Man?s insatiable quest for resources have led the destruction of plant and animal species but in parallel have also led to excessive consumption of Earth?s natural resources.  Many of the rare Earth metals have already disappeared from Earth?s crust and their non-availability for technology applications such as medical equipment has resulted in medical treatments becoming inaccessible for remote sections of the society. 

Early detection of diseases will help control the spread of epidemics and will lead to less human or animal deaths.  It is important to conserve Earth?s natural resources, both animate and inanimate.  They are required for our survival.  

Based on the estimated numbers, population on Earth is expected to touch 10 billion by the end of the year 2050 and by then technologies and rate of consumption of humans would have grown at a rapid rate. We have a decade left before we start seeing the complete depletion of some natural resources. 

For example, Platinum is used in the automotive industry, is expected to be consumed fully in another fifty years.  Many more examples are Antimony, Silver, Hafnium, Indium, Uranium, Zinc and Tantalum. This would mean that products like medical equipment, computers, Mobile phones, automotive components, where such minerals are used would meet their end or we would need alternate sources for survival in the market.  And every time we mine Earth in search for natural resources, the process of mining not only destroys the surface of Earth, but it also leads to a number of undesirable effects. 

The ecological destruction of mining includes erosion, formation of sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, and contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water by chemicals from mining processes.  The mining process releases lots of chemicals that are just left in the mining site and include [Reference – HealthWiKi]:

1.     cyanide, sulfuric acid, and solvents for separating minerals from ore.

2.     nitric acid.

3.     ammonium nitrate and fuel oil used in blasting tunnels.

4.     heavy metals such as mercury, uranium, and lead.

5.     gasoline, diesel fuel, and exhaust fumes from vehicles and equipment.

As rain water fills up these mining sites, these chemicals mix up with water that are drained into rivers or places where agricultural farming takes place.  The water mixed with chemicals are used by manufacturers of drinking water and aerated drinks.  Some of the samples tested by neutral agencies have concluded high content of lead and mercury in drinking water / drinks.  The contaminated ground water is absorbed by plants resulting in high toxicity in their produce thus cascading bad effects down the food chain.   

Advances in technology could be of help here as instead of mining Earth, we could mine space for large quantities of minerals in asteroids and acquire some rare metals. The mining companies could deploy robotic drones that will stay on an asteroid until the mining is accomplished. We could use these metals that are collected from the asteroid and utilize them on Earth for industrial use.  Though this might sound more fiction than fact, many of the present day inventions were a fiction of the past as well.  We live in the hope for a better tomorrow and a brighter future.  It is time that we realize the importance of conserving Earth and our ecosystem and seek better ways for protecting our natural resources. 

Image credit 1:  NASA report only for data - http://nasa.gov

Image credit 2:  http://www.mining.com/south-africa-has-failed-to-protect-locals-from-gold-mine-pollution-harvard-report/