Australia: globalization,

Environment, and animal life

By Elisabeth Johanne Berg & Mynte Nørgaard Svendsen

What happens when man takes over?

In the following we will give you a short overview

of Australia’s environment and animal life and

the affect of the globalization created by man

Man is insatiable! More and more is

consumed and wasted to please us,

but we are consuming the very

planet we need to protect if we do

not wanna destroy our beautiful

home.

The Globalization has also brought

the industry and agriculture to

Australia. This causes deforestation

because of man’s need of

expanding property and export.

One third of the iconic “bush”, 50%

of wetlands, and 75% of the

rainforests have been cleared. 90%

of the native forest woods are

being exported. This deforestation

causes the destruction of Australia’s

natural heritage.

Also the native habitats and

ecosystems are affected by the

development, so vegetation is

being killed. The soil quality is

changed because of the rising

salinity and soil erosion. Even the

water supply and quality gets worse

because of contaminated

wastewater from industry.

Globalization has also brought some

positive aspects to Australia, even

though they are not even close to

outweighing the negative impacts

of globalization on the environment

such as the habitats and the soil.

Earlier we have not payed a lot of

attention to the fact that resources

can run out, and the fact that

draining the environment for

resources can affect the native

habitats, soil quality or eco systems

in a fatal way. All though as man

increased the draining of nature,

globalization also brought the

awareness of resources.

There has been more focus of the

environment because of the

consequences we are faced with

such as wildlife, which will be

elaborated on the next pages,

global warming and our world

running out of resources. Research

has been made to increase the use

of greener technology. Furthermore

some multinational corporations

have supported the struggle to save

the invironment through green

development.

Australia is one of only 12

'megadiverse' countries that

together account for 75% of the

world's total biodiversity. Scientists

estimate that the continent is home

to more than one million plant and

animal species. Many of these are

found nowhere else on the planet.

Australia was isolated for over

millions of years. When Australia

started to be a part of the world

wide globalisation, it had it’s

advantages and drawbacks for the

country’s environment, but also for

the native animals. In this part of

the assignment we are going to tell

you about the effect of globalisation

on the Australian animals.

The many species of native animals

in Australia are for instance: The

bandicoot, the koala, the giant

cuttlefish, the red kangaroo etc.

There are many unique Australian

animals, but we will especially focus

on the red kangaroo. The red

kangaroo is Australia's largest

kangaroo of the nearly 60 species

in the kangaroo family. It is the

Kangaroo which dwells in our "Red

Center" the arid portion of

Australia. They normally move in

groups ranging from a few dozen to

several hundred individuals and are

known as Mobs. The makeup of the

red kangaroo Mob varies but

usually consists of a dominant

male, a number of adult females,

and juveniles of both sexes.

The kangaroo is still an abundant

species and is protected in many

national parks. It has even

benefited from the spread of

agriculture and creation of man-

made waterholes. However

competition with livestock and

rabbits poses a threat. It is also

often shot by farmers as a pest.

Some other threats for the red

kangaroo in connection to the

theme “Globalisation” could be the

contact with humans, the

industrialization and also the

invasive species.

A number of non-native animals are

recognized as threats to native

animals for example the cats and

foxes. With the globalisation some

different species of animals were

brought to Australia. A study in

Canberra, Australia, found that

house cats predated invasive

species of rodents and birds and

that this may have a positive effect

on native wildlife. The cat’s

influence on Australia is to discuss.

Some claim cats are unfairly

targeted, since overclearing and

overstocking of land in the late

1800s and the introduction of the

Red Fox for sport in 1910 had a

worse impact on wildlife numbers.

However, other authorities claim

that cats are hunting native wildlife

to extinction.

About 11 mill mammals, 13 mill

birds and 80 mill reptiles died as a

result of globalization in 1998-2005.

Links

Environment:

- http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6301040-the-effects-of-globalization-on-the-

environment

- http://australianmuseum.net.au/Overuse-of-Natural-Resources

Animal life:

- http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/index.htm

- http://australian-animals.net/

- http://www.feralcat.com/sarah1.html