The earth has plenty of resources that people can use to meet their needs. The earth is a great place where both living and non living things can be found. Plants and animals are living things. Land, water and air are non living things. People use both living and non living things on Earth to satisfy their needs. The materials on earth that people use are called natural resources.
There are two types of natural resources on Earth; Renewable and Nonrenewable resources.
Renewable resources
Man needs both plants and animals to survive. All the food people eat come from plants and animals. The
plants (called crops) which people eat are replaced by new ones after each harvest. Farmers often take this task in order for us to survive. People also eat animals. Animals have the capacity to reproduce and are replaced when young animals are born. Plants and animals are resources that can be replaced. Water in a river or in a well may dry up. But when the rain comes the water is replaced. Water is a resource that can be replaced. They are called renewable resources.Renewable resources are those that can be replaced such as plants, animals and water. Plants and animals in their natural homes are called wildlife. Given enough time to reproduce, they are renewable resources. But if collected or hunted faster than they can reproduce, they will be completely wiped out on earth. In other words, they will become extinct.
Nonrenewable resources
Most plants grow in top soil. What do you think will happen to soil when there are rains and floods? Rains and floods wash away top soil. Can top soil be replaced easily? Soil comes from rocks and materials from dead plants and animals. It takes thousand of years for soil to form. Therefore, soil cannot be replaced easily. It is a nonrenewable resource.
There are rich supplies of iron and aluminum in the earth. But people are using them up fast. They have to dig deeper into the earth to get what they need. Coil, oil and natural gas are called fossil fuels. They were formed from plants and animals that lived on earth millions of years ago. They are buried deep in the earth and are harvested by man through oil rigs and mining. These fuels are used to produce electricity, machine fuels and other things to meet
their needs. People use much of fuel and so more fossil fuels are being used up. Scientist says that there will come a time when these fuels will be used up.It takes millions of years for dead plants and animals to turn into fossil fuels. When these fuels are used up, they cannot be replaced. They are called nonrenewable resources. Nonrenewable resources are those that cannot be replaced easily such as soil, coal, oil and natural gas.
How human destroy our Natural resources
Some people activities are harmful to both our renewable and nonrenewable resources. To build new roads, people blast off mountains killing both plants and animals. It also creates destruction to their natural habitat. Rice fields are turned into residential or commercial centers. People cut too many trees for lumber. When all the trees are gone, rains wash away the soil.
Industrialization brings people to build many factories. If not properly planned and maintain, this factories emits harmful waste materials that pollutes the soil, air and water. Too much mining and quarrying for the purpose of getting those precious metals and stones eventually erodes the soil. In farming, some farmers use too much chemical fertilizers. Too much fertilizer destroys the quality of the soil and is harmful to both human and animals. Burning plastics and garbage, and smoke belching cars also pollutes the air and contributes to global warming.
Points to ponder
Several days ago, I happened to watch an environmental eye opener video. It focuses on the effects of the destruction of earth's natural resources. It summarizes the destruction to both renewable and nonrenewable in two bold words: TOO MUCH!
"TOO MUCH. is taken from it!" and "TOO MUCH. is put into it!"
note: originally posted at Exposeknowledge.com under the same author.
If you find this article interesting, you might also want to read these:
http://expertscolumn.com/content/simple-ways-stop-global-warming
http://expertscolumn.com/content/saving-our-coral-reefs
http://expertscolumn.com/content/environmental-appreciation-and-concern
