Biodiversity Crisis?

You are part of a group of scientists working to maintain the Earth's biodiversity. You are a well-known member of your community and a lot of people are aware of the work you do. Last Tuesday a member of your community came up to you while you were in the grocery store and told you that your work was pointless; you should give up now and find a new subject to study. You, of course, were shocked at that comment. However, the criticism did not stop there. Last Friday while you were attending the high school basketball game, another community member came up to you and, in front of a huge crowd of onlookers, told you that because there are millions of species in the world, losing a few of them here and there is not a big deal; you should switch your research to something that really matters, like searching for a cure for cancer. Again, you are indignant. You ask the crowd of onlookers how many agree with this community member. The vast majority agreed that you are wasting your time studying biodiversity. You are beginning to wonder if your community members are correct. Is there really a point in working to save biodiversity? The first thing you do at work on Monday is tell your fellow scientists about the comments you have received over the last week. Together, you discuss the comments and come to a conclusion about biodiversity. After your discussion you realize you need to go to the community and let the people know what you think about biodiversity and the future of your studies. What are you going to tell the community?