Nature has provided us with bountiful resources. We are provided with food, water, energy, air, shade and sights of health and pleasure. We have harnessed the resources to lead us to path of development and at some point lost sight of the way we were going. Now we find these resources close to ending and we are trying to resolve the problem of sustaining this growth and development. This is where the necessity to conserve the natural resources comes in.
Natural resources are two types, replaceable and non-replaceable.
Replaceable
Replaceable resources are those that renew themselves or are unlimited, such as sunlight, wind and in places, even water. Some other resources are replaceable over time such as trees and forests. Using these resources is has no or low cost. Forests should be used in a planned way to be replaced as fast as their use by reserving lands for different stages of afforestation. Water resources need discretion before using as to the capacity to replace it, such as near ocean or coasts. Potable water is limited by nature and season so how it is used is a matter of planning. Most of the time, it is a resource to be used sparingly and needs conservation.
Non-replaceable
The non-replaceable resources include resources that have taken a long time to form. Replacing such resources is impossible in the short run. Fossil fuels are the biggest example of such resources. They have formed over millions of years. Coal, peat, natural gas, kerosene etc. are examples of fossil fuels. These resources have been the reason for such development as mankind has seen in the last decades. However, the reserves are limited and there is no possibility of renewing them in the near future. Thus there is an urgent need to conserve whatever still remains and to explore alternatives. Lithium and uranium can do the needful but only a little longer. Any resource that comes from the earth must end sometime unless ways are found in which they can be replaced very fast.
In the present state, the only way seems to be conserving these precious natural resources.
By Janhavi
EdgeArticles 