Today we face many problems with our ecosystem. We are reliant upon non-renewable resources that we will soon run out of. Our burning of fossil fuels has caused Global Warming, thus putting much of our ecosystem at risk. Even our renewable resources such forests and freshwater are being destroyed either by pollution or as a side effect of overpopulation. At this point it is fair to point out that our current society is not an environmentally sustainable one.
Sustainability is the ability of human society to both survive and thrive in the world using its natural resources. However our current society currently falls short of this goal. This is due to a number of ecological problems that we face.
Perhaps one of the biggest ecological problems is our dependence on fossil fuels, such as oil and coal. These fuels are bad for our environment for two reasons. First since they are non-renewable we will eventually run out of these valuable fuels. It is estimated that we will exhaust the natural gas supply within 35 years. Since we use these resources for everything from fuel for our cars to heating for our houses the loss of them would be catastrophic. Perhaps the best solution to this problem is solar energy. Solar energy can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels although it is currently more expensive to use solar energy. As such solar energy must rely on investments from the government rather then the free market. However solar energy has been seeing a drop in price so it could perhaps replace fossil fuels within 7- 10 years.
Another problem with our dependence on fossil fuels is that by burning them we increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This increase has led to global warming. Global warming has in turn raised the surface temperature of our planet which, many scientists agree, will cause major negative impacts against our environment. There our two solutions to this problem. First, the development of cars and other vehicles that are more fuel efficient, thus burning less gas. Cars such as the Hybrids which are both fuel efficient and run on electricity see a major decrease in carbon dioxide. The second solution is the same as the solution to the first problem. Alternate fuel choices, such as solar energy, do not produce carbon dioxide and, as such, are much better for our environment.
Our society needs to make these changes in order to save both ourselves and future generations. Otherwise the future of Earth looks bleak.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4235041n&tag=contentMain;contentBody
http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Non_Renewable_Resources
Ryan Cowen
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteYou've done a nice job presenting your ideas and supporting them with specific solutions.
Please work on making deadlines on time for future assignments!