🌍 What's going on? Human activities often lead to the loss of natural ecosystems. This can be direct (like clearing land for farming) or indirect (like pollution causing harm). If key parts of an ecosystem are removed or changed beyond the tolerance range of keystone species, the whole system may collapse! Let's explore eight main causes of ecosystem loss.

Ecosystem loss often happens when we change land use for farming. Remember how the beautiful North American prairies were plowed up in the 19th century? That's right, it's like bulldozing a forest to build a shopping mall!

As our population grows, we need more space to live and work, and that space has to come from somewhere. Since 1992, urban areas have doubled worldwide, meaning many ecosystems have been cleared to make way for houses, offices, and roads.

This is like eating all your chocolates at once and having none left for later! Overfishing, overhunting, or over-collecting resources can destroy ecosystems. Remember the cod on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland? Overfishing them affected the whole ecosystem!

Mining directly changes land use and pollutes surrounding areas. Imagine living next to a stinky garbage dump—that's what it's like for ecosystems near mines. An example? Nickel mining in Ontario caused acid rain and soil pollution, leading to forest loss.

Dams can disrupt river and lake ecosystems. The Colorado River barely reaches the Pacific Ocean now because so much water is extracted for our use. Think of it as taking away all the water from your pet fish's bowl!