Earth Day 2019: Protect Our Species

Monday, April 22, 2019 is upon us and while this is a Monday. it's no ordinary Monday. Today is Earth Day! Every year Earth Day has a new theme and this years theme is "Protect Our Species." 

The number of animals living above the water has declined by almost 50% since 1970. Marine populations have also dropped by 40% overall. Insect populations have declined by at least 75% in some places of the world. You may think that getting rid of insects is a good thing, but insects help our ecosystems, and many animals feed off of insects. So with insect populations declining, that in turn declines food for other species, which kills off over species and so on. 

It has been estimated that nearly 85% of Earth's land surface has been impacted by humans which has affected many ecosystems where specific species used to live and have been forced to adapt or die off. 

Finally, about a quarter of the world's coral reefs have been damaged beyond repair and three quarters of the world's coral reefs are at risk from global and local stresses. These are just a few small facts according to EarthAction!

Destroyed Coral Reef

Healthy Coral Reef
Interesting fact: Coral glows bright and more colorful just before they die

Millions of animals and species have died out and become extinct over the course of time and animals only continue to die off. For a race that loves pets and animals, we need to be more observant and careful about what we waste or what we're destroying by even the littlest of actions.

We only have one home, one Earth, and we need to do everything we can to protect and preserve not only our animals and animal species, but the Earth all together. If things don't change or get better, animals won't be the only thing going extinct. Do your part and preserve and protect our Earth!

Happy Earth Day!