Sustainable Management of Natural Resources - Essay Example

Sustainable Management of Natural Resources The issue of ecological sustainability has become a more relevant issue in the 21st century. Since the nature and human beings have mutual benefits, establishing long-term measures to keep nature productive is an important perspective of human responsibilities. For a long time, I have believed that the sustainable of natural human resources is part of the government responsibilities. To some extent, I have subscribed to the popular idea that climate change is beyond human control and that we should let nature take its course. However, my learning experience has changed majority of the beliefs that I have held before about sustainable management of natural resources. Evidently, the deterioration of human resources emanates from the negligence of human beings. Poor cultivation methods, pollution, and deforestation have all led to wastage of important resources. Since human beings are the major contributors in destruction of natural resources, it is their commitment that is essential in preventing the problem. Therefore, the current crisis of natural resource is something that can be collectively blamed on human beings. The members of public must work close with the government in engaging innovative management of natural resources. In my opinion, I have always felt that the issues on sustainability are exaggerated and that the world is still a habitable place. My focus has been a short-term perception while overlooking the long-term consequences of failing to manage natural resources such as forests, land and water bodies. However, through my course, I have learnt that the world is already in a crisis and the future holds a great danger for the survival of the society. For instance, the intergovernmental panel on climate change predicted that the glaciers at the Himalayas would melt by the year 2035. At the same time, the African countries are suffering from shortage of water because of rivers drying due to increased temperatures. In addition, the cancer levels in the world are expected to rise due to increase in ultraviolet rays that are responsible for skin cancer. These projections point out that the global warming effects will penetrate deep into the future of the world and the consequences will be severe to the human population. Economically, the climate changes will result to a fall economic levels by about 0.5% to 2% across the world (Skinner 23-34). Surprisingly, I learnt that human activities are responsible for all these harmful changes. From this observation, my perception on sustainability has changed and I feel that it is an urgent matter that requires immediate attention. Another perception that has changed is that the government rests with the duty of protecting natural resources. While the government is a major stakeholder in the matter, I now feel that since human beings are the major cause for depletion of natural resources, it is crucial that they are in the frontline in protecting natural resources. The clearing of vegetation by human beings today has resulted in an alteration of the climate patterns. Although there is evidence that human beings have invested in manmade forests, it is clear that they played a great role in reducing the amount of vegetation in the society. Trees are good climate moderators as they are associated with the rainfall cycle that people term as the rainfall making process. Desertification is an anthropogenic factor that has resulted to reduction destruction of the rainfall patterns in the world today (Brovkin 23). In the developing countries, poverty level has pushed many people to destroy forests as they clear land for farming, burn charcoal or use them as wood. While this is one way of utilizing natural resources, this is a conventional approach that overlooks the long-term benefits of natural resources. Therefore, I have shifted to a public-centric approach to natural resource management. As a citizen, I now feel that I have a role to manage natural resources in an innovative manager to escape the dangers of a conventional utilization approach. Poor land utilization is one of the factors that have contributed to changes in the climate patterns. In many countries, the government as well as the population has ignored the value of efficient agricultural farming. Poor agricultural farming methods ignore the need of protecting cover crops that are important in maintaining ecological balance. Agricultural experts have pointed out that cover crops protect the environment from the direct vaporization caused by the sun. Farming in the rugged training and over grazing in many countries has resulted in decrease of ground cover hence paving way for direct evaporation of the land water in the atmosphere. As a result, the lands have become drier and the farmers are experiencing reduced harvests. Many scholars have termed this kind of neglection as the result of weather and climate changes, however indirect this may be. On this note, climate change is a result of poor agricultural methods within many countries in the world. The government has urged industries to reduce the carbon dioxide emission in the atmosphere to reduce the global warming effect that is pushing the world into a period of economic crisis (Höök and Tang 11-23). This action of the government has had positive impacts in reducing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Many research bodies have pointed that the action of the government to control human behavior has contributed to climate stabilization. This shows that largely, human behavior results to climatic change, as opposed to my earlier idea that the government is responsible for the crisis. Sustainability issue is also a factor of human population explosion, one of the ideas that had not closed my mind before the seminar. As human population increases, other factors such as waste disposal come into play. The increase in plastic disposal is a result of the rapid population increase in the world. Since 1950, it is clear that the population in all the continents has grown by more than three times, which is the same rate that the paper disposal has increased. In Africa, the population increased from 229 million to 1.11 billion between 1950 and 2013. At the same time, the population in America grew from 340 million to 972 million, in Asia from 1.4 billion to 4.3 billion and in Europe from 549 million to 743 million (McEvedy & Jones, 2000). To satisfy the public demands for plastics, companies have had to produce more plastics for water, drinks, and polythene bags. Statistics show that in North America alone, about 2.5 million plastic bottles are thrown away per hour. In total, the amount of plastic waste thrown away every year is capable of circling the earth four times. The impact of the increase in wastage has a great impact on the land and the seas, as it threatens the ecological survival of both human beings are other living organisms. For instance, each year, over 45,000 tons of plastic waste is dumped into the sea causing the death of over one million sea birds. From my learning experience, I now confer with the idea that management of natural resources is dependent on the ability of human beings to engage in healthy relationships with the environment. In conclusion, my learning experience has been mind-changing. My previous ideas of sustainability as an issue of the government have completely changed. In my lessons, I identified that human beings are majorly responsible for the depletion of natural resources. Poor farming activities, air pollution, waste disposal, and conventional utilization of resources have all contributed to the problem. Changes in demographics have further accelerated the problem. Therefore, if sustainability is to be achieved, there is need that members of the public take personal responsibility of the environment to ensure that they achieve they have long-term benefits from the environment. Conserving forests, land water-bodies, and wild animals would be crucial in the ensuring sustainability. Therefore, I a citizen, I am more committed to be sensitive on natural resources and to work close with the government in the fight against the threat against natural resources. Works Cited Brovkin, V., et al. "Effect Of Anthropogenic Land-Use And Land-Cover Changes On Climate and Land Carbon Storage In CMIP5 Projections For The Twenty-First Century." Journal of Climate 26.18 (2013): 6859-6881. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. Höök, Mikael, and Xu Tang. Depletion Of Fossil Fuels And Anthropogenic Climate Change : A Review. n.p.: 2013. SwePub. Web. 3 Apr. 2014 McEvedy, Jones. Atlas of world population history. Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England. 2000. Print. Skinner, Brian. Dynamic Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology. John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2006. Print. Read More