Earth

BIODIVERSITY, EXTINCTIONS &
CONSERVATION

Humankind took a long time to learn about our planet’s varied life forms – its biodiversity. And we haven’t even discovered it all! The sad part about this is that a mind-boggling number of life forms are already extinct and sometimes our own activities have brought this about. Fortunately, we are learning how best to conserve the biodiverse life that remains on our planet. This requires cooperation within countries and between them.

Some of our best work as a species appears in regional, national, and international initiatives such as National Parks, wildlife refuges and sanctuaries, international organizations to protect avian flyways, access to freshwater, and better stewardship of our natural resources. Good thing, too, since changing climates and human expansion have thrown us into a race against time to identify and learn from the many lifeforms that may well become extinct before we know of their existence.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison	Mary Douglas Leakey scientific illustrator, paleoanthropologist
Donella (Dana) Meadows biophysicist, environmental scientist Sustainability educator	Nikolai Przewalski Russian military explorer Wildlife recorder
Tambora stratovolcano most powerful volcano explosion in recorded history	G. Evelyn Hutchinson zoologist, limnologist, and ecology analyst