A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IN OUR HANDS - To Parent Directory

Sustainable Development Natural resources4CHAPTERNatural resourcesProtecting the world around usThere may only be 20 to 30 South China tigers left in thewild - with numbers so very low, it’s hard to be precise.We do know there are more privately owned tigers inAmerica alone than in the whole of the wild. Closer tohome, the Iberian Lynx population is so threatened that itmay well become the first big cat species to become extinctsince the sabre-toothed tiger. These are just a couple ofexamples of the impact we are having on the air, sea andland around us.Natural disasters and processes were behind the other fivemass extinctions seen in the geological record.This is the sixth and this time there is no debate over thecause – it’s us. Centuries of disregard for our impact onthe natural world has left us with more statistics than theplants and animals they represent.And it is not just animals and plants that are affected. Jointresearch carried out at the universities of Ausburg and Yalelooked at the supply of minerals left and estimated whenthey would run out, given current consumption trends.Their results for 2006 show we have 15 years left of platinum,15-20 of silver and 20-30 of zinc. They add that keyresources will run out even more quickly if some new technologiesbecome marketable and the population grows.© Corbis037