Ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss are increasing every year at an alarming rate. Man is certainly not the only reason for this, but he is mainly responsible for it. The well-being of ecosystems affects our daily lives: consumption and consumerism depend on natural resources. Everything humans use comes from them, in seemingly indirect and direct ways. However, despite the fact that humans are destroying the environment, many continue and neglect to take important steps to protect it. Biodiversity is affected by five main pressures: habitat loss and degradation, climate change, excessive nutrient loading and pollution, overexploitation, and invasive alien species. As mentioned above, humans are not the only force influencing the environment. Even natural events such as volcanic eruptions can potentially upset the balance of an ecosystem. However, at least three in five of the major pressures are caused by humans, although it is arguable that we play a crucial role in accelerating climate change and bringing in invasive species. Ecosystem degradation and loss of biodiversity are almost like the result of the other problems. The impacts of this problem are important in many ways. Up to forty percent of the world economy depends on natural resources, and their continued use inevitably implies their exhaustion. The economy would suffer greatly. He would not be accustomed to using other sources of energy after having depended on non-renewable resources for so long. Without biodiversity, large amounts of money would have to be spent on providing services that would otherwise be provided to us for free by nature. For example, oceans recycle wastewater into nutrients, remove toxins from water, ... middle of paper ... humans destroy the environment, they have the ability to restore it. Works cited National projects. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, n.d. Web. May 19, 2014. Lazaroff, Cat. “Biodiversity may need many millions of years to recover.” Environmental News Service: We've got the Earth covered for you. ENS, 3 January 2002. Web. 19 May 2014. Marinelli, Janet. Local biodiversity. National Wildlife Federation, April 1, 2006. Web. May 19, 2014.Procuenca - San Juan. Procuenca San Juan, 2004. Web. 19 May 2014.Shah, Anup. Addressing biodiversity loss. Global Issues, April 6, 2011. Web. May 20, 2014. Shah, Anup. Loss of biodiversity and extinctions. Global Issues, January 19, 2014. Web. May 19, 2014.Shah, Anup. Why is biodiversity important? What does it matter? Global Issues, January 19, 2014. Web. May 19, 2014. What is biodiversity? California Biodiversity Council, 2008. Web. 19 May 2014.