The Effects of Misusing Natural Resources

"You must be the change you wish to see in the World." These ageless words, spoken by Gandhi, might have been directed to those of us who frivolously abuse the environment. Whether or not we wish for, or like, the effects, there are indisputable consequences of our actions that are definitely changing the world. Because our modern times demand a great deal from natural resources, we must now deal with the debilitating consequences, such as a depletion of fossil fuels, water pollution, and an increase in acid rain and smog.

With the new information age at hand, we rely heavily on electronics. Unfortunately, these electronics don’t run on their own. Something has to fuel their power and that something is deteriorating to a cold nothing. The dwindling quantity of fossil fuels will render many of our contemporary luxuries useless, including our wagonless modes of transportation, the air conditioning that gives relief to a hot summer’s day, and the computers that define our post-industrial age. Whenever we take advantage of our cars to make that extra trip to the supermarket for the donuts we forgot the first time around, we are spiraling into an irreversible path of destruction. Carelessly living in the moment will make living in the future unimaginably difficult, since it would be hard to keep up our current standard of living without any means to furnish it. Powering our current standard of living is proving to be a precarious endeavor.

If we are using up the fossil fuels so rapidly, where do they ultimately end up when we have no further use for them? They are ending up in places like our lakes and oceans. The water we drink has to go through an extremely intricate purification process because of all of the pollutants that are present in the water. Big Business has to manufacture their widgets, and manufacturing widgets requires power that is derived from eating up our natural resources. However, Big Business doesn’t want to deal with the waste they’re left with, so they sacrifice the purity of the water for dumping grounds to unload their excess garbage. Tainted water is detrimental to anyone who plans to eat, drink, or take a shower ever again. Looking beyond the immediate predicament that pertains to only us with a two arms and toenails, there is another quandary that we will have to face. If the water is impure, the water dwellers suffer, as well. Who knows what incapacitating effects a lack of trout could have on our ecosystem?

The mass of water that takes up approximately three-fourths of the Earth’s surface unfortunately isn’t the only water that’s at risk. Acid rain is another consequence of our misuse of resources. Humanity should have an awakened conscience after considering the crop of languishing byproducts of acid rain: collapsed bridges that have actually killed people, timeless architecture eaten away by the acidic chemicals, and humans suffering respiratory problems from the chemical emissions from acid rain. While this situation is pathetic, it gets even worse when smog is taken into account. The emanation of pollution from vehicles, businesses, and even some negligent households have contributed to the hazard of smog, which poses similar threats to health as acid rain does.

Do we want to live in a polluted world, or do we want to preserve our environment for the next generation? The effects of recklessly abusing our natural resources has already foreshadowed what the future holds: a diminution of power sources, polluted water, and acid rain and smog. Imagine the road to success. Ideally, it’s one with virtually no vehicles; realistically, that road is full of too many potholes that need to be mended before we can travel down it. The alarming misuse of our resources is bound to leave us with some changes that we definitely do not wish to see in the world.