1. Threats to biodiversity

2. Species at Risk Extirpated: A species that no longer exists in a specific area. Eg. Atlantic Walrus. Endangered: A species facing imminent extinction or extirpation. Eg. Barn Owl Threatened: A species likely to become endangered if factors reducing survival are not changed. Eg. Polar Bear Extinct: A species that no longer exists anywhere in the world. Eg. Passenger pigeon.

3. Working with your partner, brainstorm and list the threats to biodiversity. What is threatening species?

4. Invasive Species An invasive species is a non-native whose intentional or accidental introduction impacts the natural environment.

5. Habitat Loss Imagine that you are standing atop the CN tower, but could look 500 years back in time. What would it look like?

6. Habitat Fragmentation Fragmentation of ecosystems reduces their sustainability. By fragmenting ecosystems, a larger area of the habitat is exposed to the damaging effects of outside influences.

7. Habitat Certain factors can improve the sustainability of fragmented ecosystems. These should be considered during urban planning and national/provincial park design

8. Pollution For most of human history, we produced little waste. Two things changed that: 1)Population growth 2)Industrial processes

9. Pollution Acid Rain: Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from fossil fuel burning lead to acid rain. Acid rain causes species decline in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Oil Spills: Our use of oil tankers (eg. Exxon Valdezz), and oil drill (eg. Deepwater Horizon) may lead to oil spills. Oil is toxic and slow to break down. Plastics at Sea: Plastics are long lasting, taking hundreds, or even thousands of years to decompose. Many plastics end up in our oceans. There is an ‘Island’ twice the size of Texas in the pacific.

10. Oil Spills

11. What if the deepwater horizon spill was in Toronto?

12. plastics@sea