Got Minerals? Essay

Did you know that the mining of iron started over one and a half billion years ago? It started in Minnesota at a place now called called Masabi Iron Range. When it first started we didn't get a lot of it, but over the years we have made technology that can help us mine in better and faster. The mining of iron was very profitable, but it was also very dangerous, the mining shafts they worked in could collapse.

The world is in a constant state of change, today’s decisions will affect the future of all species large and small, defining the ways in which society will continue to live. The essay “No New Worlds” written by Dr. Adrian Forsyth explores ideas associated with ever changing populations and states of the world. The essay describes the existence of humankind by their impacts on the surrounding environments. The reader is then introduced to the implications our world faces if these problems are not solved and additionally steps to solving these issues. Thus, both men and women need to take action to help or pay the consequences and protect the only world we have, planet Earth.

There are two types of minerals that we find in Earth - rock-forming and ore minerals.

Technological advancements and knowledge gained from the study of material science has provided endless opportunities for humans to progress and thrive. Minerals mined from the earth to create new materials have simplified many aspects of life for humans. One example of how material science simplified and improved life for humans is the discovery of steel. Steel made hunting and gathering significantly easier. New uses of earth’s natural resources increases as knowledge is gained and technology advances.

ou can only have so much good before it is all gone. Resource depletion is the biggest environmental issues known to man. As humans we’re using what we have to live, but we use more than we give out. Through science, we’re finally starting to understand that people are using too much of the resources and altering the face of the earth. If we’re not careful, these problems can’t be fixed.

These minerals are most commonly known as conflict minerals because many believe the trade for these minerals is funding the third world war. Most of the technology we can’t live without is funding a country that is tearing itself apart with war. In the Congo, women and young girls are being sexually traded for weapons, everyone is working hours longer than any of us have ever known, and these people are not being paid well enough for their work. All of these issues and more are being explained by many people across the country.

1. This article relates to environmental science because it discusses the humans in the environment and if precautions are not taken the resources will be eventually all used up, leaving no resources for the future overwhelming

According to our book Environmental Science for a Changing World, written by W.H. Freeman the environmental problems can be tremendously complex, and they are inclined to have numerous causes and each of them are challenging to approach. Therefore, when one party tries to give a response to an environmental problem, this will generate a different reaction to the other party, and our book called this as a “wicked problems”. Consequently, a wicked problem is a problem that is impossible to solve because of opposing ideas, and points of view of a determinate problem that are often hard to recognize. Moreover, our book stated that the biologist Jared Diamond identifies five factors that determine whether a society will succeed or fail these factors

Anthropogenic materials refer to anthropogenic deposits that are the by-products of human activity such as manufacturing, mining, construction, and the waste disposal or the creation of landfills. Materials manufactured by humans such as glass, plastics, or metal alloys are geological markers of a new era because they have never been seen before in the earth’s history. These are permanent geological markers which indicate migration of peoples and the changes in human history. Therefore they are representative of a new era in which humankind have started to alter their environment for their own benefit instead of adapting to the existing environment to survive. These markers are also indicative of a new era of innovation, the creation of materials previously non-existent i.e plastics, show that humans have altered resources and materials to create their own environment most favourable to them through the use of new technology and tools. These materials will be preserved and will be able to help future generations distinguish different time periods of human existence and the various geological status of the earth. Therefore, it is only logical to begin to classify a new era beginning at the time where these materials have begun to make their way into the stratigraphy of the

Uranium was discovered by Martin Klaproth in 1789. Klaproth was a German Chemist that discovered Uranium in a mineral call pitchblende. It was named after Uranus, the planet, which had been discovered eight years earlier. Uranium occurs in most rocks in concentrations of 2 to 4 parts per million and is common in the Earth’s crust. This highly density element is used in keels of yachts and as counterweights for aircraft control surfaces, as well as for radiation shielding. This element principal uses is in fuel for nuclear reactors and the main raw material for nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium is the waste product of uranium enrichment in nuclear reactors. It is the residue left in massive quantities when bomb-grade uranium is

Set out at Daylight proceeded on the Course of last night S 87° W 3 ms passed a Willow Island, from the Point of last Course S 81° W. 3 ms. to a pt. on S. S: passd a [blank] Isd. in the middle of the river, passd a run [2] on the Ld S: above a pt. of rocks 3 ms. on which thir is a number of Deer Licks, N 88° W. 3 Ms. to a pt L S: N. 83° W 2 ms. to the Mo of Mine River, [3] psd an Isd.— This river is 90 yards wide & navagable for Perogues about 90 Ms. I went out on the L S. about 4 ms. below this R. and found the Countrey for one mile back good Land and well watered the hills not high with a gentle assent from the river, well timbered with oake, walnit Hickory ash, &c. the land Still further back becoms thin and open, with

Geology is everywhere! We use items made from rocks and minerals all day and every day. Per the University of Oregon, the Natural History Museum states that it is estimated that every person in the United States will use more than three million pounds of rocks, minerals and metals during their lifetime. A mineral is an inorganic substance occurring chemical compound, usually of crystalline form that can be manipulated and used to make something else. A rock is the solid mineral material that forms on the earths surface, and in the ocean. We use different rocks and minerals based on the geologic timescale and the human time scale. Rocks and minerals are the building blocks of life. They make up materials, that we use every day unconsciously.

Present generations are reaping what their forefathers had sowed for them; future generations will reap what present generations have been sowing whether they like it or not. Past, present and future generations are dependent on each other’s choices. Technologies are zooming rapidly. Humanities prefer to overwork natural resources and often fell into technologies’ competitive temptations. Generations are getting smarter and innovative each day. New products are constantly changing to catch customers’ attention, while current products are still young and are not even ready to mature yet. While many are embracing technologies, few are concerned with the scars that have been embedded on natural resources. It is so easy to fall into the

While they make the general prediction about things getting better for mankind, they tend to avoid making specific and concrete predictions themselves about what solutions people will come up with. In Most of the book is consists of a large number of examples of solutions created or in development to help people move up the abundance pyramid and show the importance of the four tenets in mankind’s progress to abundance. Two authors do well in showing that predicting doom and gloom for humanity forces one to ignore the growth in the standard of

In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.