Sustaining Scarcity: Challenges and Impacts of Finite Resources PDF

FINITENESS OF RESOURCES Marlon C. Pareja Associate Professor, Biological Sciences Department Cristina C. Salibay Professor, Biological Sciences Department...

FINITENESS OF RESOURCES Marlon C. Pareja Associate Professor, Biological Sciences Department Cristina C. Salibay Professor, Biological Sciences Department Commented [MT1]: Suggestion: WITHIN BOUNDS or KEEPING WITHIN BOUNDS Look at the picture of the Earth shown above. This was taken from Apollo 11 in 1969 after take-off and the first picture of Earth taken from outer space. Think that all your time, experiences, achievements and the whole span of your life will happen in the only known habitable planet in the solar system. Imagine how limited our planet is and that there is no planet B that we can go if the Earth is not taken care of. At the end of this module, the students should be able to: 1. Understand the finiteness of the Earth resources and its importance; 2. Appreciate the need to conserve precious resources by using it efficiently. 3. Create and share solutions pertaining to finite resources conservation. This reading material complements the lesson on: Sustaining Scarcity: Challenges and Impacts of Finite Resources 1  7.1. Understanding Impacts of Loss Complete the table below by predicting the possible social, economic, and environmental impact if the resources given (in the Commented [MT2]: It’s also a political issue. You may first column) become depleted. Write your answers in the spaces want to modify PEST analysis into Political Environmental Social and Economic PESE or ESEP (hehe) using the same provided in the second column. step in pest. https://www.groupmap.com/map-templates/pest-analysis/ Resources Possible Impact due to resource depletion Minerals Social: Economic: Environmental: Fossil Fuel (Oil) Social: Economic: Environmental: Forest Social: Economic: 2  Environmental: Fishes and other Social: Marine Resources Economic: Environmental: 7.2. Mining Mining is a process of mineral extraction from the surface of the Earth either from land or from the seas. Minerals are usually inorganic substances occurring in nature that has a definite chemical composition and distinct physical properties. These distinct and definite physical and chemical composition make these minerals important in the production of products required by humans. Likewise, its presence in a particular area is dependent on the geological and meteorological history of that particular area. A confirmation of its presence is called mineral deposit – there is a natural occurrence of a useful material. While ore deposits denote a mineral deposit of sufficient extent and concentration for it ot be extracted. 3  7.2.1. Philippines Mineral Deposits Despite its small size, the Philippines is one of the countries in the world rich in mineral resources. Estimate of its metallic and non-metallic reserves stood at 7 billion metric tons and 50 billion metallic tons, respectively. Data from the Philippine Statistical Authority revealed that copper accounted for the bulk of metallic mineral resources of about 72 while nickel at 16%. For non-metallic mineral resources, limestone and marble accounted for 39 and 29 percent, respectively. Gold reserves of the Philippines amounted to about 240 metric tons of gold metal. The Philippines also has one of the largest chromite deposits in the world. The Marcopper Mining Disaster The Marcopper mining disaster that occurred in the island of Marinduque in 1996 is one of the worst mining and environmental disasters in Philippine history. A fracture in the pit containing toxic mine waste led to the discharge of heavy metals into the Makulapnit-Boac River – an important economic and cultural river in Marinduque. Following the disaster, the Boac River was declared unusable. Video link: “Remembering the Marcopper Mine Disaster” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTkdmXYDh4s 7.2.2. Impacts of Mining Commented [MT3]: PEST, PESE or ESEP? Area Benefits Cost Loss of the cultural value Social Employment of Locals of ancestral lands Locals do not have share of profit Once minerals are depleted, no more Economic Additional revenues revenues Minerals extracted Environmental cannot be replenished Loss of Biodiversity Animal Migration 4  Heavy metal pollution Soil erosion 7.3. Fossil Fuel Depletion Fossil fuel depletion is the decline of available fossil fuel in a well, field or geographic area. In 1956, the geologist M. King Hubbert made a prediction that the world will reach peak oil – the time when the production rate of oil has been attained and production enters an irreversible decline. Many predictions have been made as to what year peak oil will happen but new discoveries of oil fields and new methods of extraction have made this prediction not still accurate. Nonetheless, fossil fuel is a non- renewable resource and its unsustainable use will have a great impact to our lives. The reality is not that oil is depleting but rather that we are transitioning from a period of easily-accessible oil at low prices to an era of increasingly unconventional production, which has higher costs since supply is finite. Cost of extraction shall be the limiting factor in the supply and cost of oil products. At some point, unconventional oil exploration will get so expensive that consumers will look to lower-cost alternatives. The increasing popularity of hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, bicycle transportation in urban areas are examples of such a shift. Below is the cost and benefits of fossil fuel extraction. Table ____. Impact of fossil fuel depletion Commented [MT4]: PEST, PESE or ESEP? Area Benefits Cost Profit-driven and production not