Question

Explain the supply-demand reversal of environmental resources.

Answer 1

From the very inception of civilisation till the advent of industrialisation, the rate of extraction of the natural resources was far behind the rate of their regeneration. That is, in other words, the demand for resources falls short of the supply of the resources. The exploitation of nature by man was within the absorptive capacity of the environment. But, in today’s scenario with population explosion and industrial revolution, the demand for resources for both production and distribution has risen at a much more rapid rate. However, the rate of regeneration of these resources is relatively much lower than the rate of their extraction. In other words, the rate of consumption (demand) of the natural resources exceeds that of their supply. This is beyond the absorptive capacity of the environment and has made environmental crisis more probable. This reversal in the demand and supply relationship is referred to as the supply-demand reversal of the environmental resources.