Human Impacts on Biodiversity
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Biodiversity/ˌbaɪəʊdaɪˈvɜːsɪti/ | The variety of life, including genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity. |
| Habitat destruction/ˈhæbɪtæt dɪˈstrʌkʃn/ | The biggest cause. |
| sustainably/səˈsteɪnəbli/ | sustainably |
| resist/rɪˈzɪst/ | resist |
The web of life
- Biodiversity 生物多样性 is the variety of life on Earth.
- It means many different species, genes, and ecosystems.
- Humans depend on it for food, medicine, and clean water.
- But human activity is reducing it faster than ever.
How we reduce it
- Habitat destruction 栖息地破坏 is the biggest cause.
- Clearing forests and draining wetlands wipes out species.
- Pollution, overharvesting, and invasive species add more loss.
- Climate change now pushes many species past their limits.
Deforestation lowers biodiversity, washes away soil, causes flooding and adds CO2
Biodiversity means…
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Biodiversity is the variety of living things — the many species and genes in an ecosystem.
How we protect it
- Protected areas like national parks keep whole ecosystems safe.
- Restoring damaged habitats brings species back.
- Using resources sustainably 可持续 leaves enough for the future.
- Laws and treaties protect species across borders.
Reduces or protects biodiversity?
Sort each human action by whether it reduces biodiversity or helps protect it.
The greatest human cause of biodiversity loss is…
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Habitat destruction — clearing land for farms and cities — is the top driver of biodiversity loss.
High biodiversity makes an ecosystem more stable and better able to ____ shocks.
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Diverse ecosystems can resist disease, drought, and change better than simple ones — diversity is resilience.
Why biodiversity matters
- Diverse ecosystems better resist 抵抗 disease and change.
- They provide the services all life depends on.
- Many medicines and foods come from wild species.
- Protecting biodiversity ultimately protects ourselves.
Protecting biodiversity also protects the food, medicine, and clean water people depend on.
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Biodiversity underpins the ecosystem services we rely on, so protecting it protects us too.
Select all ways to protect biodiversity.
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Protected areas, restoration, and sustainable use all protect biodiversity. Clearing forests destroys it.
This ties the whole course together. Nearly every topic — pollution, climate change, land use, overfishing — ends up as a threat to biodiversity. And the loss compounds: a simpler ecosystem is less able to resist the next shock, so damage feeds on itself. The hopeful side is that the same actions help across the board — protect habitat, cut pollution, use resources sustainably, and biodiversity, climate, and human wellbeing all benefit at once.
One rainforest, two futures:
- Cleared for farmland, it loses thousands of species at once — habitat destruction erasing biodiversity that took millions of years to build.
- Protected as a reserve and used sustainably by local people, it keeps its species, stores carbon, and still provides food and medicine.
- The same forest; the choice between the two decides how much life survives.
Biodiversity — the variety of life — underpins the food, medicine, and clean water people depend on, and diverse ecosystems better resist shocks. Human activity reduces it, led by habitat destruction, plus pollution, overharvesting, invasive species, and climate change. We protect it through reserves, restoration, and sustainable use — actions that protect the climate and ourselves at the same time.