Natural Resources and Energy - Essay Example

Running Head: Natural Resources & Energy Natural Resources & Energy [Institute’s Natural Resources & Energy The existence of life on Earth has been mystifying and fascinating to scientists and researchers of all times. The mystery of how life sprang, the theories of creationism and evolutionism that encircles the domain of researches in this area, and the observational evidence of life itself developing and deteriorating at one stage or the other are notions that have puzzled thinkers since the very beginning of time and this quandary has led to wonderful revelations and scientific discoveries.

One of the ways in which the subsistence sustains itself on earth is through a highly sophisticated maintenance of what we call ecosystems. Ecosystem is a scientific term for an environment where biotic and abiotic components exist together and living beings interact with the non-living things in order to survive. This paper will attempt to dive into a detailed analysis of one of such ecosystems, the marine and discuss various related processes and notions in detail. Marine ecosystem is one of the largest in the world considering almost three quarters of the total surface is water, fresh and marine inclusive (Epstein, 1998).

The main components of this aquatic ecosystem include ocean, deep sea, sea floor, coral reefs, and mangroves. Having more salt content than the freshwater ecosystem, the marine cover around two thirds of the total Earth surface. One of the most productive regions of the world, marine ecosystems hold vital significance in the subsistence of the whole world and accredit to itself the hosting of one of the largest biodiversity. Given the due importance of marine ecosystems, saying that human species has been unfair on marine’s wildlife would be a definite understatement.

From setting up industries’ waste channels to construction near the shore to water pollution, humans have mercilessly jeopardized the sustainability and well-being of the entire marine ecosystem (Barange, Field, & Harris, 1998). Notwithstanding the deliberate direct harming of the ocean, the mere existence of humans and the rapid multiplicity with which they grow in numbers challenges the conservation of the resources, marine ecosystem provides. To illustrate this point, take construction and infrastructure.

With the growing human population and capitalism, the industries of resorts and tourism shot drastically over the past few decades. In order to bring newer delicacies and take people away from their mundane urban settings, these capitalist industries started building resorts and hotels on the oceans. As entertaining as it became to the people, the marine ecosystem was adversely affected by the waste disposal systems of these resorts and hotels, which are launched directly into the ocean itself, endangering the lives of millions of wildlife species.

In addition, the pollution in the coastal areas, which originate from the urban centers on the shore, is highly responsible in spreading toxins in the deep-water resulting endangerment of the marine wildlife. The question now arises, what could possibly be done in order to save the marine wildlife from being endangered? One possible answer to that is complete protection of the coastline. As much as men grow out of his land space to live in, depriving other beings of their own does not seem legit.

Industries, resorts, hotels etc should be kept away from a certain boundary of the shore. This way, their waste disposal will not interact with the marine ecosystem and the wildlife will remain safe and secure. Interestingly, the marine ecosystem is responsible for many energy resources that the terrestrial ecosystem uses in its day-to-day life. In the list of non-renewable energy resources, one of the most helpful ones that marine ecosystem provides is petroleum. Found beneath the ocean floor, the petroleum is one of the energy sources derived from the marine ecosystem (Mann & Lazier, 2006).

With the world standing on the verge of oil shortage, this energy resource can serve to be one of the most spell bounding discoveries of all times. However, there is a whole lot of risk involved in the extraction and conversion of this petroleum into usable forms since the ocean engineers face a constant threat of tidal waves and high current. In addition, most countries do not have ample technological resources for such expedition. On the other hand, the marine ecosystem also provides with renewable energy resources, which means that they are produced more than they are consumed (Sherman, Alexander, & Gold, 1993).

One of these resources is wave power. It is the energy, which the waves in ocean carry and can be used in many high-power industries. The energy is superfluous and it is very unlikely that it will ever run out. However, capturing this energy is rather difficult. In addition, it is very unlikely to capture this energy without harming the marine wildlife. References Barange, M., Field, J. G., Harris, R. P. (1998). Marine ecosystems and global change. Oxford University Press. Epstein, P. R. (1998).

Marine ecosystems: emerging diseases as indicators of change; year of the ocean special report on health of the oceans from Labrador to Venezuela. Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, Oliver Wendell Holmes Society. Mann, K. H., Lazier, J. R. N. (2006). Dynamics of marine ecosystems: biological-physical interactions in the oceans. Wiley-Blackwell. Sherman, K., Alexander L. M., Gold, D. B. (1993). Large marine ecosystems: stress, mitigation, and sustainability. Wiley-Blackwell.