BY KAHA G. – 14 YEARS OLD
Do you love Polar bears? Bees? Sea turtles? Tigers? Elephants? Well, those are some of the species that are estimated to go extinct by 2050. Crazy right? To think this generation’s children won’t face the wrath of angry bees. They’re pretty lucky not to worry about bee stings in the summer but aren’t lucky to meet the negatives that come along with bees not being alive.
Simply, we would only last four more years without bees, and trust me they won’t be pretty. Without bees, our nutrition would suffer astronomically. Currently, there are two trillion bees as of 2022, but you would be surprised how much can change over 28 years. That is why I’ll be talking about the precious animals we could lose in the year 2050.
Which animals could go extinct by 2050? Live Science, the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), Amur leopard (Panthera pardus Orientalis), Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), black rhino (Diceros bicornis), hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), Sunda tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) and Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). All of these species are endangered, which is the main reason for extinction. How does a species become endangered you ask? I’m glad you asked. The two reasons why animals become extinct according to Endangered Species | National Geographic Society, are loss of habitat and loss of genetic variation.
Here’s the obvious part, it’s up to us to save them. We can’t let those poor animals die! So, what we have to do is limit our consumption of factory foods, try to make “greener decisions” such as not buying plastic and littering, and if you want to be extra nice, donate money to organizations that specialize in endangered species.
Every animal is important to the cycle of life, and the food chain, which are extremely important factors. No matter how adorable or straight-up terrifying an animal is, just know that they all have a part to play in our day-to-day lives. Like Loretta Lynch said, “We all have a responsibility to protect endangered species, both for their sake and for the sake of our own future generations.”
