Exploitation Of Resources By: Sherman Teo

Summary:
The world, it seems, is obsessed with what we take out. Historically it was just basic minerals and stones which, used for practical purposes, had very little impact on the planet. This trend has continued and now our world economy is centered on mass scale extraction of natural resources and minerals such as crude oil, gold, platinum, coal and various other natural gases, not to mention the ocean’s resources. Throughout the planet, mineral rich locations have been scraped dry, forced into war and destroyed as the environment is left in ruin whilst the ‘organizations of extraction’ seek elsewhere to mine, fight and get rich off the worlds natural resources. The lunacy of what we are doing to our planet will only be evident in generations to come. Not only is our economy dependent on a resource (crude oil) that is detrimental to our environment and running out but we have also created an economy that is centered around natural resources (gold and diamonds). Water too is a key element which is slowly being depleted, wasted and treated as an endless resource. So much of this precious resource is used to water large gardens, cool power stations as opposed to being reserved for human livelihoods. The suggestion that the next great wars will be fought over water is not unrealistic. Already in parts of Africa and on the Nile, downstream communities are opposing the overuse of natural water for upstream communities wishing to extend their crop growth and farms.

Opinion:

In my opinion, I think that Singapore is a developed country which is also spending large amount of resources and money on fossil fuels. We are using up a large amount of it to supply our houses with electricity and ensure that we are able to work our digital technology. However, little do we know the fact that this is destroying us as we too are destroying the environment. Many of the important resources around us have been taken for granted and that should not be the case as some of these are limited. With that in mind, we should conserve more, rather than to use up all of these which would tremendously affect our world.