2: Human exploitation of natural resources has modified the environment. Give examples of renewable and non-renewable resources. What are the appropriate attitudes and practice in the wise use of our natural resources (e.g. timber and fish)?

Renewable resources are resources that can be regenerated fairly rapidly through natural processes. Examples include oxygen, minerals in soil, wildlife, timber, fish, and fresh water. Theoretically, these resources are renewed naturally and are always available. However, if the rates of use exceed the rates of renewal, the resources will become depleted. Thus, the proper management of renewable resources becomes an important topic in environmental science.

Take for an example of renewable resources, timber is a very useful raw material in our daily life. We obtain timber by removing forests in various parts of the world. Forests cover about 25% of the land surfaces on the earth. They have a special role in the conservation of biodiversity and provide homes for more than half of the world’s plant and animal species. For non-renewable resources, Fossil fuels are the main materials of the non-renewable resources. It includes petroleum, coal and natural gas. They are formed form the fossilized remains of prehistoric organisms. The processes of formation take millions of years and thus fossil fuel are regarded as non-renewable resources.

Trees were able to regenerate naturally in a low rate. However, this situation has changed with the rapid population growth and development of technology. A wide variety of timber previously consider worthless are now used to make pulp, chipboard or as cellulose for plastic production. This has resulted in intensive clearance of forests. In order to have a better management to increase the rate of regeneration of timber, we should reduce the use of timber, for instance, recycle used paper as much as we can instead of making new paper or we can use another fast growing plant to produce paper. And we can also reduce the rate of consumption of timber such as avoiding burning them for energy in some developing countries and control deforestation for agricultural purpose.

For the non-renewable resources like fossil fuel, in the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will still be the major source of energy in the world. However, they are limited and cannot be replenished once used. Thus, we must use it carefully such as saving energy in the following ways:

----Turning off all the electric appliances when you are not using them.

----Use the electric appliances that have a lower energy consuming label.

----Reduce the use of air condition when it is not necessary.