Ecosystem
Biodiversity
Author:
Tanya Berry
In Oregon, we are very green toward our environment. We are constantly looking for sustainable,
renewable energy such as hydropower, solar, wind and geothermal. We have been so eager to use these other
energies but have not thought about the impact that this has on our ecosystem
biodiversity.
In building a dam for
harnessing hydropower, we take a look at the drop of the water and flow of the
river to determine if it will produce enough power to make it profitable.
Dams will put stress both on
aquatic and terrestrial life. This means
at the least we will have a loss of species if not extinction of a
species. Farms may have problems with
irrigation and may have to modify crops where irrigation is no longer in existence. For instance on the Columbia River there are
about 400 dams. Some of these dams have
installed fish ladders or at least have found a way to transporting the fish
around the dams. However, there are still damns that exist on this river that
do not have a way for fish to migrate which decreasing biodiversity.
Wind
To
use wind as an energy source, wind turbines are built. These turbines convert wind from kinetic
energy into mechanical and then electrical energy.
There
has only been a few studies done prior to us building these of what effects are
bird and bat populations. Because the
lack of studies out there, we cannot make a good determination if species are
being negatively effect. The impact on
the land is not significant because farmers can still have crops or herds
around the turbines.
There
needs to be more study on how this impacts our biodiversity.
As
a society we do need to find sustainable, renewable energy but at what
costs. We need to minimize or eliminate
the negative effects to biodiversity. References:
Biodiversity for a World Without Hunger.
Oregon Department of Energy: Renewable Energy
ICEM Northwest Council Org Greenspace
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