People and all the other beings on planet Earth depend on natural resources for meeting their needs for food, shelter energy etc. The studies show that the current consumption habits are causing depletion of the natural resources at a very fast rate, without leaving time for their replenishment. Natural resources like trees, coal, oil and natural gas are used as raw materials to manufacture or create a range of modern conveniences. The fast population growth, higher living standards and technological advancement is increasing the use of these resources at a rate where they do not have the time to recover.

Read below some important facts:

• It took 130,000 years for the earth's population to reach 800 million in about 1780. Currently, almost 800 million are added every 10 years. (Natural Resource Economics)

• Water scarcity affects one in three people on every continent of the globe. (The United Nations)

• On current trends, over the next 20 years humans will use 40% more water than they do now. (UNESCO)

• Demand for steel is set to rise by 80% between 2010 and 2030. (McKinsey)

• Today, 60% of the world's major marine ecosystems that underpin livelihoods have been degraded or are being used in an unsustainable. (UNESCO)

• Commercial over-exploitation of the world's fish stocks is so severe that it has been estimated that up to 13% of global fisheries have 'collapsed.' (Overfishing Org.)

• The BP Statistical Review of World Energy in June measured total global oil at 188.8 million tonnes, from proved oil resources at the end of 2010. This is only enough oil for the next 46.2 years, should global production remain at the current rate. (BP)

• Phosphorus is an essential fertiliser, but the phosphate rock is only found in a handful of countries. Scientists from the Global Phosphorus Research Initiative predict we could run out of phosphorus in 50 to 100 years unless new reserves of the element are found. (Yale)