Exploitation of Natural Resources- Causes, Effects & Advantages (2024)

Exploiting natural resources means extreme usage of energy resources for economic growth, which leads to climate degradation, and then finally, economic growth also slows down. Exploitation of natural resources refers to human beings' extraction, use, and use of environmental aids. These resources include minerals, forests, water, soil, and air. Exploitation is an inherent part of human existence, as societies have always relied on natural resources for survival and development.

People and the Environment are vital for UGC-NET Paper 1 examination. In this subject, natural resources and exploitation of natural resources is the most vital topic to be studied.

In this article, the learners will be able to learn about people and environmental exchanges and concepts linked with the exploitation of natural resources.

Fig: Exploitation of natural resources

People and Environment Interaction

People and environment interaction, also called human-environment interactions, are trades between the human social system and the ecosystem. These relations depict the way people change with their changing environment.

Natural Resources

The aids available from the earth or environment that are used to support life and meet people's needs are called natural resources. Humans use All-natural substances, such as oil, natural gas, metals, stone, sand, etc., as natural resources.

The Exploitation of Natural Resources

The exploitation of natural resources occurs when there is overutilization of natural and finite aids, and it is not balanced with certain steps to save and conserve it for economic growth. The exploitation of Nature by humans has become a topic of concern for the sustainability and existence of future generations to come. Human exploitation of natural resources is the main cause of the degradation and depletion of all natural aids available.

Causes of Exploitation of Natural Resources

There are certain factors or causes of the exploitation of resources. Some of these causes are as follows.

• Population: As and when the number of humans on this planet increases, the need for natural aids also rises. The population is rising at a higher rate, which threatens the existence of natural aids.
• Deforestation: Deforestation is done to attain wood, a renewable aid, but these days, the trees are cut faster than it is planted, which has created a lack and a threat to the jungles and sanctuaries.
• Intensive Agriculture: Intensive agriculture is the vast use of agricultural land to produce crops, etc., for feeding the ever-growing population.
• Consumerism means that mass-production warehouses and plants need to produce huge amounts of energy to produce adequate goods.
• Lack of energy conservation: There is more energy consumption than required, which leads to the wastage of energy. Also, conservation steps are lacking to save energy from being misused or overused.
• Mining: Mining precious and semi-precious materials, along with oil and other aids, is also one of the root causes of the lack of natural aids.
• Technological and Industrial Development: The technical and industrial growth leads to the usage of more space, and for setting up of personal office and commercial spaces, the area belonging to forests and agriculture is getting recast, leading towards depletion of fertile soil.

The Exploitation of Natural Resources Examples

Examples of natural resource exploitation are

• Deforestation
• Desertification
• Extinction of species
• Soil Erosion
• Extraction of oil

The Exploitation of Nature by Humans

Humans are the ones exploiting and taking undue benefit of the available natural resources. Some facts as proof of the exploitation of Nature by humans are

• Wildlife around the world is depleting because of population growth and intensive agriculture.
• The rainforests, especially from North America to the Pacific Ocean, are depleting rapidly.
• The vertebrate wildlife population, such as pandas and polar bears, is decreasing drastically.
• The global wetlands are vastly reducing, and the earth's free land is being altered by human activity.

Advantages of Exploiting Natural Resources

There are certain advantages of using natural aids, but they seem to be advantages as they are short-sighted.

• The exploitation of natural resources with short-term profits is available for the current age; future generations will suffer because of it.
• When natural aids are extracted, it is utilized somewhere in some production and manufacturing processes, because of which the nation's economy will grow.
• It boosts the industrialization of the nation.
• It boosts growth and growth, proving to be a competitive edge over the rivals.

Understand in detail about all types of Teaching Aids here!

Effects of Exploitation of Natural Resources

The effects of the over exploitation of natural resources can be divided into the following:

With Reference to the Environment

Several aspects of the exploitation of natural resources affect the environment. Several flora and fauna are getting depleted and becoming extinct every year, and many of them are also added to the list of endangered species. It is estimated that currently, are 31000 species under threat of extinction.

With Reference to the Economy

The economy is also affected adversely due to the overuse of natural aids. For example, the soil all around the world is affected negatively due to the exploitation of natural resources. The degradation of soil, including the fertile soil used for agricultural goals, will make the agricultural goods quality fall.

With Reference to Health

The cutting down of forests to procure wood will make air pollution very high. Also, the gaseous and particulate matter emitted while mining and extraction of other materials from the earth's crust make the air quality go bad.

Conclusion

Natural resources are hidden gems. But nowadays, for the improvement of life of humankind, for technological advancement, and to make our lives easier, these natural aids are getting exploited. This has a negative impact on our ecosystem and climate. The food chain, life cycle, air quality index, etc., is getting impeded because of the same. We all need to become more reliable enough so that the resources are saved for future generations to come.

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