We make extensive use of the various natural resources at our disposal. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil in which our plants grow, the forests and grasslands that support our wildlife, the numerous minerals and fuel resources that support our factories are all vital for our very survival.
Since mankind inhabited the earth, its resources have been used. When human numbers were small, the depletion of resources was very gradual. Butt when the world population doubled, from 2.5 billion in 1959 to 5.5 billion in 1995—in a short span of only 45 tears—you can imagine the great strain on the earth's resources. The rapid growth of the world's population and the excessive use of the earth's resources have drastically changed the face of the earth. Each year more forests and grasslands disappear. Every day our rivers are clogged, our oceans are poisoned and the air is polluted.
The burning of fossil fuels, forest fires and the emission of smoke and chemicals from factories all add to the concentration of carbon dioxide in the lower atmosphere. This depletes the ozone gases which filter out much of the sun's harmful ultra violet rays. The basic problem we face today is that the earth's natural resources are being depleted at a most alarming rate because 470 square km of tropical forest is cleared, 170 square km of desert is created, 71 million metric tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide is added to the lower atmosphere and 1600 metric tons ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons is added to the ozone layer.
Since mankind inhabited the earth, its resources have been used. When human numbers were small, the depletion of resources was very gradual. Butt when the world population doubled, from 2.5 billion in 1959 to 5.5 billion in 1995—in a short span of only 45 tears—you can imagine the great strain on the earth's resources. The rapid growth of the world's population and the excessive use of the earth's resources have drastically changed the face of the earth. Each year more forests and grasslands disappear. Every day our rivers are clogged, our oceans are poisoned and the air is polluted.
The burning of fossil fuels, forest fires and the emission of smoke and chemicals from factories all add to the concentration of carbon dioxide in the lower atmosphere. This depletes the ozone gases which filter out much of the sun's harmful ultra violet rays. The basic problem we face today is that the earth's natural resources are being depleted at a most alarming rate because 470 square km of tropical forest is cleared, 170 square km of desert is created, 71 million metric tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide is added to the lower atmosphere and 1600 metric tons ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons is added to the ozone layer.
