Humanity’s Impact: Natural Resources and Environment
Natural Resources and Their Importance
Our species needs energy to maintain its vital functions. Food contains the matter and energy we need to live. The welfare of present human society today requires many other needs that technology and industry are responsible for satisfying. Most living beings tend to adapt to their environment, but humans have a special quality that differentiates them: we have the ability to make tools and utensils that allow us to adapt more easily to the environment. These instruments allow us to have more rapid transport, upgraded homes, etc. Therefore, it is said that man has reached a biological success without precedent. To satisfy these needs, humans require resources.
What are Resources?
A resource is any raw material, factor, or substance that can be used by man to obtain goods and services. A natural resource is any natural substance in solid, liquid, or gas form that exists and is useful to humanity, and can be used to obtain goods and services.
Types of Resources
Water, energy, food, soil, minerals, and forestry are some examples of resources. They can be classified by analyzing their regeneration rate into renewable, non-renewable, and potentially renewable resources.
Environmental Impacts
An environmental impact is any modification in both the composition and the conditions of the environment introduced by human action, which transforms its natural state. The causes are:
- Changes in land use
- Pollution
- Changes in biodiversity
- Abandonment of human activities
Impacts are classified by the system they affect:
- Impacts on the atmosphere
- Impacts on water
- Impacts on the soil
- Impacts on life
- Impacts on relief
- Impacts on the landscape
According to their territorial extension, impacts can be:
- Local
- Regional
- Global
Humanity Through Time
Primitive Societies
Humans lived in groups that did not exceed 50 individuals. They learned to cooperate to find water and used solar energy as a source of light. Fire was a revolution in the utilization of energy resources such as wood. They fed on plants and animals they hunted. Their tools were made of stone and wood. They had a life expectancy of 30 years. Their environmental impact was mainly caused by fires.
Agricultural and Livestock Societies
Human societies became more sedentary, farming and raising domestic plants and livestock. Social groups increased, resulting in cities. They learned to handle pets for draft and utilized water and wind through mills. The discovery of metal involved the use of some materials that offered significant advantages. The most revolutionary tools were the plow, ax, wheel, and a multitude of weapons. The mill, Ferris wheel, and sailboat were important technical advances. They began to cultivate various species of plants and practice crop rotation. Livestock farming increased the number of domestic animals. All this resulted in an environmental impact on the fields, including deforestation and soil erosion. Urbanization brought occupation and long-distance trade.
They needed more food, building materials, and fuel. This led to deforestation, soil erosion, overgrazing, etc. Man lived against nature.
Industrial Age
In the mid-seventeenth century, the invention of the steam engine in England started the Industrial Revolution. This was the result of the depletion of forest resources and the discovery of coal as a new energy source. Cities grew through the installation of manufacturing plants with steam engines. This began a migration from the countryside to the city. Social groups were established, such as the bourgeoisie, represented by big industrialists and traders. Energy sources were based on the use of fossil fuels like coal, followed by oil and natural gas. The use of electricity and the construction of dams began. Agricultural and livestock production increased. The quality of life was uneven; industrial and mining areas had very poor sanitation, and life expectancy was significantly lower than in rural areas. The size of the human population began growing exponentially. The environmental impact increased in the form of air pollution, biodiversity loss, and accumulation of waste.
Technological Age
Advanced industrial societies started with other inventions like the combustion engine and electricity. Cities are getting bigger, and there are problems with waste production. Energy consumption increased, especially in non-renewable fossil fuel resources and mining. Water consumption is increasingly voluminous. In the technological aspect, the emergence of the internal combustion engine stands out. Communication and weaponry acquired a high degree of sophistication. The strong increase in agricultural productivity is due to the industrialization of agriculture, the green revolution, factory farming, and biotechnology. The intense production and enormous consumption stimulated by advertising created the so-called consumer society, improving health, nutrition, and hygiene. There is an increased birth rate and a gradual decline in the exponential growth rate. The environmental impacts are leading to an ecocrisis, with the exhaustion of certain natural resources, pollution, greenhouse gases, biodiversity loss, and increased desertification.