accessible Social Employment of Locals to all Cheapest source of Cost of extraction Economic energy so far becoming expensive Oil extracted cannot be Environmental replenished Global warming Pollution 5 7.4. Deforestation The forest is home to a lot of biodiversity. In the 1900s, the Philippine forest cover is about 85% declining in 2019 to 18% with less than 3% of this remaining forest cover as original (virgin) forest. Deforestation rate was at highest in the 1980s at around 150,000 hectares per year. Most remaining original forests in the Philippines have been given protected status, but many of these areas are in critical condition and remain threatened due to inadequate protection resulting from lack of funds and lack of political will. Apparent roundwood consumption has fallen dramatically in the past decade giving credence to the possibility of the country's forests being close to economic extinction. Deforestation is caused by shifting cultivation, land use conversion, forest fires, illegal logging and 40 million m 3 of fuelwood harvested each year. Fuelwood demand continues to be strong, further exacerbating the critical position the forests are in. Fuelwood harvesting is believed to be seriously impacting on the remaining commercial forests. The National Greening Program launched by the government in 2012 aims to plant a million hectare trees by 2016. The impact of this program remains to be evaluated. 7.4.1. Importance of Forest Ecosystems a. Source of Food b. Source of raw materials (furniture, clothes, shelter) c. Climate control and modification d. Disaster Risk Reduction e. Source of medicine f. Tourism value g. Air and water purification h. Social and Cultural value These importance of the forest ecosystems when given a monetary value or the cost of benefits is accounted it is called the value of ecosystem services of the forest. 6  7.4.2 Impact of Deforestation Commented [MT5]: PEST, PESE or ESEP? Area Benefits Cost Loss of the cultural value of Social Employment of Locals ancestral lands. Loss of safety net for diseases. Loss of source of potential medicines. Displacement of tenured migrants and indigenous people. Revenues from sale of Economic wildlife and lumber Loss of ecosystem services Loss of biodiversity Environmental Increase soil erosion Animal migration Effect on rainfall and weather 7.5 Overfishing Millions of people all over the world rely on natural waters for their staple food and income. This means that thousands of fish and other aquatic resources are captured daily to meet the growing demand for them. As more depends on fish, oceans and seas continue to face the threat of depleting supply of fish and other resources from waters. The Philippines is the world’s second largest archipelago with 2.2 million square kilometers of marine-water area, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). How does this fare with other countries? This makes our country highy abundant in marine resources, thereby placing it in one of the top major fish-producing nations worldwide. Yet, managing the Philippines marine resources is a big challenge because of overexploitation. Majority of the fishing grounds in the country was found to deplete in fish stock in due to overfishing. This happens when a particular type of 7 fish from a body of water is removed at a higher rate than they are replenished in time at a given area. Table ____. Impact of Overfishing Commented [MT6]: PEST, PESE or ESEP? Area Impact Social Fishing is a source of livelihood and nutritional needs of millions of people. The unsustainable fishing practices and consequently overfishing, collapse the aquatic resources. Without fish production, fisheries are gone and fishermen loss their livelihood. Overfishing leads to a decline in the population of Economic productive fish, which results in lesser stocking of the fish. Most often, it would take years to revive the declining marine population. Environmental Overfishing can destroy the environment and marine ecology and completely disrupt the food chain. 7.6 Poverty, Hunger and threats to Food Security You have been oriented that depletion of natural resources occurs when resources are consumed at a faster rate than that of replacement. This natural resource depletion emphasizes value of a resource in terms of its availability in nature. With the increasing global population, the levels of natural resource depletion is also increasing. As a consequence, poverty rises. Poverty is a deprivation of one’s basic needs due to lack of money to buy services or lack of access to services. A key contributory factor to hunger is poverty. The Global Hunger Organization follows the Global Hunger Index (GHI) in with four indicators stated below. Undernourishment: the share of the population that is undernourished (i.e., whose caloric intake is insufficient); 8  Child wasting: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (i.e., who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition); Child stunting: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (i.e., who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition); Child mortality: the mortality rate of children under the age of five (in part, a reflection of the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments). Food Security and its main threats Food security is of fundamental importance for human existence. