Rapacity is destroying our World

The greed we all hold inside is pushing the destruction of the world.

There is one earth. We only have one chance at keeping this planet surviving and the ecosystem from collapsing in on itself. With millions of species of animals living symbiotically, we as humans are only a small part of those; yet we take up the majority of the land and resources. We as humans have a natural instinct for greed. We think we are entitled to anything we can get our hands on no matter how much it affects the world around us. Yes, there are laws set to help protect the things and animals that may become affected by us, but they aren’t enough. A law is just a countries word against something, and when possible profit is there, the risk reward is very high. The laws that we place to protect the world aren’t enough to stop a human race being driven, not to just survive, but to attempt to thrive in a society based on the rapacity for monetary gain in a system that we created ourselves; and we are the sole root of the destruction of the world around us.   

In the Earths life time 5 major extinctions have spread over the planet. The most devastating extinction  occurred 250 million years ago. At this mass extinction 96 percent of the marine animals were stripped from the ocean and 70 percent of the land animals were to never be found again.  Now this extinction was natural and was due to a change in the earth. As seismic Volcanic events plagued the earth the carbon dioxide released made its way to the oceans where it poisoned the water. As it began to evaporate and then eventually turn to rain, the land animals got acid rain trickling down on them. Even as horrid as it is the world went through a natural change and there is nothing that could’ve stopped it. Right now however the Earth is currently on its way to a 6th major extinction. The average human life shouldn’t live long enough to see an animal go extinct, but we can all name at least one thing that has in our lifetime. Just like the massive extinction 250 million years ago, CO2 levels are up in the world, only this time its not because of volcanic activity. Instead its the carbon emissions that we as humans put out every year. The oil companies are more occupied with their profits than the well being of the Earth. The legal profit in oil is worth the money they spend on lobbying to stop legislation that would otherwise be passed, and help the planet. One third of the CO2 we emit makes its way to the oceans, which turns into acid rain just like the extinction 250 million years ago. We are supposed to learn from history, and history is showing us what can happen if the CO2 levels get too high. Too many people see this and don’t think much of it because they don’t feel a personal connection to it and they are dissociated with the topic. Something that we do connect to is the direct and person killing of animals of the world. Now yes we do have laws on this, but the poaching continues. The two major acts are both from the 70s, and are becoming outdated. The laws don’t hold much meaning or consequence for the poachers who would rather take the risk to get a major financial gain. All of our major issues are being pressed on the environment are based off of our greed that shows no end.

With laws in place, the only setting where these illegal luxuries could be sold is the black market. If you can think of it, odds are the black market has it, and that includes whole living tigers.  For $50,000 you can have a tiger sitting in your living room. Just the skin of a tiger alone is worth $35,000 on the market. Standing tall next to the tigers in Africa is the Elephant. In 2010 the reported price of ivory was about $750 per kilo. In Africa the World Wildlife Fund is estimating 470,000 and 690,000 elephants are in the wild. From 2010-2012 the average number of poached elephants rose to around 33,000 each year. That number is attributed to the price of raw ivory in China rising to about $2,100 per kilo. With the price going up, the poaching in Africa increases, which holds three quarters of the world's elephant population. Because the reason for poaching is to gain their ivory, the poachers tend to focus on the larger males because of their bigger tusks. As the male population decreases rapidly, the inevitable result is a decrease in the number of births per year. As the population decreases and the birth rate decreases, the two come together to dramatically bring down the African elephant population. Across the world, China holds the spot for the biggest consumer for ivory. In Beijing, the retail price from 2002 has risen 13 times. China does however have laws regulating the sale of ivory, but they aren’t thoroughly enforced. The majority of this ivory is sold illegally. In Beijing, around 78% of the shops are illegal, and in Shanghai the number is higher at around 89%. Even with laws in place, the sale is still getting to the public through the black market. If this trend continues, the desire for ivory will continue to increase. As demand increases price will increase; as price increases supply will increase, and the number of elephants killed every year will increase too.

