This document discusses natural resources and the need for conservation. It notes that natural resources are being depleted faster than they can be replenished. If consumption continues unchecked, key resources like water, oil, and forests will be depleted in the coming decades, leading to shortages and ecological harm. The document advocates for sustainable practices and population control to conserve resources for future generations.
2. NATURAL RESOURCES
Anything in the environment which can be used is called
a ‘Natural Resource’. Some our important Natural
resources are : Forests and wildlife, water, coal and
petroleum.
The natural resources are a tool of development (or
advancement) for human beings but it should be
Sustainable development. The development which meets
the current basic human needs and also preserves the
resource for the needs of future generations, is called
sustainable development.
3.
4. NECESSITY OF CONSERVING NATURAL
RESOURCES
We need to conserve natural resources because there isn't an evidence that
these resources are going to last for a long time, considering man's usual
consumption of these resources. There will come a time that there are some
natural resources that will be gone [especially non-renewable ones and ones
that are in high demand] and humans have to thrive in order to find
alternative resources for the ones that have been lost. And that specific
task is not an easy one because there may be a possibility of unavailability
or scarcity of it. Conserving natural resources reduces the rapid depletion
of biodiversity and it maintains the balance of the undisrupted ecology.
5. Conservation of natural
resources is now usually
embraced in the broader
conception of conserving
the earth itself by
protecting its capacity for
self-renewal. Current
thinking also favors the
protection of entire
ecological regions by the
creation of “biosphere
reserves”.
6. MEANNG OF CONSERVATION OF
NATURAL RESOURCES
Conservation of natural resources, the
wise use of the earth's resources by
humanity. The term conservation came
into use in the late 19th cent. and
referred to the management, mainly
for economic reasons, of such valuable
natural resources as timber, fish,
game, topsoil, pastureland, and
minerals, and also to the preservation
of forests (see forestry), wildlife (see
wildlife refuge), parkland, wilderness,
and watershed areas.
7. YOU CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE:
It may seem like there is nothing you can do as an individual to stop the
factors that are depleting our natural resources. But you can do something.
If every person contributed to the conservation of our natural resources and
reducing their CO2 emissions footprint, we can make a difference:
Reduce carbon dioxide emissions by buying energy efficient appliances.
Cycle, walk or use public transportation whenever possible.
Save trees by going paperless or by using only recycled products.
8.
9.
10. CONSEQUENCES OF DEPLETION OF
NATURAL RESOURCES
PRESENTSCENARIO:
Are we using up more than what is available?
Our current global population is 7.2 billion and growing. (1) Earth’s total
resources are only good for 2 billion people at the current demand. Let’s do
the math, and it is obvious that the result is a negative.
The way we’re living, we are already using 2 to 3 times more of the
Earth’s natural resources than what is sustainable. If we do not act now, we
will see the consequences of depletion of natural resources – and it’s not
going to be pretty. A desolate, dry Earth is not a fun place to live.
12. OUR NATURAL RESOURCES ARE RUNNING OUT:
What are the top 3 natural resources being depleted and what are the
consequences?
1. WATER:
What will we drink without water?
Only 2.5% of the world’s total water volume is fresh water. Of that 2.5%, 70% is frozen.
The depletion of our water resources is more serious that the current oil depletion.
There are substitutes for oil but nothing can replace our drinking water.
70% of the available fresh water that remains in used in agriculture, 20% in industry and
only 10% is being used for human consumption. (3)
CAUSES: Increased irrigation, increased use in agriculture, roads and infrastructure
prevent water seepage in the soil, rising temperatures
CONSEQUENCES: Drinking water shortage. Food Shortage. Famine.
13. 2. OIL:
Nothing can be moved, manufactured, transported, built, planted,
mined or harvested without the liquid fuels that we get from
petroleum.
Oil reserves are a non-renewable resource.
Oil accounts for 40% of all energy we use.
EIA's International Energy Outlook 2013 shows that we have
enough Oil to last for 25 years.
Efforts are underway to develop cheaper and more sustainable
energy such as solar power, wind power and other forms of renewable
energy that can replace oil and fossil fuel.
CAUSES: Industrial boom, Increased population, Wastage.
14.
15. 3. FORESTS::
Imagine a world without trees.
An estimated 18 million acres of forests are destroyed each year.
Half of the world’s forest has been cleared.
Deforestation contributes 12 to 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions
annually.
Trees absorb greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide.
They produce the oxygen we breathe.
Forests are the habitats of millions of species.
CAUSES: Urbanization, Illegal logging, Agriculture, Subsistence Farming.
CONSEQUENCES: Soil erosion, Global Warming caused by the rise of
greenhouse gases- Extinction of species and loss of biodiversity. Flooding and
drought.
16. MAIN CAUSE:
If we see the whole scenario, it becomes obvious that the root cause of all
These problems is human overpopulation.
The Earth has enough resources to support only FOUR BILLION people
at present rates of consumption. The Earths population is 7.5 billion now.
All measures to conserve natural resources are meaningless without
controlling population growth.
In the end this is the only measure which can efficiently conserve natural
resources
17. EXTINCTION OF SPECIES
Extinction can be defined as a situation in which a certain kind
of species is continuously poached and hunted such that it is no
longer available on Earth. Extinction of species can be considered
as an important consequence of depletion of resources as if
resources get depleted then type of species dependent on that
resource would also get depleted along with it. For eg: The
passenger pigeon’s traditional habitat was large forests of North
America. As settlers cleared the forests for farmland, the
pigeons turned to the new fields for subsistence and got extinct.