List the resources which should be conserved
Answers
Answer:
Natural resources should be conserved
Explanation:
The Earth’s natural resources include air, water, soil, minerals, fuels, plants, and animals. Conservation is the practice of caring for these resources so all living things can benefit from them now and in the future.
All the things we need to survive, such as food, water, air, and shelter, come from natural resources. Some of these resources, like small plants, can be replaced quickly after they are used. Others, like large trees, take a long time to replace. These are renewable resources.
Other resources, such as fossil fuels, cannot be replaced at all. Once they are used up, they are gone forever. These are nonrenewable resources.
People often waste natural resources. Animals are overhunted. Forests are cleared, exposing land to wind and water damage. Fertile soil is exhausted and lost to erosion because of poor farming practices. Fuel supplies are depleted. Water and air are polluted.
If resources are carelessly managed, many will be used up. If used wisely and efficiently, however, renewable resources will last much longer. Through conservation, people can reduce waste and manage natural resources wisely.
The population of human beings has grown enormously in the past two centuries. Billions of people use up resources quickly as they eat food, build houses, produce goods, and burn fuel for transportation and electricity. The continuation of life as we know it depends on the careful use of natural resources.
The need to conserve resources often conflicts with other needs. For some people, a wooded area may be a good place to put a farm. A timber company may want to harvest the area’s trees for construction materials. A business may want to build a factory or shopping mall on the land.
All these needs are valid, but sometimes the plants and animals that live in the area are forgotten. The benefits of development need to be weighed against the harm to animals that may be forced to find new habitats, the depletion of resources we may want in the future (such as water or timber), or damage to resources we use today.
Development and conservation can coexist in harmony. When we use the environment in ways that ensure we have resources for the future, it is called sustainable development. There are many different resources we need to conserve in order to live sustainably.
Forests
A forest is a large area covered with trees grouped so their foliage shades the ground. Every continent except Antarctica has forests, from the evergreen-filled boreal forests of the north to mangrove forests in tropical wetlands. Forests are home to more than two-thirds of all known land species. Tropical rain forests are especially rich in biodiversity.
Forests provide habitats for animals and plants. They store carbon, helping reduce global warming. They protect soil by reducing runoff. They add nutrients to the soil through leaf litter. They provide people with lumber and firewood.
Deforestation is the process of clearing away forests by cutting them down or burning them. People clear forests to use the wood, or to make way for farming or development. Each year, the Earth loses about 14.6 million hectares (36 million acres) of forest to deforestation—an area about the size of the U.S. state of New York.
Deforestation destroys wildlife habitats and increases soil erosion. It also releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Deforestation accounts for 15 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation also harms the people who rely on forests for their survival, hunting and gathering, harvesting forest products, or using the timber for firewood.
About half of all the forests on Earth are in the tropics—an area that circles the globe near the Equator. Although tropical forests cover fewer than 6 percent of the world’s land area, they are home to about 80 percent of the world’s documented species. For example, more than 500 different species of trees live in the forests on the small island of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea.
Tropical forests give us many valuable products, including woods like mahogany and teak, rubber, fruits, nuts, and flowers. Many of the medicines we use today come from plants found only in tropical rain forests. These include quinine, a malaria drug; curare, an anesthetic used in surgery; and rosy periwinkle, which is used to treat certain types of cancer.
Sustainable forestry practices are critical for ensuring we have these resources well into the future. One of these practices is leaving some trees to die and decay naturally in the forest. This “deadwood” builds up soil. Other sustainable forestry methods include using low-impact logging practices, harvesting with natural regeneration in mind, and avoiding certain logging techniques, such as removing all the high-value trees or all the largest trees from a forest.