Reflection on Lecture Six- Environmental Resources

Our environment is the basis of everything. It is the basis of life, activity, and development. First of all, the environment is the space where each and every one of us lives in. No one can survive without the environment. Then again, an environment without resources will mean nothing. No organism can live without the resources which the environment provides with; water, food, air, and minerals. All in all, the environment and everything retaining to it are so important to us. We basically obtain everything from the environment and thus, should treat it with much care and concern. Yet, many of us are not doing so until the precious environment sends out signs and signals that it is stressed out and it is time that we look at how much harm we have brought onto it. 

Resources are classified into two types, mainly the renewable and the non-renewable resources. Few examples for each category are water, air, trees for the former, and fuel, arable land, and most minerals for the latter. Renewable resources are those that cannot be depleted because its base can generate flows indefinitely. On the other hand, non-renewable resources will clearly be depleted at some point in time, regardless how slow or little we use them. As long as we do not stop using them, the non-renewable resources will run out one day. With this understanding of our environment’s resources, it is crucial that we use it carefully to our needs. The key word is “carefully”. Is it not that we should not use the resources but use it with much care and consideration. The resources, especially the non-renewable ones should be used to produce and provide the maximum benefits and contributions, and to the extent that most people can benefit from the usage. Even when it comes to using the renewable resources, there should also not be intentional wastage and exploitation. Why is exploitation and wastage necessary anyway? It is out of a plain selfish thinking that one owns the resources and should use it to the fullest such that others will be deprived of it? This is a scary thinking but true enough, many people across the world holds this thinking. Blessed people in countries with access to rich resources exploit the advantage and assume that they are the rightful owner of the resources that are found within the borders. While people in regions that lack resources are supposed live with their misfortunes. This kind of belief is not acceptable and desirable at all!

In the real life, everyone is fighting for resources. People who have access to it yearn for more while people who lack resources struggle to survive. This is a very true illustration for the usage of fuel. Fossil fuel is said to be the most useful non-renewable resource. Unless someone can come up with using another mineral to generate energy more efficiently and effectively, fossil fuel will remain as the most essential and valuable limited resource to everyone. So why does fossil fuel, especially oil, stays as a strong demand amongst the world nearly seven billion people, and underpins the economy in every aspect? It is the most obtainable resource which can produce the most amount of energy as compared to how other resources like wind and gas do. About ten calories of fossil fuel can produce one calorie of food we eat. On the other hand, wind and water power use up to ten times more energy to produce the same amount of food as fossil fuel does.

 Watermill

Hence, it is more convenient and less time consuming to use fossil fuel for energy required for almost all forms of activities. Everything in the economy needs oil to operate. Transport, industry, and food all require oil in order to function. Therefore, it is no surprise that every country want to have abundance access to oil as this will mean profits and progress. This has then resulted in the rapid depletion of fossil fuel. With a greater world population and eagerness to develop, the consumption of fossil fuel since the last century is enormous, so much that our environment cannot continue to support at the current rate. Even the so called renewable resources are facing threats from the way we are using it. Sea water is highly polluted with human intervention. Trees are being cut down at a frightening rate that is above the replacement rate. It takes twenty years for a tree to mature. Yet people are chopping down trees much faster than planting can replace the hectares of trees lost. Are we not the scary and selfish creatures which pay no regards to the environment at all?