Depletion of natural resources: causes and consequences

As we mentioned at the beginning, there are two types of natural resources :

• Renewable resources are those that are recovered after reuse, since they are capable of being restored at a speed greater than that of their consumption. It is true that some renewable resources, such as the sun or wind, are totally renewable, but there are also some resources, such as water or trees, which can only be defined as potentially renewable if they are consumed and exploited responsibly. . However, activities such as deforestation or the inability to make water drinkable make the depletion of potentially renewable resources possible .
• On the other hand, the depletion of non-renewable resources is due to the fact that they are renewed at a lower rate than they are exploited, so there will come a time when they are completely exhausted.

To learn more about What are natural resources and their types and What is the importance of natural resources , do not miss these other articles.

There are many causes of resource depletion, here are some of them:

• The constant increase in the world population and the great technological development that has been taking place throughout history to this day, has required the use of the resources present in nature that are increasingly varied and in greater quantities, mainly the resources energy the most demanded.
• The consumer model of life and overpopulation demand a large number of products and as a consequence a greater exploitation of raw materials, most of them from non-renewable sources of resources.
• The use of single-use products such as disposable plastic, in addition these later are not at least recycled.
• Programmed obsolescence, that is, a system that makes electronic devices have an expiration date. Every time electronic devices have less duration, in order to force the consumer to buy new products.
• The energy , life ever going to a lifestyle more technological and virtual, making use of large amounts of energy.
• The unnecessary use of vehicles, there will come a time when there are not enough oil reserves for fuel.
• The indiscriminate felling of trees to use the land for other uses such as urban, agricultural, livestock or industrial.

We recommend you read this other article on Overexploitation of natural resources .

The scarcity of natural resources can have great consequences for both planet Earth and all its living beings. These are some of the effects of the depletion of natural resources :

• Fragmentation and destabilization of ecosystems.
• Extinction of species of animal and plant origin.
• Contamination of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, it is a reality that these are seriously contaminated by plastic waste, among others, which as a consequence are a threat to marine and terrestrial species.
• The depletion of irreplaceable resources such as the lack of drinking water creates social conflicts, in addition to affecting people’s health.
• Impact on the capitalist and social system that we currently know.

Here are some solutions to avoid depletion of natural resources :

• Find energy substitutes that are inexhaustible and clean, among them are solar energy, tidal energy or solar energy.
• Promote waste management systems, with the aim of being able to recycle all possible materials to be used in the production of other products without the need to acquire new raw materials.
• Ecodesign, development of products that are produced with raw materials from renewable resource sources.
• Prohibition of planned obsolescence, and bet on technologies that are more durable, surely at home they still have some technological device that was developed 10 years ago that continues to work.
• Change of the economic system, moving from the capitalist economic system to the circular one, in which reduction, reuse and reuse are chosen.
• Educate the population on the basis of a sustainable and responsible consumption that is presented to future generations.