A resource is any physical or virtual entity of limited availability that needs to be consumed to obtain a benefit from it. Biological or ecological resources are required by organisms for normal maintenance, growth, and reproduction

1. T Y B Sc. Zoology Notes: Paper IV –Environmental Science
Resource utilization and impact of technology:
The natural resources are materials, which living organisms can take from nature for sustaining their life
or any components of the natural environment that can be utilized by man to promote his welfare is
considered to be natural resources. Ramade (1984) defined a resource as a form of energy and/or matter,
which is essential for the fulfillment of physical, socio-economic and cultural needs, both at the
individual lands and that of the community level. Biological or ecological resources are required by
organisms for normal maintenance, growth, and reproduction. Whereas economic resources are
obtained from the living and nonliving environment to meet human needs and wants. Computer
resources such as processors and memory limit computing speed and data storage in information
management systems. Commercial or even non-commercial resources which require resource
management. All life as we know it, whether in plant or animal forms, can only be sustained by the
consumption of natural resources. It is not enough to think only in terms of human life since all living
things depend on a constant supply of resources. Man can choose that what resources he can make use
of and in what quantities and forms. For him what is useful or useless can change with the technology,
economics and the environmental effects of getting and using resources. Something is useful as a
resource only if it is made available at a reasonable cost. In some cases if the resource use is hazardous
to uuman and other life forms then its use have to be stopped.
Technology can solve the problem of a scarce resource by finding a suitable or replacement. Resource
use is related
A. History:
1. As years passed, technological advancement was no longer confined to the mere purpose of
meeting man’s needs for food, clothing and shelter. Different forms of technological
developments described the era of each civilization. It started from Stone Age and was elevated
to the Bronze Age and finally reached the Iron Age, which brought technological advancements
in weaponry.
2. Neighboring countries and regions came to wage war against each other and often the victor
was the one with better technology as far as weapons were concerned. Even today, major
countries spend billions of dollars for warfare technology to ensure that no foreign leader or
ruler can invade and claim a country or territory as his own. Thus, the negative impact of
technology on the environment began to surface as more of the Earth’s natural resources and
ecological habitats were being depleted or disrupted.
3. Advancements in technology also brought the finer things in life, making it necessary for man to
accelerate his economic growth. Natural ecosystems, while having a degree of inherent
adaptability, are less able to adjust if the disturbance is large or rapid.
4. Increasing populations and associated demand for land for a variety of human activities
including agriculture, human settlements, grazing and plantation forests, and for forest products
(e.g., fuelwood, timber); and the use of inland and coastal waters for waste disposal have
By Prof. S D Rathod
Dept. of Zoology
B N Bandodkar College of Science, Thane, India

2. T Y B Sc. Zoology Notes: Paper IV –Environmental Science
radically altered some natural ecosystems and made others more vulnerable in many parts of
the world.
5. Technology was used to speed up production and manufacture of goods, to provide better
transport and delivery as well as make the methods of communication not only faster but also,
far reaching.
6. Trade and commerce flourished at faster rates due to technological advancements and brought
about globalization. As trade and commerce grew, the more it heightened the impact of
technology on natural environment wherein air, land and water reached certain degrees of
pollution, degradation and contamination.
B. Mining and its Technology
1. It is said that the end of the Bronze Age began in 1200 BC, when the use of iron or metal came
into the foreground as a better material for weaponry. Since then, almost every nation found it
necessary to harness their environment’s iron resources to produce weapons for their warfare
technology. Hence, metals even then played an important role in order for a territory or region
to survive.
2. Until mining methods were soon developed wherein mining technology had greater negative
impact on the natural environment than the wood burning process that the cavemen
discovered.
3. In the U.S., the mining industries brought acid mine drainage problems that led to a series of
chemical reactions. It resulted into contamination of both surface and groundwater as natural
sources of drinking water. The growth, development and propagation of fish and other aquatic
life became disrupted. Waste water pipes, bridges and other metal structures submerged
underwater resulted to corrosion and subsequently acid run-offs.
C. Technology in Warfare – The Use of Chemicals and Microorganisms
Continual advances in technology have caused other needs to appear I addition to the basic
needs for the human survival. The development of science and technology have given rise to
much more revolution in the human living style. It led to industrialization, urbanization, increase
in transportation, electrification, electronification etc. the technological civilization release
wastes into the environment. It has tended by the years that the wastes have accumulated in
huge quantity on earth surface. Typical waste which is nonbiodegradable and toxic cause much
impact on the environment, leading to biomagnifications and bio-accumulation and destroying
the natural processes such as homeostasis mechanism of nature.
1. Technology that was used for warfare brought other detriments that emanated from the
manufacture of chemical weapons for mass destruction.
2. Large amounts of Mercury waste material was said to have been released in the environment at
the time when nuclear weapons were being manufactured. TNT or Tri-nitro-toluene is a known
environmental hazard because of its ability and persistence to seep into the ground. The most
frightening of all are the weapons of Biological Warfare which can be used even if there are no
By Prof. S D Rathod
Dept. of Zoology
B N Bandodkar College of Science, Thane, India

