Extinction of One Species
Over the past century, we have been burning more fossil fuels than ever before. Burning releases carbon into the environment; however, the problem lies when we burn too much like we are doing currently. The Earth cannot absorb all the carbon emissions back into the ground, at the same rate that we are releasing the carbon. The rest of the carbon that is not absorbed is realized into the environment and causes the Earth’s surface temperature to increase. The increasing temperature is melting glaciers and ruining the oceans. Combined with deforestation, this is destroying many habitats for multiple species and the once endangered species are becoming extinct. Due to this, some scientists are saying that Earth is now in the middle of the sixth mass extinction.
The mass extinction of species will have some impacts that we can not even predict because a species’ relationship to its ecosystem is so convoluted. The impact that a species has can only be completely understood once it has gone extinct; however by then, it is too late to help the species. The article gave an example similar to the following. 
For example, in the food web on the side, if the insect goes extinct then both the hawks and mice have a limited food supply, which will negatively impact their populations. On the other hand, grass, wheat, and flowers will flourish since they have one fewer species consuming it, which will cause them to choke off other vegetation and kill other species. That in turn will start the chain reaction. The extinction of one species can impact an entire food web.
The food web is an example of a graph. As we discussed in class, a graph consists of a set of nodes (the species) and a set of edges connecting pairs of nodes (direction of consumption). When one node is missing, the edges connecting to it will disappear as well, which impacts the rest of the nodes as well. Due to missing edges, the nodes will have to travel longer paths to get to another node. In the example of the food web, the mouse will have to eat much more to eat the same energy source as it was when the insect was still alive. As seen by the position of the insect node, the extinction of the species will have a large effect on the rest of the food chain. This graph is only a small portion of the real food web, so imagine the impact the extinction of one species will have on the entire supply.
Depicting food chains as graphs, give a more accurate illustration of what happens when one species goes extinct. When one node is erased in a graph, distance between nodes increases, and in some extreme cases, 2 separate components form. According to the article, fortunately, there is a solution to this: humans. We need to shield species, especially endangered ones, from ” … mining, drilling, development, and pollution,” and to connect fragmented ecosystems to allow for the creation of a more resilient food web that can resist the extinction of one species.
Source: vox.com/2020/6/6/21280720/endangered-species-extinction-ecosystem-climate-change-biodiversity-crisis