Question.
How has technical and economic development led to more consumption of resources?
( Chapter - 1 -Resources and Development, Cass X NCERT Contemporary India -II )
Answer.
Everything available in our environment that can satisfy our needs provided it is technically accessible, economically viable, and culturally acceptable, is known as resources. Examples of resources are soil, forests, fossil fuels, etc.
Human interacts with nature through technology and drives economic development. As technology and economic development progress, more resources are consumed.
Technological and economic development has led to more consumption of resources as follows:
In the colonial period, the high level of technological development of the colonial countries helped them to exploit/consume the resources in the colonized area. For example, the development of the railway network in India helped the British rapidly exploit/consume India's natural resources.
The development of technology has helped us to identify, survey, locate and extract resources in the most difficult areas.
Technological advances have helped countries in harnessing the resources of the deep sea. For example, due to technological advancements, India is today able to mine manganese nodules in the deep sea.
The innovation of hydraulic fracturing technology has enabled us to extract shale gas from deep sedimentary rocks.
The high economic growth of countries like India and China has increased the demand for fossil fuels which has led to an increase in consumption.
Technological development of paper and pulp industries helps in the rapid exploitation of forest resources.
Due to the technological advancement of the developed areas, people consume more resources as compared to underdeveloped areas. For example, people in the United States are estimated to consume nearly 40 times more resources than Somalians.
Therefore, we can say that before the industrial revolution, there were low levels of technology and economic development in society, due to which resource utilization was also less. Today, technology and economic development have led to more use of resources.
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