Natural Resources

            Life would not be able to be supported without the use of natural resources. There are four natural resources most used by the 7 billion people on the planet: water, fossil fuels, wood, and phosphorus.

             Water is a vital resource and is needed for all aspects of human and ecosystem survival. There is no way around using water. It cannot be replaced as a resource. In the past water was only obtained through natural lakes, streams, and other supplies already in existence. It was not until the Neolithic that man first dug permanent water wells. The size of the population was already dictated by the size of the local water supply. With the creation of the well, human settlements could begin to grow proportional to the size of the well. Along the same lines of the well, man also learned to create a separate receptacle for human waste. Until that creation, there was contamination from feces into the clean water supply. From there, access to water became easier as other inventions allowed delivery of water to buildings as well as purifying processes so even contaminated water could be used (Linton 2010). Not only is water itself a necessary resource for humans to function and for populations to grow, but also areas that had access to natural oceans could sustain a much larger human population. Oceans provide food in form of fish. It is used for transportation, mined for minerals, and drilled for crude oil. The oceans also play a critical role in removing carbon from the atmosphere and providing oxygen in addition to regulation of temperatures (Ardus and Champ 1990). It is easy to infer from all of these uses that the human population would naturally grow in locations closer to oceans. Using information from the previous geographical location section, it can be assumed countries in temperate climates with access to a large body of water can support a large population which is proven true with countries such as the United States and China.

          Fossil fuels are formed by natural processes such as the decomposition of buried dead organisms. It is a process that takes millions of years but produce things such as coal, petroleum, and natural gases. An important characteristic of fossil fuels are that they are non-renewable because they take a very long time to form. Fossil fuels are formed mostly from the carbon rich remains of ancient plankton after exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth’s crust over hundreds of millions of years. Over time, the residue is covered by layers of mud and silt and therefore is further down in the Earth’s crust. Around the mid1800’s the first oil refineries were built (Rise of Standard Oil Video) to begin to process fossil fuels. These refineries were not very popular because the demand for refined fuel was limited. The first commercial oil well in Canada began shortly thereafter. 1.5 million liters of crude oil was extracted with two years and much of it being refined to put into kerosene lamps. The fossil fuel industry began to gain momentum as people began to realize the ease and availability of extracting oil from the land compared to harvesting oil from other resources such as whales. (Coleman 1996). As the World Wars occurred and after the Second World War, oil became a main import and export. The Middle East took the lead over the United States in oil production. Oil is currently one of the most used resources in the world used to fuel factories, cars, and much more.  In relation to human populations, the use of fossil fuels makes living easier. Oil can be used in transportation, providing energy in the beginning for industry needs like pumping water to fire steam engines, and now generating electricity amongst other uses. Oil simplified many things, making the process of providing resources to the general population easier which thus helped support the population as it grew. The use of fossil fuels encouraged population growth.

Figure 4: A graph of the use of different fossil fuels

 

          Another natural resource which plays a role in population growth is wood. Because wood has been so readily available through the myriad of forests, it was the first resource taken advantage of in history. Around the time of 2300 to 2030 BCE, the conifer forests of Mount Lebanon provided timber in order to complete shipbuilding, railways, large building construction, and many other uses such as forms of payment (Mikesell 1969). It was an ideal substance because of the durability of the material. But, due to the lack of other resources it was only a matter of time until deforestation began in mass production. Some of the earlier accounts of deforestation are from forests in the Middle East near the Fertile Crescent in addition to stories gathered from “The Epic of Gilgamesh” (Mikesell 1969). Thus it is easily inferred that those who had access to forests therefore held the power. While previously people in the Middle East had power, by the time 2000 BCE came, most of the major forests were depleted. Demand shifted to the Mediterranean because the Greek had timber. Wood, around this time, was used for fuel in copper furnaces in order to produce bronze and thus became the major export. Power shifted from Crete, to Greece, to Macedonia, and to Asia Minor in succession as the country before it ran out of wood (Oosthoek Video). Europe because was the leading continent in deforestation. In the 15^th and 16^th centuries, there was an even larger increase in the demand for wood because sturdy ships were needed to conduct trade and travel throughout the world (Mikesell 1969). Wood allowed for the growth of the populations because of its usage. It allowed for ships to be made in order to conquer new lands and conduct trade. Wood allowed for buildings to become greater to house more people. Wood was used a fuel to help cook food and keep places warm. The use of wood allowed for basic survival, but the application of the uses of wood encouraged growth of the human population.

          Phosphorus is another vital resource in the growth of human populations. Phosphorus is a nonmetallic chemical element. As a mineral, it is almost always present as inorganic phosphate rocks. Phosphorus was first discovered in 1669 by Hennig Brand. In the beginning, the element was first use in explosives, poisons, and nerve agents. It has gone through many uses and experiments. But phosphorus became important during the 19^th century when world phosphate production turned to the mining of tropical island deposits formed from bird and bat guano. The dominant application of phosphorus is now in fertilizer. The element is extremely essential for plant nutrients. In order for the population to grow, there needed to be a food supply to allow the growth. While the oceans were providing some food and the crops producing a subsistent living, the population was growing and needed stronger support from the agricultural side to sustain the growth. With the application of phosphorus in the 20^th century, crops thrived. The harvests were becoming bigger. Additionally, more land was able to be used for agriculture because despite the natural conditions of the soil, if fertilizer was added containing phosphorus, then crops could survive (Emsley 2002). This is in direct contrast to early hunters and gathers. The crops sustaining that model of living were barely enough. A lot of individuals ended up having a low caloric intake which led to low body fat and fertility at an advanced age. By advancing the nutrients of the crops and the amount of crops, the human population benefit outweighs the costs of harvest and thus is able to grow (Strong Lecture 4/16/13).

          Water, fossil fuels, wood, and phosphorus all aided the world population growth. Access to more of the resources or better quality versions of the resources meant the population could grow without hesitation. We are now reaching a time when a lot of these resources are harder to access and require more energy to harvest. Yet, population growth has gained a momentum that is hard to stop. So will the resources run out and force a cap on the population or will the population make the drastic change to place a cap on themselves and save resources?