Renewable Resources: natural materials that can be replenished on timescales that are relatively short in comparison to the human timescale. However, if their levels are used too heavily, they may not be able to replenish and become nonrenewable. Pollution, growing cities, cultivation, grazing, deforestation, fishing and habitat destruction can destroy a renewable resource.
Pollution- Pollution can take a lot of renewable resources and transform them into nonrenewable like animals and trees. Toxic dumping of chemicals and waste into the ground can make water and soil turn into a nonrenewable resource. Air pollution can turn air into a nonrenewable resource.
Growing Cities- Urbanization pairs with other ways, like deforestation and cultivation, to end a renewable resource . Growing population causes us to use more of the resource and at faster rate. The spreading of cites destroy land in order to build buildings forcing out animals. Growing cities can destroy living resources like timber, plants, and animals. Growing cities also mean more pollution which effects water and air quality.
Cultivation and grazing- Over cultivation can use up good soil so much that is no longer a resource for that area. Growing too much on one plot of land causes the soil to be leeched of all its nutrients which leaves the soil useless. Over cultivation also uses a ton of water, pesticides, and herbicides to grow the crops. This leads to the pollution and loss of clean water. Overgrazing means that grazers, like cows and sheep, graze so much that it kills the plants which lead to erosion and loss of good soil. This can lead to flash floods and mudslides because there is no plants to hold the water.
Deforestation- The clear cutting of forest and the lack of replanting will cause the loss of forests and timber until new forests can grow back which an old-age forest can take hundreds of years to grow back. With the loss of forests, many animals will also be loss as they lose their homes which could have been used as a resource that just became a nonrenewable resource. Animals that are a resource includes animals that people hunt for food like deer and rabbit and animals that have items that we can use like beavers and foxes.
Fishing- Overfishing of fish can lead to the death of the species either by killing all the members or by destroying their breeding patterns. Since fish are an important renewable resource, it is important we make sure they are not over-fished. Over 100 million ton of fish is eaten each year and gives two billion people about 20 percent of their protein 1 .
Habitat destruction- The destruction of animal or plant habitat can cause the loss of valuable resources like plants that we can use for medicine and animals that we hunt. Habitat destruction includes deforestation and urbanization. We destroy animal’s homes as we cut up the land for timber or development.
Major renewable resources:
People- While people are not the first thought when someone thinks about natural resources, people are valuable resources. Humans are workers for mankind. We use people to do everything from cleaning to governing us. The chances of us running out of humans are quite low. However, in some areas there is a danger of running out of young people. Japan and several European countries have declining population. This means that there are older people than young people. This will become a big problem as the elders retire leaving more jobs than there are workers. We lose humans to disease, wars, and natural disasters.
Forests- Trees are a renewable resources that are used for many purposes. Trees are used for their wood, the fruits they grow, their sap, maple syrup, and the land that they grow in. Trees also store carbon dioxide and help control soil erosion with their mass system of roots. Some people use trees to hide their land from people or as windbreakers. In a sunny day, trees provide shade. In many countries, the original forest zones are gone. The majority of the world’s trees, less than 10 percent, are tropical rainforest in Latin American, Africa, and Asia Pacific and boreal forest in Russia, Canada, and Alaska. Only 8 percent of the forests are strictly protected 2. While some countries have started to replant trees that they cut down, they replant the same type of tree which reduces the biodiversity of the trees and leaves the forest open to be wiped out by one disease. Rainforest are being destroyed at an alarming rate and with the loss of the rainforest, we lose thousands of unknown species of plants and animals that could have had cures for diseases. Forest also supports a large diversity of animals that are being lost as the forest are being cut down or replaced by the same type of trees.
Forests- Trees are a renewable resources that are used for many purposes. Trees are used for their wood, the fruits they grow, their sap, maple syrup, and the land that they grow in. Trees also store carbon dioxide and help control soil erosion with their mass system of roots. Some people use trees to hide their land from people or as windbreakers. In a sunny day, trees provide shade. In many countries, the original forest zones are gone. The majority of the world’s trees, less than 10 percent, are tropical rainforest in Latin American, Africa, and Asia Pacific and boreal forest in Russia, Canada, and Alaska. Only 8 percent of the forests are strictly protected 2. While some countries have started to replant trees that they cut down, they replant the same type of tree which reduces the biodiversity of the trees and leaves the forest open to be wiped out by one disease. Rainforest are being destroyed at an alarming rate and with the loss of the rainforest, we lose thousands of unknown species of plants and animals that could have had cures for diseases. Forest also supports a large diversity of animals that are being lost as the forest are being cut down or replaced by the same type of trees.
Animals- Animals are also a renewable resource. Animals as a resource include domestic animals like cattle and sheep and to lesser extent wild animals. We use domestic animals for many products such as milk, meat, and wool. Since domestic animals are so useful, there is a small chance of us losing this resource. Wild animals as a resources are more likely to be lost since we are destroying their land and overall not taking care of them. We use wild animals as entertainment in zoo and sometimes for their meat and body parts.
Crops- Crops are a very important resource that we use to feed our world. Crops are plants we grow for consumption or other uses which include corn, wheat, tobacco, sugar, oats, and many more. More and more crops are becoming genetically modified. This means that scientists are changing the genes of crops so they grow faster, bigger, are disease resistant, need less water, or produce their own pesticides. However, some people have expressed worries about messing with the genes of crops. They worry that GMs will create a super weed that herbicides will not be able to kill. We will not lose crops as a resource instead we will lose the ability to grow them. Soil is a nonrenewable resource that without careful use we will lose. Water is another resource that we need to grow crops. We are losing water as a resource because we are not taking care of it. We need both soil and water to grow crops.
Crops- Crops are a very important resource that we use to feed our world. Crops are plants we grow for consumption or other uses which include corn, wheat, tobacco, sugar, oats, and many more. More and more crops are becoming genetically modified. This means that scientists are changing the genes of crops so they grow faster, bigger, are disease resistant, need less water, or produce their own pesticides. However, some people have expressed worries about messing with the genes of crops. They worry that GMs will create a super weed that herbicides will not be able to kill. We will not lose crops as a resource instead we will lose the ability to grow them. Soil is a nonrenewable resource that without careful use we will lose. Water is another resource that we need to grow crops. We are losing water as a resource because we are not taking care of it. We need both soil and water to grow crops.
Water- Water is a renewable resource that is in danger of becoming a nonrenewable resource. Water is being polluted and it takes a while for the water to become unpolluted with the help of bacteria and trees. If the water gets too polluted then it will be unable to purity itself in a humans lifetime making water a nonrenewable resource. We also take water from underground sources called groundwater. Groundwater itself is a nonrenewable resources because it takes so long to replenish. Groundwater takes a lifetime just to move a mile. Already we use using groundwater faster then it can be replenished and most of the groundwater is already polluted 3.
Sources
Check out to see areas where forests are lost or damaged:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/solutions/our-disappearing-forests/intact-forest-landscapes/
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| Area of Overfishing |
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| Carbon Dioxide(Pollution) |
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| Areas of Drought |
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