Biodiversity?

Dr. Baines gave us a prompt just the other day that went like this: “Describe the three arguments for preserving biodiversity in the essay, “Asteroids, Bulldozers, and Biodiversity”.” “The term biodiversity (bio=biological, diversity=variety) did not exist before the mid-1980s.” (Cummings, 2006). The first argument economically discussed how preserving our planets biodiversity is necessary because there are so many species out there that humans have yet to discover. These undiscovered or unresearched species may serve to provide us with resources which could contribute to an increased quality of living for human beings.
The second argument was based on the evolutionary importance of preserving biodiversity. By not driving a variety of species to extinction, we allow for the possibility of further evolution. The more species that are allowed to thrive (for a longer period of time), the greater the chance some of those species will be able to give rise to new species. Furthermore, these new species may play crucial roles in the future evolution of the world’s genetics.
The final argument for biodiversity was philosophically based. Essentially, the importance of preserving our Earth’s biodiversity is determined by how humans choose to respond to this crisis we have created. Humans are capable of acting to preserve the biodiversity of the planet and until this understanding is realized, the devastating rates of extinction which we are causing will continue to devastate the planet. I feel the most compelling argument would be the final one since it takes into account the importance of human ethics and morality. It discusses how humans may be heavily swayed by the economic and evolutionary repercussions of our destructive behavior, but what ultimately dictates how we will deal with the situation is our own consciousness.