Summary and artifact:

Humans have a very big effect on the homeostasis of ecosystems.

Between urbanization, and burning fossil fuels, we have caused global
climate and environmental changes. Urbanization destroys ecosystems, and
replaces them with concrete jungles. This ties in with burning fossil fuels as
well, because if there are more people in the area, more fossil fuels are
burned because of cars and factories, which causes climate change. Climate
change is directly affecting chinstrap and adelie penguins. Adelie penguins
populations are increasing rapidly, while chinstraps numbers are faltering.
Since chinstraps breed on ice, their numbers are falling because the ice is
melting quickly. Adelie though, breed on land. This rise in adelie penguins is
making it harder for the chinstraps to breed, and it is making life harder for
them.
Geological and meteorological events also impact ecosystems. Two
big examples of this are natural disasters and meteor impacts. Meteor
impacts are always a huge threat to everything. We cant control where they
fly, and if they impact earth, they always cause massive damage to
ecosystems. This is what made the dinosaurs extinct, and it could easily
make us extinct as well. Natural disasters also effect ecosystems. Things like
forest fires, tornadoes, and tsunamis have built and destroyed ecosystems.
Forest fires do a great job at both of these. When a forest fire burns down a
forest, it destroys most things inside, but it creates a new forest from the
ashes.
Human activities and a biotic resources greatly affect species
distribution and abundance. When humans mine and collect resources, this
could potentially deplete those resources for animals in the local area. We
could also potentially create resources without thinking, and cause a certain
species to thrive, while others suffer. As we continue to do this to our
ecosystems, we are directly affecting the growth/death of organisms in the
area. EX) 1.C.1:b, 2.D.3:b, 4.A.5:b, 4.A.6:f, 4.B.3:c, 4.B.4:a-b

Reflection:
The most important thing about this artifact was teaching us how
humans and natural events can directly influence the survival of species all
around the globe. I would like to study global climate change further, and
what humans can do to prevent it from happening in the future. I still
struggle with how there can be sudden influxes of resources, and how el
nino affects the ecosystem.