The Environmental Degradation Of Natural Resources

Using named examples, assess the potential for water supply to become a source of conflict. (15)

In the past recent years, the depletion of the natural resources has become the area of major attention throughout the world. These resources include the fossil fuels, minerals, natural vegetation, animals, air, water, sunlight, soil, etc. The rate of its consumption is increasing day by day. This ultimately leads to the ceasing of the resources to the earth’s crust. The rising demand of these resources has led to a limited supply of these resources which has serious impacts to environmental damages like air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution and the depletion of the ozone layer. Thus, there is an urgent need for mainly the industries to find an alternative approach reducing its unwanted effect on the environment.

Climate change is arguably the greatest threat to humanity and the worst of it’s effects are fast approaching. It is the basis of a myriad of problems, one of which is water scarcity. As the world population grows and the climate warms, demand for fresh water has surged-- with water scarcity affecting more than 40 percent of the global population (United Nations, 2010). Conversely, the world’s fresh water supplies are dropping. Water is indispensable to biotic existence. While it aided in humankind's creation, it can also aid in its downfall. Bearing these elements in mind, one can consider the implications of this water crisis: What are the threats to its quality? Who will it affect? Is water a right or a commodity? What are the social, economic, and political variables and how do they connect? And ultimately, how can we fix this? Throughout my research I seek the answers to these critical questions.

This money is being used to build a second dam, after the successful $68 million dam that split the sea into two and already filling the northern sea up. Although this has seen fishermen’s business improve along with returning rain, the problem on the Uzbekistan border is yet to be solved with the southern sea still shrinking. The economy of Uzbekistan is struggling to fix this problem as their economy heavily depends of cash crops which are not being produced due to the lack of water and irrigation of cotton fields. An additional problem for Uzbekistan is that their headwaters are controlled by other countries. This problem is exacerbated by the part of the world they’re in and any change could easily trigger conflict from neighbouring countries. To conclude, although large water management schemes due in some cases increase water security for the intended target destination, there are many other factors which need to be considered deeply to evaluate whether the economic costs as well as the environmental and social costs are worth sacrificing for what the project will

How do countries in the Middle East and North Africa manage their water resources? List an example of an area where water has become a source of conflict in the region.

“Water has always been man’s most indispensable natural resource” (Solomon 3). Despite its substantial nature, water has frequently been misallocated, mismanaged, misused and undervalued by a great number of societies in the civilized world. In accordance with Solomon, the civilization has reached a global crisis point in terms of both quality of water and its quantity. Both in water-poor and water-rich communities, people are now directly positioned in water scarcity age. Although, the book “Water: the Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power and Civilization” ensures a timely warning for modern societies that all would receive benefit from a less careless water treatment, but the author argues that “while the risk of water war in this most thirsty and politically combustible of regions is high, it is not inevitable. The existential threat posed by water scarcity is so palpable that it generates opposing cooperative instincts for mutual survival as well” (Solomon 412), but it is hard to agree with the position of the author on this question, as it is well-known fact that the Middle East area is an extremely conflict war zone, where water may become one of the apples of discord and initiate a new war.

Water can be considered the most important nonrenewable resource in the world. Every human across the world needs it in order to live and it carries a lot of value. The world is now at a stage where the scarcity of water is making people nervous because groundwater is at an all-time low. Several wars over the years have arisen in the Middle East for water. Desert is the many land condition that rules over the Middle East which means drier air, sand, and minimum water available. This is not a light issue since blood is being spilled over the control of certain rivers and dams within the area. Tension over control for water sources will only worsen as fresh water availability decreases.

water scarcity is the biggest threat to our food security. agriculture uses about 70 percent of all our freshwater from rivers every single year from around the world. river water is used to irrigate farms and feed billions of people around the world. the level of threat to the ongoing supply of fresh water available depends on the place. river systems and the water that the farmers capture store and distribute are the most threatened natural environments on earth. an increasing demand for water is by far the most common threat to food security around the world. with so much water being used it is easy to run out of the water what makes the crops die of dehydration.

Water scarcity is a challenge to international stability because water is vital to survival. Water scarcity is an insufficient supply of water, whether caused by climate change or mismanagement, which leads to unmet water needs in a geographic area or within a population. The scarcity of water in one region can have international implications. For example, a scarcity of water in one part of the world can drastically drive up the price of foods in another area.3 Countries sharing the same water supply are more likely to experience conflict as the need for water increases.4 In order to sustain the current rate of population growth, the world will require a forty percent increase in clean water by 2030.5 The threat of not having enough clean water can create international instability because governments will be forced to compete for natural resources.6

The disparity and divide among various levels of the society locally and globally are rooted in many factors. Unfortunately, growing effects of globalization appear to widen the abyss between the rich and poor, leaving no hopes that eventually the world could collectively and uniformly prosper and poverty would be completely eradicated. The natural resources are not evenly distributed on the various continents on the planet Earth. While some countries enjoy the wealth and prosperity as a result of abundant resources, such oil and natural gas reserves, others are stricken by natural disasters and persistent droughts, having no access to clean water, fertile soil, or any sustainable means of existence. Blaming eruption of violence and flourishing

and UK. Policies such as the eliminating the agricultural subsidies in African countries for in turn more lending to the local government to peruse more favorable conditions for debt negations. Tactics like these have lead expansive instances of drought and suffering on the African continent. This being one of the supporting examples among many throughout the article on the mismanagement, abuse and outright corruption within the World Bank as well the public sector organizations solely responsible for maintaining, improving and ensuring clean drinkable water for their populations. To correct this Gold man petitions for the privatization of water, due to its ever growing scarcity from the misuse and wastefulness of the public sector and the ever growing demand. This in how the author predicts that in the near future for us that water will become a more war provoking commodity than

The lack of water can cause wars and fighting among countries. Water will become more important than anything else when there is no more water. In the Article “ Why global water shortages pose threat of terror and war”, Susan Goldenberg wrote “At an international water conference in Abu Dhabi last year, Crown Prince General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan

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.

While human fertility does appear to be declining, world population is expected to reach ten times that of year 1800, with an expected 10 billion people by the late 21 century (Bongaarts 2009). An increase in human population and related natural resource depletion and environmental degradation are cause for global concern. There are a number of challenges to managing natural resources given the increases in human population today and into the future. The relationship between population growth and environmental degradation is apparent in the increasing energy demands, air and water pollution and loss of biodiversity. Additionally important is the necessity to maintain sustainable food crops for growing populations. Meeting the needs of a growing population has enormous bearing on how and where this resource retrieval will affect biodiversity and the sustainability of natural resources. Increasing global human population will have interchanging effects on ecosystem services; create difficulties in the ability to produce adequate levels of sustainable food through crop production and hunting; place increasing pressures on land for human habitation; create a greater potential for human-wildlife conflict; and most urgently, increase the potential for climate change effects as a result of human-induced activities that result in emissions of greenhouse gases.

The mining industry has seen an explosive growth from the past few decades. It has played an important role in economic growth, infrastructure development and a raise in the living standard of the whole world. According to the Australian National Accounting System, the mining sector has made contributions of 9.8% GDP growth to the Australian economy between 2008 to 2009 (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2012). However, the mining industry has caused many environmental issues such as adverse effect to air, land and water quality and continues to affect global environment as a whole. According to the World Health Organization, it evaluated that 25% of worldwide death are directly associated with environmental pollution (Blacksmith Institute, n.d). This essay will outline the environmental issue raised by the mining industry with pinpoint focus on the effects to air, water and land. It will also provide strategies for mining companies to improve the environmental conditions.