World natural resources may run out by 2040 - study (2024)

FAQs

What natural resources is the world running out of? ›

What resources are in decline? Water – Even though you see water everywhere and our planet is 70% water, only 2.5% of that 70% is fresh water. The rest is salt water and not useful to humans at all. That small percentage of fresh water is mostly in the form of ice or permanent snow cover.

So, if we continue at our current rate, it is estimated that all of our fossil fuels will be depleted by 2060. If we keep on mining the earth in such a damaging way, we might find new reserves that will push that date back.

The environment is incapable of replenishing the resources if we use them too quickly. Once these resources are gone, humans around the world will suffer due to a lack of access to essential resources like water, food, materials for housing, and materials for heating.

The global population, which is set to grow by 28 per cent, is predicted to use 71 per cent more resources per capita by 2050. Without urgent steps to increase efficiency, the global use of metals, biomass, minerals – such as sand – and other materials will increase from 85 to 186 billion tonnes per year by 2050.

Six other resources are likely to be exhausted between 100 and 200 years: antimony, gold, boron, silver, bismuth, and molybdenum, while nine resources have an exhaustion period of between 200 and 1000 years: indium, chromium, zinc, nickel, tungsten, tin, rhenium, selenium, and cadmium.

But by the 2030s, as temperatures rise, climate hazards are expected to increase all over the globe as different countries face more crippling heat waves, worsening coastal flooding and crop failures, the report says.

World Oil Reserves

The world has proven reserves equivalent to 46.6 times its annual consumption levels. This means it has about 47 years of oil left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).

Assuming the same annual rate of U.S. dry natural gas production in 2021 of about 34.52 Tcf, the United States has enough dry natural gas to last about 86 years.

Water is the world's most vital resource. The world knows how to access it and deliver it to the people who need it. We won't run out of water, but this vitally important resource demands vitally important efforts to establish access to it for generations to come.

We cannot live without the clean air we breathe, the plants we eat, or the water we drink. We need natural resources to put roofs over our heads and heat our homes. We need them to survive and to thrive.

What will happen if our natural resources are exhausted? ›

If the natural resources were all exhausted, it would be impossible for living beings to survive. Fossil fuels are vital natural resources that are required for human life. They are utilized for the production of electricity which is used to run factories and other essential activities.

Conclusion: how long will fossil fuels last? It is predicted that we will run out of fossil fuels in this century. Oil can last up to 50 years, natural gas up to 53 years, and coal up to 114 years. Yet, renewable energy is not popular enough, so emptying our reserves can speed up.

Risks to natural resources like e.g. water, soil or biodiversity are increasing. Natural resources are too often overexploited, poorly managed or polluted. Wetland encroachment, soil erosion, unequal water allocation and pollution are just some of the risks natural resources face.

There will be a significant rise in social and financial stratification. Large cities will grow and population density will increase. The most technologically and economically advanced countries will engage in a new space race and new crewed missions to the Moon. Technologies will progress stepwise.

Looking farther into the future, other sources claim that things like aluminum might run dry in about 80 years. Other studies indicate that rhodium, followed by gold, platinum and tellurium, are some of the rarest elements in terms of their percentage in the planet's crust and their importance to society.

At the current rate of consumption, oil will run out in about 30 years' time, tin, cadmium, lead and zinc in 40 years, copper, antimony and nickel in about 70 years. Most current utilization of aquatic animals, of the wild plants and animals of the land, of forests and of grazing lands is not sustainable.

Water is the most abundant natural resource on the planet, the source of countless ecosystem services, and critical to industrial, agricultural, household, and recreational activities.