The human population has a negative impact on the environment, but not all human efforts to correct this problem are well-receieved. In fact, a recent example shows how human preservation efforts can go too far.
In late November and early December, environmentalists were worried about the increasing presence of carp in the Great Lakes. Carp are not native to these major waterways in Canada and the United States, but populations have evolved locally. Historically, they have been prevented from entering the Great Lakes with barricades across adjoining waterways. The concern was that their presence at the top of the food chain would compromise local ecosystems. Degradation of the rich resources would also harm the $4.5 billion fishery industry.
To protect the natural ecosystem of Lake Michigan, last week a drastic move was made. Two thousand pounds of poison was dumped into the adjoining Chicago River to prevent carp from entering during maintenance on one of the barricades. A natural poison which prevents fish from receiving sufficient oxygen to their gills caused 200,000 pounds of fish to go belly up. But carp were not amongst them.
Some believe that this is a case of environmental preservation gone wrong, others believe the methods were justified. The debate focuses upon a number of environmental and ethical issues including, but not limited to, whether humans should be interfering with the natural food chain in the first place, and if a species introduced by humans can be even be considered part of a natural ecosystem. What do you think?
http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/global-green/091205/great-lake-management-carp