It has been pondered why the lush green forests and the vibrant colors of the corals have been slowly yet surely coming to a disappearance. The number one culprit of this impact is due to the human impact on these environments. After watching the National Geographic Strange Days on Planet Earth videos I gained knowledge on why and how much human impact has on the issue and found out about some of the experiments some researchers are trying to do to replenish the areas that are and were affected.
Lake Guri located in Venezuela used to be covered and surrounded by acres and acres of lush green trees where howler monkeys sat overlooking their territory and the massive felines who roamed the lower regions sneaking up on their prey. Now the area is covered in water and only little islands of what was before remain. The major predators in the region have left and leaving the prey in a paranoid state. The howler monkeys that remain have become anti social due to the dense population in the smaller areas. The young do not play and the adults no longer groom one another like they used to do.
In the United States very own Yellowstone National Park the question that lies here is why are all the trees disappearing and why is the river acting differently than it used to? Scientist have done core sampling on the aspen trees to find how many have regenerated in recent years to find out that none of the trees have regenerated since the 1930s. Another event that happened in this time was that the last wolf known in Yellowstone was shot for economic use. Since recent years no wolf has touched the land. Researchers caught and tagged wolves from Canada and brought them down to release them in the park. The wolves made packs and began to hunt the elk. When a wolf kills it sends a chain reaction and many come to fest on the sacrifice after the wolf has had its choice of food. It was then noticed that with more elk hunts the willow began to flush which brought beavers back to building because the willow gave them the supplies they needed. Beaver dams then allow more water to flow through and provide more nutrients to the area. So far this experiment has been led in the right direction in regards to reviving the area.
Corals have been dying in the tropic regions of Jamaica due to the thick build up of algae found covering them. This issue is caused by the over fishing going on in the area and when one large predator goes the fishermen take whatever they can get and sell leaving the corals unprotected by the urchins that covered them like a disease and suffocating them.
In Ghana, Africa the large predators that roamed the land such as lions and elephants are no longer to be found. What is found is large massive amounts of aggressive baboons. One scientist has come to link this problem to fishing as well. When fish is in high supply it is cheap and therefore no or little poaching is involved but when fish is scarce there is an increase in poaching and more dried meat is bought at the local markets.
It is hard to hear about these issues and even harder to see them and what they are doing to the surrounding environment. I noticed through watching these videos that it is mostly taken place in third world countries with the exception of Yellowstone. With fisheries departing the US and collecting fish anywhere they can to supply are dinner tables with exotic and delicious fish we do not see firsthand the effects of what this is doing and soon we will not have the ability to do so. If this keeps up these days will no longer seem strange and we will probably turn into the howler monkeys by becoming anti social and only looking out for us instead of others. The days will become the Dark Days of Planet Earth where Man is the last to exist because they ate and destroyed everything else.
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