Many of the earth’s natural resources are currently being used up faster than they can be replaced. The resources that are mined or drilled from under the earth’s surface take millions of years to form, while others life timber, seafood, fauna are being harvested/destroyed at such a rapid rate that it is impossible for regrowth and sustainability to be maintained.
What are natural resources?
As defined at Wikipedia: Natural resources (economically referred to as land or raw materials) are naturally forming substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified (natural) form. A natural resource’s value rests in the amount and extractability of the material available and the demand for it. The latter is determined by its usefulness to production.
Natural resources are mostly classified into renewable and non-renewable resources. Sometimes resources are classified as non-renewable even if they are technically renewable, just not easily renewed within a reasonable amount of time. Fossil fuels, for example, take millions of years to form and so are not practically considered ‘renewable’. Different non-renewable resources like oil, coal, natural gas etc. have different levels of demand from different sectors like transportation and residences with each resource specializing for each sector.
Other natural resources include soil, timber, minerals, wildlife and other goods harvested from the Earth. Both extraction of the basic resource and refining it into a purer, directly usable form, (e.g., metals, refined oils) are generally considered natural-resource activities.
Thus, mining, petroleum extraction, fishing, hunting, and forestry are generally considered natural-resource industries, while agriculture is not.
We must reduce our reliance on and usage of the natural resources that are still available, and further develop usage of those natural resources that are renewable, like solar and wind.
