World Resources

Authors Avatar
Introduction

In the 1960s, one photograph changed the way world leaders, scientists and the general population thought about the management of the world's resources. People became concerned about the world's resources running out. This photograph was our Earth. When world leaders saw this photograph taken from space, the world looked for the first time the world looked small and finite, this is because there is so many people on this planet and there needs to be consideration on what resources we use, and how much we use of them. The term 'spaceship earth' is applied here to describe how people felt about the Earth's resources...they were limited just as a spaceship has limited reserves of air, water and food. Before world leaders were in illusion thinking that the world's resources were in abundance.

Some resources are non renewable meaning that after they run out there is no way of replacing them, and they only reform after millions of years these resources are called fossil fuels. There are three types of fossil fuels (crude oil, coal and natural gas). These resources are the resources the world should be concerned about and therefore use it sparingly. However the fossil fuels although the most important are not the only non renewable resources, others include food and forests. There are other resources called renewable energy sources which are starting to be developed such as biomass and wind power which takes the earth's natural processes such as wind and through certain mechanisms covert it into energy which can be used for electricity.

So in answer to the question, the fossil fuels are the most important world resources, however there are other non renewable world resources that have to be carefully used otherwise certain things couldn't happen, for example imagine what the world would be like without out any wood.

When the first maps of the world were created, many parts of the world were not discovered and therefore because society in that day and age believed in sea creatures and mermaids and other such things, everyone thought two things, firstly that at the end of the world was limitless and secondly that at the end of the worlds there were sea monsters. The first maps of the world were flat. Naturally many incorrect assumptions had been made, the world was not limitless and of course no sea monsters. However as countries began to be discovered the world seemed to become limitless and powerful. People began to have a care free attitude about the resources because they thought they would never run out.

Things started to go downhill when it was discovered that the world was actually round, people started to believe that the world was not limitless, however they still remained in the delusion that the world's resources were not going to run out any time soon and then therefore continued with their care free attitude. It was not until the 1960's that people began to get worried about the world's resources and decide to do something not to waste electricity (which in theory is the product of fossil fuels). This diagram shows how many people began to care about the world.

Background

There are two main official views in regard to the world's resources running out. These are optimists and pessimists:

Optimists View

Optimists believe that the world's resources are eventually going to run out, but we can delay that happening, and our future is not doomed. Because the is such talk and media coverage of the world's resources running out optimists hope that people will alter their lifestyle and take certain measures to delay the world's resources running out such as turning their computers off at night. Optimists also believe because of advanced technology and science, we can discover more and more alternative fuels, optimists believe that people would use alternative energy sources as it is cheap and therefore more economical. In the future optimists believe that there should be a more equal distribution of the world's resources. Famous optimists include E.Boserup and J.Simon.
Join now!


Pessimists View

These people believe that the world's resources have a finite limit and could eventually run out or be damaged beyond repair. In 1970, 10 countries, known as the Club of Rome, met in order to discuss resource management. Their report, entitled 'The Limits to Growth', made predictions about a world where continued industrial and population growth would consume both resources and food supplies. This Club believed that population increase are the reason why world resources are running out because there is more demand for it; they put forward the idea of preventive checks. An example ...

This is a preview of the whole essay