Damage of the Environment

Damage of the environment is an inevitable consequence of worldwide improvements in the standard of living. Discuss.

Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he has been given. But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life has become extinct, the climate is ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day !" ( Anton Chekhov )

Introduction :

- for thousands of years , people hunted, fished and farmed the land for food;
- they used plants to make cloth, paper, dyes, and medicines;
- they made tools and weapons from stone and metals;
- in time, they invented machines which were driven by water;
- later, people learned how to power them with fuel, like coal, gas or oil;
- they put up factories where numerous products could be made ( such as new types of clothing, furniture and machines );
- and they built power stations to provide factories and homes with electricity;
- all these activities have been called improvements in the standard of our living;

Development :

A. Resources as Environment :

- but for a long time, no one realized that these improvements of our living were harming the earth;
- it was difficult to see just how quickly we were using up important natural resources ( like oil, coal, gas, and useful minerals );
- few people worried about the spreading cities or about spoiling our surroundings;
- only in recent times people realized that the things used to provide means to satisfy wants become resources only when people are able to use them;
- but human wants are very diverse;
- and human wants can extend from very basic physical requirements ( such as food and shelter ) up to ill-defined aesthetic needs;
- that is why resources include a vast range of items;
- the intellectual resources of a society ( its ideas and technologies ) determine which aspects of the environment meet the society's needs, so that