IELTS essay about the depletion of natural resources

IELTS essay topic

Today we can see excessive consumption of natural resources such as air, fresh water, oil and so on. The usage is increasing at a very dangerous pace and is already reaching critical levels. What are the reasons contributing to this? What should be done to minimise the effects?

Sample essay

The excessive consumption of natural resources has led to their depletion. This is creating a lot of problems for the environment as well as its inhabitants.

Natural resources such as coal and petrol are non-renewable sources of energy. Because of their excessive consumption, these resources are becoming exhausted. This will lead to an increase in energy costs. When oil prices increase, prices of other commodities will also increase because of the increase in the cost of transportation.

The growing population is the main factor that leads to the exploitation of natural resources. Over 7 billion people live on this planet. They all need food to eat and water to drink. In many parts of the world, people don’t even get potable water. Someone wisely said that the Third World War would be for water. The water scarcity in many countries is alarming. People often have to walk miles to fetch water. This problem is particularly worse in developing and undeveloped countries.

Industrialization is also increasing the demand for fuel. The world is hungry for resources. There are too many vehicles on the road. They all need oil. To power the factories and the vehicles, we are exploiting all available sources of energy.

Consumerism has also played an important role in the exhaustion of natural resources. People want to show off their wealth; so they build big homes and buy cars. They buy the latest gadgets as soon as they hit the market. They are not all worried about the environmental impact of their actions. This has to change. The government and other agencies have to spread awareness about the need to conserve our resources.

To conclude, consumerism and industrialization are the main factors leading to the depletion of natural resources. This is an alarming development with far-reaching consequences. The only way to mitigate the negative effects is to prevent the mindless consumption of natural resources at any cost. There should be legislations to protect the environment. Also, we should focus on renewable energy resources.