"ScrAPES #18- A Vital New Initiative to Learn How Roads Are Imperiling Nature"

Article- A Vital New Initiative to Learn How Roads Are Imperiling Nature, Bill Laurance, 12/16/2015, http://alert-conservation.org/issues-research-highlights/2015/12/16/a-vital-new-effort-to-learn-how-roads-are-imperiling-nature

Topic: Road Expansion 

Summary:
     The construction of roads are causing environmental problems such as habitat fragmentation and forest deforestation. In 2050 there would be 25 million kilometers of new paved road. Nine-tenths of the new roads will be built in tropical and subtropical regions located in developing nations which has great biodiversity that is important to the environment. A lot of these roads were built illegally by loggers, miners, illicit-drug producers, and many others looking for forest resources. A Roadless Project was created to map out legal and illegal roads; studying how the roads impact forests and wildlife, productivity planning roads, identifying wilderness areas, and detecting illegal activities. The results gathered from the project will help to enforce environmental laws, better plan and manage roads, and carbon trading to encourage forest conservation. 
     I chose this article because I wanted to learn more about how the construction of roads is harming our environment. What I found interesting was the fact that in 2050 we will have more roads built that can circle the earth 600 times. I can connect this article to a reading in the AP Environmental book that talked about the human developments that caused habitat fragmentation which led to the decrease of biodiversity and resulted to inbreeding depression.  
     This article is important to environmental science because the development of roads is destroying natural habitats and decreasing wildlife. The next step is to continue the Roadless Project, and develop more environmental laws to protect the environment. We must now work our hardest to conserve habitats, and spread the word of the negative impacts human activities have on the environment.