|
|
Article: Endangered Species Act
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
Species have evolved throughout the course of natural history, and the fossil record is filled with evidence of extinctions, some of which have been sudden and catastrophic. Ecologists believe that we are in such an era of rapid species extinctions today. The most prominent current cause is human activity, which brings about loss of habitat for species and also causes pollution and overharvesting. For example, the spotted owl is endangered by overharvesting of old growth forests in the Northwest; the bald eagle was nearly rendered extinct in the United States outside of Alaska due to poisoning with DDT and its metabolites; and many species have been hunted to ...