Amy\Alicia+Class+debate

“Bushwalkers think that keeping the environment free from human interference is essential”

Land developers say that is important to utilize the land we have to provide homes and recreational facilities for people to enjoy. Those in the mining and timber industries insist that the land should be used to provide the raw materials to meet the needs of technological progress, but bush walker's think that keeping the environment free from human interference is essential. We believe in what the bush walkers are standing for and would like to help give you the whole picture, starting with the topic of litter.

We've already seen what litter can do to the environment, short and long term. Plastic has always been a big problem as it does not decompose and being used as often as we do, in day to day activity, it just gets left out in the open. It will get pushed through the air, into drains and eventually out to sea where the marine life mistake it for their pray. Take turtles for example, they will often think of the floating piece of plastic as a jellyfish, when they go to eat it by mistake the turtles will start to die slowly by having this plastic stuck in its throat. It is not only these creatures that have this fate. Sea birds will make the same confusion, along with other marine life. Things such as cigarette butts, glass pieces, aluminium cans, straws and Styrofoam products, all largely contribute to these ongoing problems in our oceans.

We've already seen what litter can do to the environment, short and long term. Plastic has always been a big problem as it does not decompose and being used as often as we do, in day to day activity, it just gets left out in the open. It will get pushed through the air, into drains and eventually out to sea where the marine life mistake it for their pray. Take turtles for example, they will often think of the floating piece of plastic as a jellyfish, when they go to eat it by mistake the turtles will start to die slowly by having this plastic stuck in its throat. It is not only these creatures that have this fate. Sea birds will make the same confusion, along with other marine life.  Things such as cigarette butts, glass pieces, aluminium cans, straws and Styrofoam products, all largely contribute to these ongoing problems in our oceans. In November of 1995 Michael Jackson realised a very strong and powerful song that opened up a lot of people's eyes. It was called 'Earth Song' and is about how we are over using what we have and the afer effects of it. Lyrics such as "That you said we were to gain.. . What about killing fields" and "What have we done to the world?" media type="custom" key="9002000" Another adding factor to this issue is mining companies. They say that they're helping how we live, by giving us coal which we use to fuel our day to day cars, and expensive diamonds that the Earth takes millions of years to form. But by doing so there will be long term corrupted effects that will harm our environment and the ecosystem. Since the Industrial Revolution our lives have largely improved to suit a better place to live in, but now we are seeing the environmental effects that our world has to deal with. We are running out of fossil fuels as they are a non-renewable source that takes years and years to build up. Because of this extensive use of motorized vehicles in the past couple of generations, we are now seeing the lasting effects taking its toll on this planet. Global warming causes problems to our ozone layer as well as the ice caps melting and these extreme weather conditions. All of this is a result of us taking what Mother Nature has given us for granted. Technological advances are good, but they come with lasting environmental effects.  Take logging for example, which has been the main threat to forest degradation that is also a very serious problem that needs to be tackled well. Forests are being destroyed and plantation has been replacing them. There are also many flowering plants in Australia which have resulted to its extinction as well. According to estimates there is more than 20% of the extinction of the flowering plants. Timber industries want to use our nations land to build houses and must cut down large amounts of trees to do so. Say we cut down a forest to use the land and wood from the trees for a new housing complex. There would be spiders living in all those trees and if they go missing the spiders can no longer survive. Meaning that a majority of the bird’s food source is no longer available. After some time the amount of wildlife would become less and less, as a result of lack of food and shelter. With trees being chopped down and bugs dying off, birds and owls will no longer be able to survive. So easily ecosystems could be destroyed and all these animals could slowly become on the border line of extinction, just to build a few new houses which we already have plenty of.

In the heart of South Australia there is a national park called Arkaroola which has recently had some attention drawn to it because of human interference and the environmental impacts. Environmentalists want the area- Arkaroola put off limits to miners, saying that there are plenty of other places that mines can be built, also stating that the area is too important to be opened to mining. "They will be drilling into the very heart of Arkaroola" "It's an area that should be preserved for its rare wildlife and extraordinary landscape' - Arkaroola director Marg Sprigg expresses. Miners say that it has vital minerals. If a mine was opened on this land it would deliver a net economic benefit in present value terms of $4.86 billion to South Australia over its mine life, and creating between 1500 and 1900 permanent jobs both on mining sites, suppliers and contractors. Landscape photographer Starvos Pippos says, "While mining is a finite resource for the state, tourists are an infinite sustainable resource for the state, creating 53,000 jobs in South Australia and an economic impact of $4.4 billion".

The way we are all going, how we do these little day to day activities, the environment is suffering. A choice should be made about what intervention needed to handle this unstable situation our Earth is in. Lack of biodiversity will destroy entire ecosystems, and how harsh nature of taking non-renewable resources for granted will leave us with nothing in the end. We take what we have for granted and it's starting to catch up with us. Respect for the environment is essential for our future.

__﻿ ____Bibliography __

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<span style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro',serif;">Michael Jackson, November 1995, Earth Song, accessed 07 April 2011. Available:< [] >