Human Innovation and Consumption Through the Centuries,

Human Innovation and Consumption

Through the centuries, human beings have consistently found new ways to produce and consume material resources. Today, with the world population at an unprecedented high, consumption of resources continues as an equally accelerated rate. However, despite this mass consumption, human beings today are making great strides in the way resources are renewed. Today, human beings are as innovative as ever before, inventing new production methods to meet humanity's habits and along with changing the way that the world consumes its resources. While humanity appears to have taken a turn towards the preservation and respect of resources, much remains to be done in order to successfully sustain the global population.

As so many of us have come to understand, the larger the human population is means the greater environmental impact this population will have on our planet. With more people come an increased demand for food, fuel, water, and minerals, all of which come at an environmental impact during their production. As we continue to see each day on the news, the human appetite for these resources remains insatiable. Every day, the world is slowly drained of resources that our planet will take countless years to renew. The world has seen unprecedented consumption habits that have become more violent and invasive all in the name of greed. In viewing the world's demand for oil and the wars that continue to exist to consume it, one can see that a solution to renewable energy, amongst many other resources must be made -- and made soon.

Thankfully, it appears as though humanity is beginning to catch on. Environmental activism groups and concerned individuals have begun campaigning in order to draw awareness at the unnecessary consumption that occurs of resources from the earth. Today, demographers and environmental scientists understand the impact that the population has made on the planet, and are working towards the creation of new environmentally friendly technologies and new, renewable sources of our planet's resources. With the global population expected to taper off in the next several years, the chance for the planet to renew itself in terms of resources depends completely upon the way individuals -- scientists, environmentalists, and laymen alike -- choose to treat our planet. In looking toward the future, it is clear that the earth can no longer be taken for granted and viewed as an endlessly-providing resource. Should our efforts to change fail, the future of the population hangs in the balance.

Today, there are countless efforts being launched in order to maintain our planet and the global population. Environmentally-sound methods are being developed each day to provide renewable energy, which will hopefully alleviate the world's dependence on oil and fossil fuels. Methods have been utilized throughout the world to revitalize wetlands, farmlands, oceans, rivers and forests in order reap the benefits of nature while sustaining the balance that nature itself intended. Finally, humanity has seemed to realize the effects that our gluttonous consumption has had on the earth. Which each record-warm winter or unprecedented tornado that sweeps through a never-before-hit town, the warning signs of our affect on the planet seem to keep coming. This is the time to step up production efforts and environmentally friendly methods of production and consumption in order to right our wrongs.