NATURAL RESOURCES DEPLETION
Natural resource depletion is a global environmental issue that threatens the livelihoods of billions of people on our planet. Natural resource depletion is caused by poor environmental human practises and mismanagement. It has an impact on the health of our planet and all of its species, including humans. The solution is to modify human behaviour and modernise technology in order to be environmentally friendly. Natural resource depletion is a global environmental issue that threatens the livelihoods of billions of people on our planet.
Natural resource depletion is caused by poor environmental human practises and mismanagement. It has an impact on the health of our planet and all of its species, including humans. The solution is to modify human behaviour and modernise technology in order to be environmentally friendly.
The vast majority of natural resources used in our society are critical to our survival and way of life. However, natural resource depletion is an environmental issue that has only become more prominent in the last half-century or so. The reason for this is that our standard of living has greatly improved, but at the expense of harming our planet. This is more apparent than ever as the climate crisis worsens, our oceans become more polluted, and our natural resources deplete. That being said, there is much we can all do to ensure that our natural resources are preserved. Let us investigate the causes, consequences, and solutions to natural resource depletion.
Various government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Department of Justice, and the United States Department of Agriculture, regulate natural resources. Furthermore, private individuals, corporations, and various land trusts own natural resources.
Causes of Natural Resource Depletion
It's easy to forget how much our daily actions contribute to the environmental issues that plague our planet. The causes of natural resource depletion are numerous and complex, but they all stem from human activity or inactivity.
To better understand this, consider how the industrial revolution altered our way of life. We saw an economic boom in our society and an overall improvement in the livelihoods of all people on our planet as we began to develop technology that was heavily reliant on natural resources during this period.
While this revolutionised the way humans view and interact with the natural world in many positive ways, there were unintended consequences that are beginning to be felt today as our natural resources become depleted or polluted. Because there are so many things that humans do that contribute to natural resource depletion, we need to dissect all of the negative actions we take as a civilization.
Once we've identified all of the causes of natural resource depletion, we can start making changes in our society to help us sustain these valuable - and often fragile - resources. To better understand this, let's look at what's causing this environmental problem.
1) Technology that is out of date
Much of the technology we use in the modern age has a lot of remnants of 19th & 20th-century innovation, which is simply outdated for our society. This type of technology is used in almost every sector of society and has become ingrained in our lives, which makes suggesting a modernised change difficult, if not controversial.
Unfortunately, many of the industries responsible for this have lobbyists who use political influence to oppose environmental action and progress. This makes it difficult to pass legislation that favours updating outdated technology that contributes to the depletion of our natural resources. Our reliance on oil and natural gas for societal functionality is one of the leading causes of natural resource depletion. Our energy requirements are almost entirely met by harvesting non-renewable natural resources, all of which have an expiration date.
2) Consumerism
One of the primary reasons our natural resources are depleting at such a rapid rate is not always what we do, but how we do it. Our western way of life is very taxing on our environment and depletes our natural resources.
This is because in order for capitalism to thrive, we must be avid consumers who support the system. This results in a lot of marketing and advertising, which persuades the general public to want things they don't technically need. This type of consumerism causes us to consume far more natural resources than our planet can support.
At the end of the day, consumerism is directly and indirectly driving resource depletion because it is intertwined with so many aspects of society. Banking and credit institutions profit from consumerism by providing us with credit, leaving many people in debt. This type of enabled consumerism only contributes to the depletion of our natural resources.
3) Deforestation
The United States, like every other country on the planet, participates in the deforestation of natural resources. Cutting down trees for economic prosperity is necessary in our society, but it is frequently done in an unsustainable manner, resulting in the depletion of this vital natural resource.
Deforestation occurs as a result of urban development, infrastructure, public access, and logging. While deforestation is required for many of these functions, we have a habit of mistreating our forests with little regard for the environment. The logging industry is primarily responsible for this. We risk depleting this natural resource if we prioritise profits over sustainability.
Furthermore, many natural environmental factors contribute to deforestation. Wildfires continue to rage across our country and much of the rest of the world at an alarming rate. In recent years, there have been record-breaking wildfires in California, Australia, Russia, and the Amazon Rainforest, causing millions of acres of forested lands to burn.
While human-caused wildfires are rare, humans do contribute to the problem by contributing to the climate crisis, which makes wildfires more common and larger in size.
4) Contamination of Resources
Some of our resources are frequently depleted as a result of poor human action and response. When we harvest or use a resource, we risk not only physically depleting it, but also contaminating it through pollution. We frequently see resource contamination in the oil drilling industry and when harvesting other natural resources. When we harvest non-renewable resources, we endanger any other resources that may be harmed by the process.
Freshwater channels and oceans are frequently polluted when something goes wrong during the harvesting process, such as leaks and spills. This then jeopardizes all surrounding resources to pollution.
Furthermore, we see resource contamination in industrial farming. Large-scale farms have contributed to the depletion of natural resources such as soil by employing ineffective farming techniques that cause soil infertility. These farms accomplish this in a variety of ways. It is common for resources to be depleted not only as a result of unsustainable practises, but also as a result of pollution caused by the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides, as well as farm runoff.
5) Population
Over the last two centuries, our global human population has grown from one billion to eight billion. This is a staggering increase, as we have increased our population significantly more in the last 200 years than we have in our entire existence on our planet.
Given the level of demand and strain on our environment, this is especially concerning for our natural resources. Governments and industries must adapt to overpopulation in order to deal with this societal issue. This means that more natural resources must be used to sustain all of humanity on our planet.
Overpopulation makes our natural resources even more vulnerable because we not only contribute to depletion by harvesting resources for survival, but we also have greater material desires than ever before.
Our society is obsessed with buying things we don't need, whether it's fast fashion, food demands, or any other non-essential material good. While this is primarily a result of consumerism, our overwhelmingly large population exacerbates the depletion of natural resources needed to support our way of life.
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