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Economic gains from natural resources are mostly beneficial when directed towards initiatives such as job creation, skill enhancement, capacity building, and pursuit of long-term developmental objectives. Thus, reliance on one or more natural resources holds financial risk when aiming for a stable economic growth. [28]
The depletion of resources has been an issue since the beginning of the 19th century amidst the First Industrial Revolution.The extraction of both renewable and non-renewable resources increased drastically, much further than thought possible pre-industrialization, due to the technological advancements and economic development that lead to an increased demand for natural resources.
Overexploitation often occurs rapidly as markets open, utilising previously untapped resources, or locally used species. The Carolina parakeet was hunted to extinction. Today, overexploitation and misuse of natural resources is an ever-present threat for species richness.
Natural forests are extremely biodiverse, with a wide range of organisms using them as their habitat. But oil palm plantations are the opposite. Studies have shown that oil palm plantations have less than 1% of the plant diversity seen in natural forests, and 47–90% less mammal diversity. [109]
[1] [2] Habitat destruction is in fact the leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinction worldwide. [3] Humans contribute to habitat destruction through the use of natural resources, agriculture, industrial production and urbanization (urban sprawl). Other activities include mining, logging and trawling. Environmental factors can ...
The resource curse, also known as the paradox of plenty or the poverty paradox, is the hypothesis that countries with an abundance of natural resources (such as fossil fuels and certain minerals) have lower economic growth, lower rates of democracy, or poorer development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources. [1]
Scientists warn that if carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at their current rates, Earth’s temperatures could increase dramatically in future decades, leading to catastrophic and irreversible climate change. The 10 largest emitters produced about 26.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide in 2013.
Ecological overshoot expressed in terms of how many Earths equivalent of natural resources are consumed by humanity each year. Ecological overshoot is the phenomenon which occurs when the demands made on a natural ecosystem exceed its regenerative capacity. Global ecological overshoot occurs when the demands made by humanity exceed what the ...