1. What is expected in a reply?

a.  In order to reply you need to do some further research (reading of websites) about the topic/position that the person posted.

b.  Provide a minimum of 250 words of additional significant information to the discussion in the reply. This information might support or refute the argument/information presented or might provide additional evidence and examples. Such replies allow the discussion to continually become richer in evidence and thought. Conversation helps create a working relationship with other participants in the discussion, but I do not count the conversation-portion of the reply in the 250 words minimum of information.

c.  I do not want you simply to copy and paste stuff from the Internet.  Research, read, think and then write in your own words.

d.  Cite your sources within your post and at its end provide a list of complete citations for those sources. A complete citation includes the website’s title and separately the website’s URL.

Go into depth explaining actual evidence or examples.

RESPOND ON THE TEXT BELOW

Environmental sciences have documented large and worrisome changes in earth systems, from climate change and loss of biodiversity, changes in hydrological and nutrient cycles and reduction of natural resources (WWW#1). The global environmental changes occurring have potentially large negative consequences for the well-being of future generations, and raise questions about whether global civilization is on a supportable path or if it’s consuming too much. The increasing economic activity and the following increasing impacts on a limited Earth arises from both major demographic changes. Which do include the population growth, shifts in age structure, urbanization, and spatial redistributions through migration (WWW#2). The economic and social impacts of invasive species include both direct effects of a species on property values, agricultural productivity, public utility operations, native fisheries, tourism, and outdoor recreation, as well as costs associated with invasive species control efforts (WWW#3). According to USDA, “A 2005 study estimated that the economic damages associated with invasive species in the United States reached approximately $120 billion/year” (WWW#3). Human activity has such an impact on the planet that it has gone from being local to affecting the global cycles of the elements, water, the climate and biodiversity. For example, so far this year alone, two million hectares of forest have been lost worldwide. Desertification has advanced by almost five million hectares; and global carbon dioxide emissions have topped 13 billion tonnes. (WWW#3). Therefore, there needs to be a need for decisive action to stop this alarming situation. Stopping the “sixth great extinction” requires well grounded knowledge of current biodiversity, its function, and the causes and consequences of its loss. Secondly, this knowledge needs to be used as a launch pad from which will make society aware of the problem and drive the political measures necessary internationally to adapt to and diminish biodiversity loss.