Editorial Commentary - Endangered Species

Endangered species should be protected from us because they are responsible for useful medications and for business.

Both plants and animals are used in making over 40 percent of the world's medicines. These medicines have compounds of different species. These endangered species also make pharmaceutical industry gain $40 billion annually. Only 5 percent of the species of plants we have discovered have been protected because of their pharmaceutical importance, but we still lose about 100 species each day.
There are about 80,000 edible plants in the world, and humans need only 20 species to provide 90 percent of the food in the world. In our planet their is an ecosystem that has to be respected. For example flies and spiders. If spiders didn't exist there would be too many flies. The same goes for plants and animals. There are also great incomes and a lot of jobs because of plants and animals. For example commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the Pacific Northwest provides 60,000 jobs!
Plants and animals are also an attraction for tourist and therefore provide a lot of money. Every year in the United States over 108 million people want to see wildlife and spend lots of money. Americans spend over $59 billion each year for traveling, hotels and food in wildlife recreation.
There are many factors for which plant and animal species are endangered: habitat destruction, introduction of exotic species, overexploitation and other factors.
Our planet changes over time. There are many natural changes that occur at a gradual pace, and this causes only slight impact on all the species. The problem is that when these changes occur at a fast pace, the species don't have enough time to react and to change. This can cause many plants and animals to die. The major and strongest forces that destroy habitats are humans. For example we build cars and use them, but we don't understand that by using them we make many things happen. When we use cars we pollute and pollution affects global warming. Because of global warming, the ice caps are melting, If the ice caps melt, the seals (that live on ice) will die and so will the polar bears because they are dependent on seals; they eat them to survive.
Native species are plants and animals that stayed in one place for a long period of time. So they are adapted to one kind of environment. Sometimes these native species are moved, intentionally or accidentally, by humans. This can cause these species to die because they change environment.
Overexploitation is another cause of endangerment. It means to have use of too much of one species. For example people who killed whales for money without permission brought many species of whales to low population sizes. When some species of whales were in extinction, many nations decided to do something to protect them. Many species of whales including the grey whale have recovered (the population of these species has grown since then).
There are also other factors that make various plants and animals become endangered. Diseases and pollution are the ones that affect them more.
Plants and animals should be always respected because they are part of nature. We need them to survive and to keep a balanced ecosystem. It is unfair to kill them to make money.