The majority of earth is covered by water. With a diverse ecosystem under the water, the number of species swimming about is immense. Protecting these animals in the United States is the Marine Mammal Protection act which forbids the killing, hunting, or harassment of any marine mammal regardless if endangered or not. Along with this, America has the Endangered Species Act, which protects all endangered or threatened animals from being hunted, killed, or harassed. On the International standpoint, The international whaling Convention was established in 1946 to oversee the whaling industry. In 1986, a ban on commercial whaling across the world was put into effect by the IWC. The only countries that aren't part of this ban are Japan and Norway who haven’t honored it. Yet even with this ban, a Chinese slaughterhouse processes about 600 Whale sharks annually. With a single carcass going for about $30,000 on the black market, the reward far outweighs the risk. Just about every part of the whale shark has some sort of market. The meat is sold for food, the fins are sold to make shark fin soup, the skin is used for handbags and the oils go to supplement companies. With just this one facility making around $18,000,000 annually, and having so many places to sell of the whale shark, stopping them won't be the easiest of all things. If no legal action is placed on them, laws themselves aren’t enough to stop this slaughterhouse.   

The world is filled with animals and the percentage of those animals that we eat are miniscule. The rest of the animals in the world that we kill should have some other purpose pertinent to keeping our lives going. Things like ivory, skins/furs, and the mass destruction of the amazon rainforest all are not applicable to day to day life. The idea that we need to continue to obtain these things to keep our economic future alive and well is preposterous. The need for high end furs and ivory is only sold to those in the 1%, or in the upper middle class. The market for these items is very inelastic and the decrease or total stop in production would raise the prices dramatically. In essence the same amount of revenue from each buyer and seller would remain about the same as it is now. The need to keep obtaining these items only lowers the price from piece to piece and would eventually hit a point where its worthless; until will kill the last elephant or tiger, and all that we have is all thats left. Than prices would skyrocket dramatically to a point where only the top 1% of the 1% could possibly own it. To try and say that the whole economic structure is held up by such rare commodities is simply not true. We get more profit from man made everyday objects than luxuries simply because they are sold to a wider population. Yes, domesticated animals are needed for living and the uphold of our wealth and that needs to stay. They are breed for the purpose of slaughter and therefore the population isn't impacted like a wild animal would be. The monetary system that we created was simply to bring order to the world of trade and cut down on stealing and things like that. Instead it brought out our greedy instincts to the point where we’ll do whatever it takes to reach our financial goal, whether feasible or not.

One of the most magnificent things our planet holds is the rain forest. The Amazon Rainforest is home to 40% of the worlds tropical rainforest. With over 54% of the Amazon under environmental protection, the deforestation rates are beginning to decline. The only issue is the numbers were so high to begin with that the rate we are now at is still frightening. With Brazil in a financial crisis however, they are proposing rapid development of the Amazon to help bring up the economy. This is bringing the deforestation back up and is slowly wiping out the parts of the rainforest that aren’t protected. With the worst year of deforestation being 2004, where almost 11,580 sq miles were cleared, it is hard to top it. Thankfully the numbers are down to 2,315 sq miles up until July of 2013. Yes, this may seem good, but the decline we were on was only increased to that number. After 2004 the numbers were dramatically lower, but in 2013 the deforestation rate increased 29% from that declining trend that we were on. Now with the trend on the rise again there is no guessing where the rate may end up for 2014. With the rainforest still disappearing, there are a few issues that are going to come about. With our emissions still on the rise and less trees in the world to naturally filter out the CO2, the carbon that is soaked into the oceans will increase. This will lead to even higher water temperatures, and an increase in the acid rain just like the big extinction 250 million years ago. The other consequence is the inherent loss of animals that happens immediately when you cut down the trees. In the next few years, 38 species are going to be faced with regional extinction. Of that 10 are mammals, 20 are birds and 8 are amphibious animals. With highways leeming through the heart of the amazon, it is only inevitable to see more animal loss as time goes on.

The majority of people who read this paper will more than likely leave with a sense of why does this matter to me? Those are the people who care solely on the economic stand point of this issue and only see loss of dollar signs. What is frightening is how the destruction of something that is man made is called vandalism, but if its natural its considered progress. The fact that we see what we make, something that can be rebuilt, as more important than the natural world that was put here to be shared by all is sickening. To call the killing of a human murder but the killing of an elephant for something just as the tusk is outrageous. These animals can never come back. The day the last tiger dies, or the last elephant ceases to exist is the end for the species. There is no going back, once the last one dies there can and will be no more. We live in a fallacy where we are placed on the pedestal and are entitled to so much more in this world when in reality we are all animals living to survive. To base a counter argument on something man made like money is terrible. If we are too selfish to share something that is inherently worthless, and can’t find the time to share the wealth, than we as a society are unfit to take from the lives of animals living peacefully without the human race. The day our greed is lost is the day the world can breathe once again, and the destruction we’ve cause can start the very long process of getting back to the way it was.