Imagine a world with mammoths and dinosaurs just roaming around the land that we walk on. Can the scenario you are imagining also realistically include humans happily congregating with the dinosaurs and everyone being alive? I didn't think so. In my opinion, extinct animals should definitely not be resurrected because bringing back animals from extinction can create an imbalance in the environment, and the animals will not be able to adapt to a world that has developed so substantially since they were made extinct. In addition, the animals could bring back diseases and pathogens that are completely new to us and it could cause a pandemic. Instead, I think these resources would be much better spent trying to save the animals who are currently close to extinction or are endangered, rather than trying to make science fiction reality and resurrect extinct species.
If we bring animals back from extinction, it could completely throw off the balance of living organisms on our planet. Living organisms on Earth have adapted to the situation they are in to be able to live freely and avoid predators. This will be reversed by suddenly introducing a species that has not adapted to our current world and its ecosystem, but instead an ecosystem from several million years ago. If we brought back a dinosaur, would it be used to our atmosphere that has been tainted by greenhouse gas emissions, or to whole new variety of living organisms it has never seen before, like humans?
In addition, the living organisms on Earth will not be ready for a species that has already been eradicated and moved on from by the ecosystem to suddenly return. Humans, who are able to assert their dominance over almost every species on Earth using technology and inventions, will be screwed when a predator like a dinosaur is brought back, because they can be free to roam wherever they like, and the societies we have built will be ruined by large unknowing animals like dinosaurs or mammoths.
I have only addressed the problem with bringing back large animals so far. But a major problem with bringing back any extinct species of any size or shape is, Discover Magazine says, that these species could bring back diseases and pathogens the likes of which we have never seen before. The new strains we identify today of different diseases can be linked to large categories of diseases; for example, we can associate lots of diseases with influenza and create a vaccine by building off of that. But with a disease from a time completely unknown to humans and found in some odd new animal, our scientists will be perplexed and have a hard time finding a cure, which could lead to a pandemic that is tough to fight.
Another thing to consider is resources. We devote so many resources like money and time to trying to bring back extinct animals, when these resources could be used on trying to save the species on this Earth that are endangered or close to extinct. According to Science Magazine, the cost of caring for a population of resurrected mammoths should be close to the cost to take care of the currently endangered Asian elephant. If we have the money, why do we want to spend it on a species that naturally doesn't even belong in the conditions of our current world, rather than help a magnificent and special species on Earth that we could devote those resources towards?
These are just a few examples of why it would be unsafe and unwise to try and bring back a species that has gone extinct for a reason. Just because it sounds interesting to be able to see a dinosaur in real life, does not mean that it is a smart or cool idea to actually bring dinosaurs back to life. Ever seen Jurassic Park? In conclusion, our society has developed past the age of the animals we are trying to bring back from extinction, and bringing those animals back could bring back diseases unheard of by humans; and it could throw off the balance of our ecosystem. There are more than enough fascinating species still unknown to humans that we could learn more about, and there is no need to satisfy our need for new species by bringing back extinct ones.
- Kruthi Ramanath
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ReplyDeleteI feel as if extinct animals are extinct for a reason. If these animals are brought back they may throw our ecosystem off balance, and almost destroy our planet in the process. While keeping in mind I am not a scientist it is their job to decide who comes back and who stays gone, but the concept of a small dinosaur in by backyard does entertain me. I liked the idea you wrote about, nice job!
ReplyDeleteI am aware that extinct creatures are gone for a purpose and that there would be many consequences for our society as well as the entrance of numerous new diseases. However, the concept of dinosaurs existing in our world intrigues me somewhat. Even though I am aware that it may result in issues, I think it would be amusing to bring some animals back from extension. Even still, it would be wonderful to witness a real dinaosur. I thought it would be cool to have dinosaurs roaming around in a theme park setting like in Jurassic Park. Of course, just as in the movie, problems could arise and things can go out of hand.
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ReplyDeleteFunny how I thought about this in the last 5 years. Probably. You know me personally, I would bring back the dodo bird but I guess its better to be safe than sorry. I like how you used the Jurassic Park example and how you talk about the impacts bringing back instinct animals would have on the environment and society. I think if you wrote a example like the impacts bringing back a animal in more detail but like organizing it on what you think would happen. E.G. if dodo birds were still alive then Madagascar would be populated with dodo birds then travelers would go see Madagascar more.
ReplyDeleteSpecies from the past are not meant to be brought back to life for such reasons you have described. I like your reasonings, saying that the modern world compared to the world in the past is so much more different, and bringing these prehistoric animals back alive would completely disrupt the world and ecosystem. I really enjoyed this blog, and this brought up a small topic that is both fun and interesting to talk about. Good job!
ReplyDeleteYou provide a lot of good reasoning about why it is not a good idea to bring back extinct animals. I particularly like your point about devoting resources to animals that are currently living. I also wonder what the effect would be on the environment with climate change already being a prevalent issue. This is a well-thought out argument. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThe intro had a good hook. There are a lot of reasons why people wouldn't bring that I haven't thought about before. Instead of trying to bring back extinct animals, it's a good idea to make sure other animals don't get extinct.
ReplyDeleteYou make a really good point that trying to bring back extinct animals is not worth it when there are probably hundreds of endangered animals being close to extinction that we could save. You also say that bringing back animals will cause problems like messing up the ecosystem, bringing diseases and pathogens, all of which I agree with. I also love the example of Jurassic Park.
ReplyDeleteBringing back any species of extinct animal clearly has some dangerous consequences. I like the point you make about animals of any size having an impact because of possible diseases. This is a good blog!
ReplyDelete-Citlali
Bringing back dinosaurs would cause almost no damage to humans for several reasons. The biggest reason is that we have firearms. Small arms could take out most small to medium sized dinosaurs with some effort. But what about large ones like the T-rex? The answer is bigger weapons that the army might use. Even without an army T-rexes aren't much of a problem, since they would be rather slow and you could just take shelter. They wouldn't be able to just stomp on shelters because they would likely have the jumping capabilities of an elephant due to them weighing more the an elephant, which is to say they can't jump or likley raise their leg high enough to smash it.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you bring up the point that we should use our resources to help save animals that are endangered. Also it's not smart to bring species from the past because they simply don't fit in our ecosystem.
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