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Some were global, but were not as severe—e.g. the 1918 influenza pandemic killed an estimated 3–6% of the world's population. [13] Most global catastrophic risks would not be so intense as to kill the majority of life on earth, but even if one did, the ecosystem and humanity would eventually recover (in contrast to existential risks ).
Natural resources can be a substantial part of a country's wealth; [7] however, a sudden inflow of money caused by a resource extraction boom can create social problems including inflation harming other industries ("Dutch disease") and corruption, leading to inequality and underdevelopment, this is known as the "resource curse".
Earth has experienced numerous mass extinction events, in which up to 96% of all species present at the time were eliminated. [114] A notable example is the K-T extinction event, which killed the dinosaurs. The types of threats posed by nature have been argued to be relatively constant, though this has been disputed. [115]
A natural phenomenon is an observable event which is not man-made. Examples include: sunrise , weather , fog , thunder , tornadoes ; biological processes , decomposition , germination ; physical processes , wave propagation , erosion ; tidal flow , and natural disasters such as electromagnetic pulses , volcanic eruptions , hurricanes and ...
Some scholars believe that the projected peak global population of roughly 9-10 billion people could live sustainably within the earth's ecosystems if humans worked to live sustainably within planetary boundaries. [6] [7] [8] The bulk of environmental impacts are caused by excessive consumption of industrial goods by the world's wealthiest ...
Natural lakes on Earth are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones and areas with ongoing or recent glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world, there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last ice age. All lakes are temporary ...
Google Earth gives people the power to search remote areas of the globe, and those virtual treks have resulted in some rather intriguing discoveries. Here are 10 mysterious sites spotted via ...
Overexploitation does not necessarily lead to the destruction of the resource, nor is it necessarily unsustainable. However, depleting the numbers or amount of the resource can change its quality. For example, footstool palm is a wild palm tree found in Southeast Asia. Its leaves are used for thatching and food wrapping, and overharvesting has ...