Humans have always relied on ecosystem services provided by Earth's biosphere but have increasingly disrupted these natural processes through activities like hunting, agriculture, industry and urban development. While early humans obtained food through hunting and gathering, these practices as well as the introduction of farming thousands of years ago contributed to mass animal extinctions in some places. Today, non-sustainable use of renewable and nonrenewable resources continues to degrade ecosystems through issues like soil erosion, desertification, and pollution despite the need to protect finite natural resources and adopt sustainable development. Studies of island ecosystems are particularly important for understanding human impacts on the global environment.
Humans have always relied on ecosystem services provided by Earth's biosphere but have increasingly disrupted these natural processes through activities like hunting, agriculture, industry and urban development. While early humans obtained food through hunting and gathering, these practices as well as the introduction of farming thousands of years ago contributed to mass animal extinctions in some places. Today, non-sustainable use of renewable and nonrenewable resources continues to degrade ecosystems through issues like soil erosion, desertification, and pollution despite the need to protect finite natural resources and adopt sustainable development. Studies of island ecosystems are particularly important for understanding human impacts on the global environment.
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