There are many misconceptions about the term “non-renewable resource.” Primarily, what people think of when they hear this term is oil. Oil, however, is just one type of nonrenewable resource. A nonrenewable resource is any natural resource that cannot be replenished over time due to various reasons such as depletion, exhaustion, and other factors that prevent it from being replaced by a new resource. Here are some of the facts and myths surrounding nonrenewable resources and their impact on our world today.
Why is oil considered a nonrenewable resource
The term “non-renewable” does not mean that oil is not renewable. Fossil fuels, like oil and coal, are actually renewable resources. When these resources are first formed, they are in the form of solid rock or kerogen. The kerogen slowly breaks down over millions of years into liquid hydrocarbons like oil and gas. This process is called the original natural formation of the resource.
What Is A Nonrenewable Resource?
A nonrenewable resource is any natural resource that cannot be replenished over time due to various reasons such as depletion, exhaustion, and other factors that prevent it from being replaced by a new resource. Oil, coal, and silver are all types of nonrenewable resources.
What Are The Effects Of Nonrenewable Resources On Our World?
- The effects of nonrenewable resources on our world. The effects of nonrenewable resources on our world are many. For example, nonrenewable resources can push the price of oil up and down. When the price is high, more people are able to afford to use more oil each day, which means that we run out of oil faster than if there was a lower price for oil. This may sound like a good problem to have, but it doesn’t mean that we should not be concerned about the effects of nonrenewable resources on our world.
- Nonrenewable resources have many negative effects on our world today because they need to be replaced with new sources of energy every now and then. If we do not continue to make new sources of energy or find ways to reduce the demand for these types of energy, we will run out in no time at all (International Energy Agency, 2011).
- If we continue down this path, it will be catastrophic. A good example of this is what happened in the 1970s when oil prices began to rise. People started using more oil in their daily lives, which meant that they used more of the natural resources available to us. When people use more of a resource like oil, it becomes harder to make more and harder to find new sources of energy.
- Nonrenewable resources create many problems for our world today because we need these resources to live but if we don’t use them efficiently or if we do not replace them with new sources of energy fast enough, we run into problems that can lead the world into an even worse situation than what it is already in .
- The effects on our world are not good at all because there are many negative effects on our society such as pollution and global warming. Pollution is caused by nonrenewable resources being burned for energy or being dumped into the environment. Global warming is caused by the carbon dioxide that is being released into the atmosphere from these nonrenewable resources (International Energy Agency, 2011).
What Are Nonrenewable Resources?
Nonrenewable resources are natural resources that cannot be replenished or can only be replenished at a slow rate. Nonrenewable resources include but are not limited to the following:
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a nonrenewable resource because it is made by plants and animals, however, it is also a greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when plants absorb CO2 from the soil or when they turn sunlight into energy through photosynthesis. This gas traps heat in the atmosphere which helps keep our planet warm. However, carbon dioxide also contributes to global warming which is a process that causes climate change in our planet’s atmosphere. As global warming progresses more carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere which will cause more heat to be trapped in our planet’s atmosphere making it hotter and more difficult for us to survive on earth. Since there are no known ways of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and since it is a nonrenewable resource, we have to work harder to keep the planet from getting too hot.
- Another nonrenewable resource is water. Water is used in the production of food, and water is used by humans for drinking and bathing. Water comes from three main sources: precipitation, surface runoff, and groundwater. All of these sources of water are nonrenewable resources because they are constantly being depleted in our planet’s environment in order to survive on earth.
- A third nonrenewable resource is oil. Oil occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust under extreme heat and pressure. It can be pumped up from the ground through wells or it can be extracted by refining oil that has been broken down through chemical means such as hydrogenation or steam cracking (which both use heat). The oil contains dozens of different chemical compounds which include many types of hydrocarbons like methane, propane, and butane as well as other compounds like waxes, wax esters, and fatty acids.
- Another type of nonrenewable resource is water that exists on Earth’s surface as ice caps and glaciers. Water that exists on Earth’s surface as ice caps and glaciers are called renewable resources because they can be replenished if they melt or if they are melted into rivers or oceans because glaciers tend to float away when they melt which will allow more water to be replenished. Water that exists on Earth’s surface as ice caps and glaciers are called renewable resources because they can be replenished if they melt or if they are melted into rivers or oceans.
Conclusion
Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources that are considered finite resources. This means they will eventually run out, but it is not exactly known when this will happen. However, we need to conserve these resources because they are an important part of our society. They help keep our environment cool and clean, which helps us live a healthy life. We need to conserve these resources because they are an important part of our society. They help keep our environment cool and clean, which helps us live a healthy life. We need to conserve these resources because they are an important part of our society. They help keep our environment cool and clean, which helps us live a healthy life.