Resource depletion and global warming

Jonas
Hwa Chong Institution
Singapore

Global resources have been decreasing significantly in the 21st century. We need to use global resources to support our way of living but, as a result, our Earth is being destroyed. Today, I shall focus on two issues:

1. How has the Earth been affected by our use of global resources?
2. How can we save our world from resource depletion?

According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, resource is defined as something such as land, or minerals such as oil, or coal, that exists in a country and can be used to increase its wealth. Humans have been using non-renewable natural resources to a great extent. Forty five per cent of the world's original forest trees have disappeared in the 21st century. Sixty seven per cent of the world's natural resources, such as coal and oil, have been dug up from the Earth's lithosphere for the benefits of humankind. Our Earth is facing resource depletion! If this rate continues, our next generation will be facing a new Stone Age. Our next generation will not have enough resources to live on.

Humans have made natural resources their 'prey' and continue to hunt them down.

If every single tree in the world were to be cut down, our Earth's oxygen content will be that of our neighbouring planet, Mars, in 10 years' time. Statistics show that large areas of the tropical and temperate forests have already been removed. In 1990, 50 per cent of the world's tropical forests had been lost and about 60 per cent of the coniferous forest in Canada and 90 per cent in the USA were gone. If this rate continues, only 10 per cent of the Earth's forests will be able to survive to the year 2010. This will result in detrimental effects for humankind! There will be a lack of timber, which is used for fuel, building and construction, plywood, veneer and cellulose. Moreover, the forest provides us with products such as the bark of the cork oak for making mats and bottle stoppers, tannin for converting hides into leather, bamboos and rattans for making furniture and baskets, as well as medicines. However, we will not have all these products if forests are depleted. Moreover, the forests on Earth are a habitat for other species, such as monkeys and elephants, as well as for flora. We should think about them too: if we continue to log the forests, we are directly destroying their homes and habitats. Furthermore, there are many, as yet unknown, medicinal plants in the forests. When we log the trees or burn the forests, we are also destroying their medicinal value.

Apart from the trees and forests, human's next prey is the oil wells and coal found in the Earth's crust, the lithosphere. As we burn coal and oil, we are producing many harmful gases, which then pollute our atmosphere. These harmful gases, such as sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, destroy our ozone layer. Thus, there are many holes in our ozone layer, which is supposed to protect us from UV light rays. An example is Australia, where they experience immense heat waves and everyone in Melbourne needs to put on suntan lotion of at least level 30 UV protection, so that they will not suffer from skin cancer. The situation in Melbourne is that, as the ozone layer above it has been damaged, there is a high concentration of UV light rays from the sun.

Apart from Melbourne, as the Earth experiences a higher concentration of UV light rays that do not escape the Earth's atmosphere, the Earth's temperature has been increasing in the last 10 years by 0.1 degrees Celsius per annum. This is due to the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. With an increase in temperature, the ice caps in Iceland and the Antarctic are already melting. The Earth's water has risen significantly and this has greatly affected our lives. An example of this is London, where the sea level rises 5 cm every year. Thus, they had to build a dam so that it can defend London against the strong waves of the sea. If they had not already done this, London would have already been sunk by the rising sea level. Thus, global warming has affected every part of our lives. We not only have a higher risk of suffering from skin cancer, our countries may also be at stake. As the temperature of the Earth increases, ice caps are melting. At the same time, due to the high temperatures, many plant species are unable to function to their optimum. Moreover, there are constant forest fires in America, Canada and Australia. Trees are burnt and our beautiful nature has been destroyed. During my trip to Melbourne last December, I saw a forest of burnt trees. It was actually a victim of global warming. My cousin said, 'It was actually the most beautiful bit of nature in 2006.' Thus, we can come to conclude that humans prey and feast on the natural resources for their own benefit but this is not beneficial to the environment. It is harmful to the Earth.

We are inflicting damage on ourselves. Thus, we must take action and protect our planet. I will now address the issues on how we can save our resources for our next generation and on how we can protect our planet.

Firstly, if we continue to excessively use the natural resources that the Earth has provided us, there would certainly be resource depletion in 20 years' time. Thus, I suggest that we should all learn to conserve and use as few resources as possible. As students, we can play a major role in conserving energy and natural resources. We can make use of the three 'Rs' we learn in school by recycling, reusing, and reducing. We can start by recycling or reusing paper. Moreover, we can use paper bags instead of plastic bags and other non-biodegradable materials. As a student in Singapore, I would certainly advise all students in Singapore to use less air-conditioning. Use it when the weather in Singapore is really hot and humid. If it's not too hot, try to care for our planet Earth, by not using air-conditioning.

Secondly, I would like to propose an action across the globe. I hope that we can start to conserve energy and use fewer resources. We can use hybrid cars or fuel-saving cars. This will certainly save petrol and the oil and natural gases found in our planet. I propose that governments decrease the prices of hybrid and fuel-saving cars in order to encourage citizens to use these cars. Many citizens feel that as hybrid cars are more expensive, they are reluctant to use them. Thus, this policy should be applied across the globe from Brazil to China.

There are many ways to conserve global resources. As long as we show that we want to use fewer resources, the manufacturers will log fewer trees and will dig fewer oil wells. We have to protect our planet from resource depletion and global warming. This is not a job for any one individual; we have to work together to overcome the massive task ahead of us!

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