Humans have become the most dominant ecological force shaping Earth's ecosystems. Examples of manifestations of this dominance include increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide through the use of fossil fuels, levels of nitrogen fixation through biological nitrogen fixation, water consumption and their role in increasing animal extinctions. This dominance grew over time as the human population grew and technological advancements increased. According to Wackernagel and Rees (1996), the ecological footprint is a measure of the “load” imposed by a given human population on the environment and represents the area needed to maintain current levels of resource consumption which have increased significantly. According to Ian F. Spellberberg (2005), the global ecological footprint increased by 50% between 1970 and 1997. This correlates with the increase in the human population. Vitousek et al. We will introduce that human population size and resource use continue to grow due to businesses created by humans, such as agriculture, industry, recreation, and international trade. It highlights that human domination negatively affects land transformation, additions and losses of biotic organisms, and our global biogeochemistry. These changes are altering the climate and leading to the loss of our biological diversity. Additionally, Halpern et al. will explain that a negative impact on our ecosystems can have significant direct and indirect effects on ocean systems, which can have detrimental effects on ocean species. Gray supports the information from Halpern et al. stating that there has been an increase in the extinction of marine fish species and ocean biodiversity due to human interactions. Finally, Dulvy et al. offers a ...... middle of paper ...... on the extinction of marine populations. Conservation helps reduce the extinction of marine populations and MPAs help achieve goals more quickly. Humans are the most dominant ecological force shaping Earth's ecosystems. They affect the territory, the abiotic factors and the biodiversity of the species that live there. Vitousek et al. explained that humans dominate the Earth and negatively affect ecosystems. Halpern et al. explained that these negative pressures placed on ecosystems by humans, directly and indirectly, have an effect on ocean systems. Gray concluded that these human effects lead to a decrease in marine biodiversity and Dulvy et al. further explain that this is also causing an increase in marine extinction. According to Toonen et al., conservation can, however, be a start to help reduce the extinction of marine fish and help increase marine biodiversity again...