Patrish Carter

Sarah Sintich
Advanced Placement Biology
15 November 2015
Human Impact and Natural Disasters

Humans have a negative impact on homeostasis as well as the balance of ecosystems.

Take the global climate change for example. The Adelie and chinstrap penguins depend on sea
ice for nesting and feeding areas. This ice also provides the, with food and shelter. In some
places, the temperature is too warm because of climate change, resulting in thinner sheets of
ice. These thin ice sheets break up too earl. When it breaks prematurely, it causes little baby
chicks to be swept into the sea, killing them. "During the Antartic summer, Adelie and chinstrap
penguins use ice floes as a feeding platform: they sewer beneath ice for krill and rest on the ice
between medals." Because of the climate change the krill'a population has declined by eighty
percent. The reduction of krill due to climate change have played a major role in the decline of
populations of Adelie and chinstrap penguins since both species rely on krill as a primary food
source. Likewise, urbanization is a population shift from rural to urban areas. Humans are
having negative impacts on the balance of ecosystems. By constructing buildings, humans are
destroying the habitats of other animals. Also, pollution caused by power plants normally found
in big urban cities can cause organisms to suffer. In addition to this, logging is another impact
that can cause an imbalance to the ecosystem. Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site

processing, and loading of trees onto trucks. Cutting down these trees take away the homes of
many organisms which depend on the tree for shelter.
Like humans, geological and meteorological events impact ecosystems as well.
Continental drift is a geological event that affects organisms in many ways. It causes climate
change, which puts selective pressure on organisms. Also, it causes changes in habitats am
can result in an increase or decrease in competition among different species. Likewise, natural
disasters, such as an earthquake, landslides, and volcanic eruptions have a serious affect on
ecosystems too. Natural disaster pose a threat to the biodiversity of wetlands, forests, and
coastal systems by causing the spread of invasive species, mass species mortality and loss of
habitat.
In addition, factors that affect species distribution and abundance include a sudden influx
or depletion of abiotic factors and increased human activities. A sudden influx in the abiotic can
lead to an increase in the abundance of species. For example, if more space is available the
population will grow because there will be more room for organisms to inhabit. When space is
available, organisms are not under stress and therefore can reproduce. On the other hand,
however, and increase in human activities can decrease the abundance and distribution of a
species. Human activities can include building houses or other buildings that destroy the
habitats of other organisms, decreasing the abundance of species.