3. T Y B Sc. Zoology Notes: Paper IV –Environmental Science
wars being waged but simply to sow terror. Infectious microorganisms in some form or
substance will be released to cause death by way of diseases that will affect all living things,
man, animals and plants.
3. The Appalachian Coal Fields is the region where mining activities took place and where most of
the mines produced different forms of metals. Some mines closed due to the advent of the Civil
Wars in 1861-1865. Mines were abandoned and soon, the mine drainage problems surfaced
with significant levels of toxic content. In fact, most of the mining industries in the Appalachian
Coal Fields have since closed due to economic recession but not without leaving pollution
problems. It is said that of all coal fields, Western Maryland has the most severe case of water
pollution. The drainage run-offs carry acid, iron, aluminum, sulfur and other toxic substances
into the nearby streams.
4. Inside these abandoned mines, mineral deposits became exposed to the Earth’s oxygen and
resulted to chemical reactions which produced sulfide bearing mineral deposits. It later formed
into a substance called pyrite (FeS2) and underwent another chemical reaction when it started
to precipitate. The acid substance produced after precipitation is called "poisonous copper
leachate" and it leaked into underground waterways reaching several miles and mixing with
river water.
5. Based on this, the greater negative impact of technology, especially on land and water, all
started when man discovered iron or metal as the best form of weaponry. The US may have
eased down on metal mining but it relies on China for its supply of rare metal, since the latter
country provides 97% of rare-earth metals bought in the world market. It can be surmised that
the accumulation of negative technological impact can be remedied by green technological
concepts and change of lifestyle.
D. Industrial revolution:
1. In fact in China, wood burning is still prevalent among millions of the country's households. The
Asia Asthma Development Board ranks China as having the highest record of fatalities of its
nation's asthma sufferers. These accumulated impacts started as far back as 1.4 million years
ago when cavemen discovered how to make fire and made use of wood as fuel. Today, as
China's factories and communities continue to rely on coal as its main source of energy, it is
expected that out of 100,000 Chinese citizens suffering from asthma, 36.7 are not expected to
survive.
E. Global Warming:
Greenhouse gas emissions have brought us global warming, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, air
pollution, ocean acidification, disrupted marine and wildlife biodiversity, groundwater
contamination, soil depletion and a host of other adverse effects that stem from other
technological innovations that were conceptualized without considering the consequences. All
these effects are intertwined as a result of gas emissions that accumulated in the atmosphere. It
eventually penetrated the ozone layer found in the Earth's stratosphere. Temperature increase
attributable to atmospheric composition change is expected to be larger at higher latitudes,
particularly in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, there may be impacts on
By Prof. S D Rathod
Dept. of Zoology
B N Bandodkar College of Science, Thane, India

