Do you think planet earth will face extinction because of our insatiable

consumption habits? Discuss.

I think that planet earth will face extinction because of our insatiable consumption
habits. Overconsumption means consuming resources that we cannot replenish or that
cannot sustain themselves at the rate we are consuming them. Ecosystems are unable
to cope with excessive resource extraction, resulting in biodiversity loss and the
deterioration of the natural world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of
the United Nations, “Since 1990, it is estimated that 420 million hectares of forest have
been lost through conversion to other land uses” due to overconsumption of timber. This
is a significant threat to the environment as sections of forests need time to grow after
logging occurs in an area if not it will face permanent depletion. The same goes for
overfishing too.

As our population continues to increase at a staggering rate, our overconsumption

worsens. Larger populations require more food, water and energy which tax the earth’s
ability to replace used resources.The concentration of people and wealth in a relatively
small area also leads to overconsumption quickly. An example of this is Qatar. Based
on the World Population Review; Although Qatar only has a small population of 2.69
million people, they have the highest ecological footprint per capita, 14.72, compared to
the United Kingdom which has a population of 67.33 million people, but just an
ecological footprint of 4.20. More carbon emissions leads to more environmental
damage. This, combined with the inevitable process of deforestation that occurs in
overpopulated areas, does additional harm to the environment, and prevents natural
renewal of resources. This will, in turn, lead to our extinction as the depletion of natural
resources will significantly affect our survival.

However, not all hope is lost. We can slow down overconsumption and protect our
planet by monitoring our consumption patterns, creating new ways to preserve them,
and practice resource management. If consumers make smarter decisions when
shopping by buying less, less often and with more rationale, producers will have to
adapt their business models to their target’s needs and this, in turn, will slow down the
rate of Earth’s deterioration. If we are aware of how our daily activities contribute to our
ecological footprint, we can limit the amount we consume and reuse materials as much
as possible.

Another way is to transition from non-renewable resources to resources that can

replenish themselves. For example, solar and wind as they do not emit carbon dioxide.
By doing so, We can improve the sustainability of our world and help to reduce carbon
emissions by burning less fossil fuels. As technology advances, more renewable
sources will be available and new methods that can improve our ability to protect the
world will be discovered. This may not only slow down overconsumption but prevent the
world from going extinct.

To summarise, if we continue to overconsume resources, deforestation, biodiversity

loss and depletion of natural resources will increase at an alarming rate due to
overpopulation. But, if we can monitor and change our consumption habits with new
technologies, we might stand a chance against extinction. However, extinction is
inevitable if we do not make a change. Let this be a reminder that we only have one
Earth. There is no time left to waste and we have to do something if not our
overconsumption habits will consume the only thing we live on.