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Nature Knows Best.: All Forms of Life Are Important
Nature Knows Best.: All Forms of Life Are Important
The key to understanding the environmental problems that we encounter today is to learn about our
ecosystem. This section highlights the basic environmental principles, varied types of ecosystem,
current environmental issues, anthropogenic activities that threat the environment and the role of
youth in protecting our environment.
For example, burning of farm wastes instead of allowing them to decompose naturally disrupts the
cycle. In burning, most of the organic compounds are lost. The combustion products bring greater
havoc as in the case of carbon dioxide build-up, which results in the warming-up of the earth, or the
so-called "greenhouse" effect.
Nature has also its built-in mechanisms to maintain balance of homeostasis - the availability of
nutrients, conduciveness of the environment for growth and reproduction, and the feeding
relationships that exist between and among organisms which serve as population controls. For
example, the rat population is controlled by the presence and number of its predators, e.g., snakes.
The use of chemical pesticides and fertilizer disrupts check and balance in the ecosystem.
Pesticides can either kill vital organisms directly or induce genetic changes that result in resistant
pests or organisms. Chemical fertilizers increase the acidity of the soil through time making a
number of nutrients unavailable and thus, unfit for the survival of plants and other organisms.
History and our experiences are full of examples to prove the validity of this principle. In fact, this
principle only surfaced when many of the detrimental effects of technology were recognized and
coined thereon as "ecological backlash."
Everything changes
It is said that the only permanent thing is change. As a general classification, change may be linear,
cyclical or random. As example of linear change is evolution of species, which has brought about
higher and more complex types of organisms. Cyclical change may be exemplified by seasons and
the rhythms in floral and faunal life stages that go with the seasons. An example of random change
is the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, which brought about great upheaval in many parts of Luzon and
changes in the topography of the land.
The environment is constantly changing. Organisms also evolve through time. However, man’s
technology has affected these natural changes often to a problematic extent. Although mutation is a
natural change, pesticides have induced insect mutations, which are not matched by natural checks
and balances.
Humans should rethink their relationship with the environment. Changes that they think may be
beneficial to the environment often turn out to be disastrous. Environmental technologies should be
given priority if man would want more positive changes in the environment.