4. T Y B Sc. Zoology Notes: Paper IV –Environmental Science
agriculture in areas already suffering from environmental problems, e.g., soil degradation. For
small island states, sea level rise will expose vulnerabilities. While some semiarid areas may be
vulnerable, some in the north may, in fact, benefit, e.g., due to increases in agricultural
productivity.
F. Misuse of the resources:
Many instances the resources are misused or wastefully used. It has estimated that the
conventional heating method wastes about 15% percent of the fuel. 25 to 49% of the potable
water is wasted in construction and other purposes like gardening, cleaning, washing, in urban
system and some civil uses. With the advent of technology the resources have been used
unprecedentedly through centuries. The chemicals like DDT, TNT, Hg, plastic, oil (oil-spill) etc.
are the examples of excessive use. Urbanization and industrialization has gone beyond limit and
have reached to uncontrolled limits. Urbanization has generated huge solid waste, domestic
waste and storm waters. Industrialization has poured heavy effluents in nature polluting it by
adding radioactive waste, toxins, excessive nutrients etc. Agriculture encouraged use of
fertilizers, pesticides and developed land infertility, soil erosion and salinity. Civil activities like
construction of dams, roads, slashing down of forests, transportation etc led to the extinction of
many wild species. Many have brought to the brink of extinction and endangered status thus
affecting the global biodiversity. Explosion in the human population has put a great pressure on
natural resources with increase in the per capita consumption of land, water, food, space,
manufactured goods etc. most of the non-renewable resources like fossil fuel and minerals are
used taking no account of the real size of their availability. The space interstellar machine and
satellites around the globe have led to space garbage which is difficult to get rid of. In addition
lots of radiation due to ozone layer destruction, use of radioactive elements and equipment or
even the mobile towers are putting adverse effect not only living organism but human also
leading to ailments like anxiety, mental disorder, cancer etc.
Over-consumption/excessive or unnecessary use of resources, overfishing, cascade effect
Non-equitable distribution of resources
Slash and burn agricultural practices, currently occurring in many developing countries
Technological and industrial development
Erosion, draught, deluge
Irrigation, soil salinization
Mining for oil and minerals
Aquifier depletion, water pollution
Deforestation
Pollution or contamination of resources
Species extinction, Loss of biodiversity, endangered species.
G. Sustainable Development:
1. Thus the anthropogenic activities which have not only put lots of pressure on the ecosphere but
also has challenged the survival of human beings in future. Such activities should be rectified,
controlled or stopped. It is now right time for implementing a worldwide strategy for the
By Prof. S D Rathod
Dept. of Zoology
B N Bandodkar College of Science, Thane, India

5. T Y B Sc. Zoology Notes: Paper IV –Environmental Science
protection of nature so as to maintain a long-lasting and sustainable or homeostatic world in
future. It is our utmost lookout for the development of rational management and conservation
of resources and nature. The development of technology that enables us to use the exhaustible
resources at its full efficiency without producing any toxicant or end product is needed.
2. Green Technology and the Aim to Reverse the Negative Impacts
On a brighter side, new technology brought about what will be known in man’s history as the
Computer Age. This era will become significant not only in greatly improving trade and
commerce but also in bringing forth instruments that will lessen the accumulated negative
effects of technology on the Earth’s natural resources.
Green technology has come up with better solutions of generating heat and energy. The sun’s
powerful UV rays are being harnessed through solar panels instead of the wood burning
process. The kinetic powers of wind and water currents are being utilized to produce electricity
that can lessen the demands for coal and fossil fuels.
Present day Green technology is decisively geared at lessening if not reversing all the negative
impacts of technology since millions of people especially children have come to develop
respiratory diseases as chronic illness.
Communities take extra effort to green their lifestyle and lessen the negative impacts of
technology on natural environment. However, nations continue to increase the use of
technology in warfare and they produce weapons that make use of metals, chemicals and
microorganisms that have far greater negative effects.
3. In fact, everyone is encouraged to be patient and that the completion of environmental
rehabilitation may take place not in our lifetime but of the future generations. Yet, whatever is
being done to improve environmental conditions today can be easily wiped out with just one
launch of warfare technology tomorrow, as man continues to engage in acts of war and terror.
The more sophisticated the weapons, the more distressful the impact of technology on natural
environment will take place. It can be surmised that the accumulation of negative technological
impact can be remedied by green technological concepts and change of lifestyle.
4. A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) we emit individually in any one-year
period. CO2 is produced from many sources and is the primary gas responsible for global
warming. The carbon footprint is made up of two parts, the primary and the secondary. The
primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels
including domestic energy consumption and transportation. The secondary footprint is a
measure of indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use.
By Prof. S D Rathod
Dept. of Zoology
B N Bandodkar College of Science, Thane, India