Natural Resources and Energy Paper

Natural Resources and Energy Paper Spechelle Jones, Cherrie Chicaletto, Robert Hernandez, Jamie Hughes SCI/256 October 13th, 2010 The world is growing at a rate of speed of 2. 8 people per second and losing 1. 6 acres of land per second in accordance with an article last month titled Environmental Impacts from Unsustainable Population Growth on the World Population Awareness website. World Population Awareness is an organization concerned with recent problems of as well as solution ideas to popular global warming theories caused directly by overpopulation of the world. (World, 2010).In addition to all natural resources on this planet fading away, there is an ever growing apprehension with the number of species of wildlife and the respective habitats of each. All over the world, nature preservation parks have been constructed just so a small group of people can be accountable to enforce certain guidelines for that preserve which support and ensure safety of life within that area. With more and more natural resources required to maintain our â€Å"natural† function of life, it is inevitable that the natural resources will run out sometime. It is only a question of when.E. O. Wilson said, â€Å"The one process ongoing †¦ that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us. † This theory has been the fuel for the modern â€Å"Go Green† campaign. Individuals everywhere have formed organizations promoting new resources that do not compromise the state of our planet. Ideas are being televised worldwide to educate people and suggest new ways of heating our homes or washing our clothes with a new detergent.With this in mind, it could only be a matter of time before the government requires everyone to follow certain procedures for the disposal of waste or building a house. Suddenly, it just does not seem s o important anymore that the government may be infringing on our rights as an American citizen to force regulatory guidelines. Taking the place of this common concern, is a universal interest and effort to save our planet for the sake of our children. Renewable forest resources are declining due the increased use of nonrenewable forest resources.Coal and natural gas are two examples of nonrenewable forest resources. These resources are nonrenewable because they cannot be recycled. The high abundance of coal and natural gas hit its peak one hundred years ago, after sitting under the earth for more than an estimated one million years. The supply of coal and natural gas is nearly gone due to excessive use of the resources in the past century. The coal and natural gas is not renewable; these resources are causing pollution to the ocean and all waters alike.Extracting natural gas and oil from forests for energy source is convenient to humans, but the environment is suffering as well as t he natural resources that are part of the local ecosystem of the forest. The forest resources were so abundant; however the transformation to these natural lands is irreversible. The forests can provide natural resources for centuries to come (Derr, 2007). Proper management of these resources is necessary for renewable forest resources. Water, air and paper are all examples of renewable forest resources.However, once these resources are polluted by the other resources; it is much more difficult to recycle them. In many cases, it is just too late to recycle those items because of the high amount of pollutant they had sustained. Carbon Dioxide is recycled into clean oxygen by plants and trees. Since many trees are being cut down and burned, more charcoal is being produced; which is a nonrenewable resource. The trees are being cut down, which can leave renewable forest resources.However, many of the trees in these big forests have been growing for thousands of years. The strength and p ower of these trees is impossible to regain. The trees have been putting clean oxygen into the air for thousands of years. New trees begin growing each year with the seeds from those who were cut down. None of those trees will have near the amount of power and/or shelter important to the surrounding ecosystem like those who had been growing for hundreds of years. It is vital to the local ecosystem of the forests that the trees remain.Animals do not want paper for shelter, nor can paper produce clean air to breath. It is important that the natural resources be taken care of, too much of the natural resources are depleting too quickly.References Derr, A. (2007). RENEWABLE RESOURCES. Boys' Life, 97(3), 38. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database. World Population Awareness. (2010). Environmental Impacts from Unsustainable Population Growth. Retrieved from Google at http://www. overpopulation. org/impact. html. Natural Resources and Energy Paper Natural ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals, and microorganism in an area functioning together with all the non-living physical of the environment which plants and animals are dependent upon one another, and their particular surroundings-for survival. Natural ecosystems make up the planet on which we live as well as the entire universe. They are dynamic and interconnected. An ecosystem is a collection of all plants, animals, microorganisms, bacterium, and fungus as well as the non-living components that function together as one unit in a given area (The Ontario Plan, 2011). Living and non-living things intertwine with each other in a natural ecosystem. San Diego’s wetland is an example of a natural ecosystem. In this paper it will discuss about the effects that a growing human population may have impacted on San Diego’s wetland’s resources, including loss or harm to populations of wild species. It would also discuss one management practice for sustainability and conservation of natural resources. Also to identify the risks and benefits of extracting or using one resource from this ecosystem, or in any areas near this ecosystem. Effects of Human Population Coastal Wetlands are one of many endangered habitat in the world, only next to tropical rain forests. It is said that in the United States there are estimated more than 50% of wetlands have been severely altered or destroyed. San Diego wetland is the most threatened resource on the California coast. By 1900, wetlands have been affected by human activities. Wetlands everywhere have been filled in for human developments such as housing, industrial plants, and airport. They have been dredge for use as canals, waterways, and marinas. Highways are over the streamside canyons and cut right through coastal marshes, causing habitat fragmentation (Sea World, 2002). Loss and harm to population of wild species Between 1990 and 2000 wetland loss was approximately 24 square miles per year, which is one football field lost every 38 minutes. The loss over the next 50 years with current restoration efforts is expected to be 500 square miles. Human activities cause wetland degradation and loss by changing water quality, quantity, or flow rates resulting increasing pollution and change the makeup of species within a habitat. These changes occur when wetland ecosystems are disturbed or non-native species are introduced to a habitat. Wetland plants can suffer as a result of both pollution and hydrologic changes. Other ways wetland plants can be damaged are cattle and other livestock grazing, introduction of non-native plants that compete with native plants and removal of plants to use land for other human development. Management for sustainability and conservation In the 1970s and 80s state and federal agencies, together with many private conservation groups, spent millions of dollars to purchase San Diego County wetlands to establish wildlife preserves. As a result, most of the county’s wetlands are publicly owned. This has largely stopped the filling, dredging, and other direct destruction of the wetlands, but they are still suffering from the erosion and sedimentation caused by upstream development. The City of San Diego has recently restored seven acres of salt marsh on the north end of Mission Bay, which expands the wetlands of Mission Bay Northern Wildlife Preserve. The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project aims to acquire more than 1,500 acres, and to restore or enhance more than 500. In San Diego County the Project includes 20 acres of restored salt marsh in the Tijuana River Estuary (Sea World, 2002). Nonrenewable and renewable energy Oil and coal are currently the most used forms of nonrenewable energy. Coal is a combustible material that comes from the earth. It is obtained from mining and is the most difficult resource to get. Oil is another combustible energy obtained from drilling, although unlike coal, once the hole is drilled the oil can be pumped out of the hole. This makes it easier and more cost effective to gather oil then coal (Oracle ThinkQuest, 2011). No risk or benefit found by extracting or using a nonrenewable type of resources. Renewable energy is energy that automatically replenishes itself from ongoing natural processes. For example, sunshine, wind, flowing water, biological processes, and geothermal heat flows are creators of usable renewable energy (Oracle ThinkQuest, 2011). Wetlands cannot use any of none or renewable energy because wetlands are very sensitive that anything alien expose or introduce to it would lead fragmentation or even damage. View as multi-pages