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Consumption

Natural Resources + National Security = Natural Security
Consumption

Energy

Energy

With the world more than 80 percent dependent on oil, coal, and natural gas to fuel vehicles, light and heat homes, and drive industry and agriculture, energy is essential for all aspects of human life.

Minerals

Minerals

Today’s global economy depends on the availability of a wide-range of non-fuel minerals that are essential for the manufacture of everything from aircraft to computer screens. Consider that a modern automobile can contain up to 39 different minerals, according to the National Academies of Science.

Water

Water

While water is abundant on the planet, it is unevenly distributed and most (about 97 percent) is saltwater in the oceans, unsuitable for human consumption and agriculture without expensive and energy- intensive desalination.

Land

Land

According to the World Food Programme, almost one billion people in the world today are not getting enough food.

 
Consequences

Climate Change

Climate Change

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released nearly unanimous findings that it is "unequivocal" that the climate is and will continue to change, and that human generation of greenhouse gases is responsible for most related changes since the 1950s.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity

Many scientists today believe that Earth is on the verge of the most significant mass extinction of plant and animal life in 65 million years, perhaps in the entire history of the planet.