In short, biodiversity is all life on earth. It is all animal and plant species, how they coexist in our ecosystems and what advantages we derive from them. For example, rivers and streams provide running water; Insects pollinate crops; Cattle graze on grass; We eat fish from the sea. Weather patterns and global warming are also influenced by nature.
You can take advantage of the biodiversity simply by walking in a park, strolling through the woods, or spending an afternoon on the beach.
Any time in nature can boost your strength, boost your immune system, and improve your mental abilities, says biologist Rebecca Shaw, PhD, senior scientist and senior vice president of the World Wildlife Fund. “When you have the opportunity to experience the earth’s ecosystems – forests, rivers, oceans, local or national parks, your garden – there are real scientific benefits to your own health.”
The role of biodiversity in human health
Biodiversity plays a key role in your health. The main routes are through medication, nature therapy, and weather, says John La Puma, MD, of Santa Barbara, CA. He is a co-founder of the ChefMD brand and author of several books on nutrition, cooking, and fitness.
“There are between 50,000 and 70,000 known medicinal and aromatic plants that are used by humans for medicinal or other purposes,” he says. So, “If we lose plant species, we lose potential cures.”
A greater biodiversity offers more opportunities for nature therapy, which you may also hear as ecotherapy or ecomedicine. It is a practice that uses the beauty and beneficial effects of nature to relieve stress and restore your mental and physical health.
“Many people have natural deficit disorder – a societal term for a clinical condition that contributes to obesity, mental illness, and myopia and other chronic diseases,” says La Puma. “Spending time in nature can also help maintain and promote personal medical well-being, spirituality and psychological well-being, including treatments for generalized anxiety and depression …”
Global warming and weather changes
Naysayers often compare our current, sometimes extreme climatic events with, for example, ice ages in the past. These historic large weather changes were caused by small changes in the earth’s orbit around the sun.
“They are two very different things,” says Shaw. Scientists say that climate change and ocean warming are mainly due to the greenhouse effect.
“Greenhouse gases” trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere, like greenhouses that we build to grow tropical plants, for example. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. Their concentrations in the atmosphere have increased mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels and agricultural and industrial processes.
Air pollution, which comes mainly from energy use and production, includes greenhouse gases and CO2. It is a major threat to human health. Lung and heart diseases cause 5 million deaths annually, and that number is increasing, says La Puma. They are the fourth leading killer after high blood pressure, smoking and high blood sugar, he says.
“You can take a gas sample and look at the form of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and determine its CO2 from gases produced by human or natural processes,” says Shaw. “While the Earth’s sweeping changes have occurred over hundreds of thousands of years, the global warming we are experiencing has been over 150 years, all human-made and highly destructive.”
These rising temperatures pose a threat to the animals and plants that live in a given area. They can lead to drought, changes in water supply and the loss of native plant species that serve as food. In addition, when an area’s climate changes, new species that couldn’t survive in an area before moving in and competing for survival with the original inhabitants move in.
Other threats to biodiversity
“The most ominous threat to biodiversity is human activity,” says La Puma. “As a species, we have assumed that the earth is something to be exploited, not something to coexist and honor with. People are overfishing oceans, clearing forests, polluting water sources, causing climate crises and intensifying conventional commercial agriculture. “
A major player in biodiversity is healthy soil, and it is disappearing quickly. We’ve lost half of the earth’s topsoil – the organic, nutrient-dense layer where plants take root – in the past 150 years, says La Puma. This has affected species that rely on plants to grow in the soil, such as honeybees and other pollinators (small insects and animals that carry pollen from plant to plant) and plants that grow in that soil. Some species have lost their habitat. Pest control chemicals can poison the water and harm other beneficial species, including plants, animals, insects, and microbes.
When you examine creatures like butterflies and birds, you’ll notice changes in their habits and the ranges they travel, says Shaw. Plants bloom at different times than before. Meanwhile, weather patterns have tightened, leading to events such as catastrophic forest fires, mass floods, hotter summers and rising sea levels.
These events not only devastate landscapes and habitats, but also take away people’s livelihoods. “We’re starting to see struggles for natural resources between humans and wildlife, which often depend on the same precious sources as water and food,” says Shaw.
What you can do now
It is not too late to do something for your environment and your health. La Puma suggests simple but solid ways to get back to nature:
- Practice everyday awe. “Appreciating the beauty of a flower, really listening to the twittering of birds, looking after a houseplant for at least 5 minutes a day and just doing that,” says La Puma. “Experiencing nature, even for that quick natural dose, can bring you closer to the desire to preserve and protect it and improve both mood and self-esteem.”
- Update your food choices. Eat regionally and organically. “Try growing some of your own plants and foods – even herbs, many of which (like rosemary) are bulletproof.” Buy locally from farmers and support farms that promote regenerative agriculture and grow many different types of plants, even small ones Scope.
- Garden. Whether it’s food or flowers, grow native plants to provide pollen and nectar for pollinators. “Organic horticulture and the use of native plants are both ways you can improve your health and that of the planet,” says La Puma. Growing your food this way will give you more nutrients and improve the quality of the topsoil, he says. “Increasing biodiversity, including in your own garden, improves the resistance of the soil and resistance to insects.”
- Exercise outdoors. “The benefits of immunity, socialization, and wellbeing are greater, and you will feel less tired and refreshed than when you exercise indoors,” says La Puma.
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