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The Earth has many diverse ecosystems and ecologicalsystem diversity. These are NASA composite images of the Earth: 2001 (left), 2002 (right), titled The Blue Marble. Ecosystem diversity deals with the variations in ecosystems within a geographical location and its overall impact on human existence and the environment.
Most biologists agree however that the period since human emergence is part of a new mass extinction, named the Holocene extinction event, caused primarily by the impact humans are having on the environment. [124] It has been argued that the present rate of extinction is sufficient to eliminate most species on the planet Earth within 100 years ...
Anthropogenic biomes, also known as anthromes, human biomes or intensive land-use biome, describe the terrestrial biosphere in its contemporary, human-altered form using global ecosystem units defined by global patterns of sustained direct human interaction with ecosystems.
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by organisms in interaction with their environment. [2]: 458 The biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal factors.
An aerial view of a human ecosystem. Pictured is the city of Chicago. Human ecosystems are human-dominated ecosystems of the anthropocene era that are viewed as complex cybernetic systems by conceptual models that are increasingly used by ecological anthropologists and other scholars to examine the ecological aspects of human communities in a way that integrates multiple factors as economics ...
It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. [1] In 1935, Tansley added the climatic and soil aspects to the idea, calling it ecosystem. [2] [3] The International Biological Program (1964–74) projects popularized the concept of biome. [4]
The ecological footprint and its close analog the water footprint has become a popular way of accounting for the level of impact that human society is imparting on the Earth's ecosystems. [78] [79] All indications are that the human enterprise is unsustainable as the footprint of society is placing too much stress on the ecology of the planet. [80]
The ecosystems most immediately threatened by climate change are in the mountains, coral reefs, and the Arctic. Excess heat is causing environmental changes in those locations that exceed the ability of animals to adapt. [168] Species are escaping heat by migrating towards the poles and to higher ground when they can. [169]