. Therefore the current sixth extinction period which we are facing is not something to be taken lightly. If something as simple as the extinction of one organism could shift the entire balance of a food chain, then measures must be taken in order to prevent such a calamity. Due to the rapid industrialization and technological revolution across the globe, we have forgotten to consider the repercussions this could have on the earth’s organisms. As the human world has begun to expand and advance we have increased our carbon footprints by expelling enormous volumes of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. We have disregarded our earth’s waterways by dumping toxic pollutants into rivers and oceans and we have cut down entire forests to build houses, roadways, farms, and factories. All of these things have become necessary because of the sheer number of humans that now have to be supported by just this one earth. There is a theory that the earth has a carrying capacity, a limit as to how many people it can support, feed, shelter, and provide for. This carrying capacity will be tested in the coming decades and centuries but not without humans further degrading and polluting the earth more in order to keep pushing the limits of how many people it will support. Within this push to support as many people as possible and for the less industrialized countries to continue to advance our earth has been taken advantage of. We are now entering into a period that could forever change the world as we know it because we are now on the brink of the sixth extinction period. In the history of the earth there have been five past periods where massive numbers of organisms, if not almost all, died off or were killed off due to some factor. In the past it has been related to weather changes, or natural disasters such as extreme weather events or giant meteors. However, his sixth extinction period is very different from the others because it has been initiated by the human interaction with the earth. It is interesting to examine the human induced factors that have brought about the endangerment of species across the globe due to the varying numbers of threatened species within each country. Although each country is unique in its topography and climate we can still makes connections and draw conclusions as to why certain countries contain higher numbers of endangered species than others. Ecuador, The United States, Malaysia, Indonesia and Mexico are the top 5 countries in the world with the largest number of endangered species as a result of the encroachment and invasion of humans on the natural environment, through the demolition of natural areas for buildings and farming and the expulsion of toxic pollutants into our atmosphere, land and waterways.