Values of natural resources in the world

There are a lot of natural resources in the world and the ocean is one of them. Since the ocean covers 70 percent of the earth it is the largest natural resource for us. When it comes to this natural resource it comes with direct and indirect environmental values, one main direct environmental value would be educational and scientific values, in our text the author states “if a scientist uses a particular mineral, body of water, or species for research that advances knowledge, we may attribute that to scientific value” (Dale, 2015). This certain scientific value brings a lot of value to the ocean since about 91 percent of the species in the ocean still need to be identified (Mora, Tittensor, Adl, Simpson, & Worm, 2011). As for indirect values there could be a lot as well, however one of the indirect values could come to pass in the future if the ocean begins to dry up, this would be a scarcity value which is a value that humans hold of a resource that eventual becomes rare (Dale, 2015). As for putting a value on the ocean I think that we can not put a value on this natural resource since we can not put a market value on the ocean.

One threat to the ocean is oil pollution. This has been seen a couple times the most recent was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. The events of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill were one of the largest oil spills in the history of the U.S. spewing over 4 million barrels of oil over the course of 87 days into the Gulf of Mexico (EPA, 2017). Florida just passed an amendment that would ban offshore drilling in the election at the beginning of the month the amendment called for the banning of oil or natural gas drilling in state waters. This amendment will elevate the treat from oil pollution in the ocean for the coast of Florida.

When it comes to worldviews that influence the policy tension two of them come to mind, the first is anthropocentricism since this worldview means human centered, which in turn means that everything was put on earth to meet the demands of humans (Dale, 2015). A lot of people believe that everything was put on this earth to make our lives easier. The other worldview that I see is biocentrism which is self-centered, or humans are just one component of an associated natural framework (Dale, 2015). The ocean is one natural resource that needs to be protected not just for us but for the living creatures that currently inhabit it as well. The ocean provides us with air, food, and water so we need to do what we can to protect what is left.

References:

Dale, L. (2015). Environmental policy (second ed.). Bridgepoint Education.

EPA. (2017). Deepwater Horizon – BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/deepwater-horizon-bp-gulf-mexico-oil-spill

Mora, C., Tittensor, D. P., Adl, S., Simpson, A. G., & Worm, B. (2011). How many species are there on Earth and in the ocean?. PLoS biology, 9(8), e1001127.