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. It is ensured when the following three conditions are simultaneously satisfied: Physical food availability. The national food economy ensures meeting of at least the minimum physiological demand, and imports provide foods in excess of this minimum demand. This is also linked with the need to maintain food reserves. Economical food availability. It means that the economically weakest households have access to essential food (due to different types of food aid); a consumer has purchasing power to facilitate the purchase of the essential goods and services on the market. The health value of a single food product. This means that food products are free of any substances harmful to health (e.g. residues of pesticides, antibiotics, dioxins, and harmful colorants, poisonous substances and pathogenic microorganisms) and consumer food rations (balanced food rations such as necessary energy level and the adequate proportions of nutritive components dependent on age, sex and type of work). Main Threat to food Security The food system is intensely challenged by the world population growth, increased food demand, scarcity of water and land resources; and larger 9 spread of arable land vis-à-vis bio-fuels, industry and urbanization. Climate change, the vanishing of biodiversity of ecosystems and the diversity of agricultural cultivars, new plant and animal diseases, and increasing energy and food prices, the loss of food and waste food, and speculation on the food market, will have a disadvantageous impact on global food security. Population growth. The rapid growth of the world’s population resulting mainly from the high birth rate in the developing countries. In countries with high population but scare in resources, feeding the people is one big problem. There are serious disproportions in the level of nutrition which results from the uneven distribution of food production and inadequate distribution of food, It should be emphasized that climate change causing droughts, floods and other disasters will have a disadvantageous impact on global food production ability. Increase demand for food. Due to unequal access to food, about a fourth of the world’s population is undernourished, and 10% is starving. Global economic growth results in increased wealth of the global population, higher demand of food, and changes in consumption patterns dominated by the consumption of animal products, especially meat and meat products. Food price Global food crisis that began with the sudden increase in food prices all over the world. The increase in prices is being felt the most by the millions of the poorest people. It is estimated that global food prices can increase by 70-90% by the year 2030, and that’s without calculating the impact of climate change, which could cause prices to double10. The disappearance of the variety of agricultural plant species. Biodiversity in agriculture includes, in addition to natural habitats and wild species of plants and animals, genetic resources for agriculture, which consists of local crop varieties and livestock breeds. Diversification of agriculture is the only and most important method of achieving food security in a changing climate. The greater number of species and varieties in one field or in a single ecosystem, the greater the likelihood that some of them can cope with changes in the environment. The diversity of species also decreases the probability of occurrence of diseases and pests, reducing the number of organisms-hosts on which they could develop. 10  The increase in the area of scarcity water and the limitation of the availability of land. Water is one of the most important factors deciding the fate of a human being. The available drinking water constitutes only 1% of global water resources. Water resources are decreasing in many countries due to climate changes. A significant increase in demand for food is not only on water resources but also in land. Due to the of soil erosion, depletion of nutrients, infrastructure development and urbanization of agricultural land area is decreasing. The food losses and food waste. Food losses occur primarily in the low-income countries as a result of the lack of adequate infrastructure. Food losses occur mainly at the production stage, and minimally at the stage of consumption. Roughly one-third of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted globally. Limitation of food waste increases the efficiency of land use, improved water management, the assurance of benefits for agriculture and reduces undernourished in developing countries. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Minerals, fossil fuel and forest are valuable resources with minerals and fossil fuels as non-renewable resources. 2. Unsustainable use of these resources will lead to depletion of its supply. 3. Philippine fishery production has continually and drastically declined since the start of the 21st century as a result of the destruction of coral reefs. On the other hand, coral reefs have been damaged because of illegal fishing practices. 4. The Philippines has a long way to go in reducing hunger. It is believed that overpopulation and insufficient resources for food and other basic needs have to be addressed to reduce hunger. 11  ASSESSMENTS Individual Work 1. What is the relationship of your lifestyle and consumption behavior to our mineral, oil and forest resources? Explain and give example. 2. What is the value of the ecosystem services provided by the Philippine rainforest? 3. Choose one (1) in the emerging technologies that is a possible replacement to fossil fuel. Provide a brief description of the technology and explain how it can reduce dependence on fossil fuel. Group Work (Case Studies) 1. The Power or One-Minute Video Assume that tomorrow oil supply became suddenly depleted. Discuss its short-term and long-term impacts. What are the things you can suggest to adapt to changes in: a. Transportation b. Food security c. Energy sources d. Health e. Lifestyle 2. Present your collective suggestion by creating a powerful one- minute video using your mobile phone. 12