Editing Renewable resource (section)

==Threats to renewable resources==
Renewable resources are endangered by non-regulated industrial developments and growth.<ref>"Capitalizing on Environmental Injustice: The Polluter-Industrial Complex in the Age of Globalization", by Daniel Faber, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 17 Jul 2008</ref> They must be carefully managed to avoid exceeding the natural world's capacity to replenish them.<ref name="ReferenceA">"Management for a Small Planet" by Jean Garner Stead and W. Edward Stead, M.E. Sharpe 2009</ref> A life cycle assessment provides a systematic means of evaluating renewability. This is a matter of sustainability in the natural environment.<ref>"Environmental Science: Creating a Sustainable Future" by Daniel D. Chiras, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 21 Dec 2004</ref>

===Overfishing===
[[Image:Surexploitation morue surpêcheEn.jpg|thumb|[[Atlantic cod]] stocks severely overfished leading to abrupt collapse]]
{{main|Overfishing}}
''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' has described ocean over fishing as "simply the taking of wildlife from the sea at rates too high for fished species to replace themselves."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/our-programs/pristine-seas/ |title=Overfishing |magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |access-date=2013-01-06}}</ref>

[[Tuna]] meat is driving overfishing as to endanger some species like the bluefin tuna. The European Community and other organisations are trying to regulate fishery as to protect species and to prevent their extinctions.<ref>[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2002:358:0059:0080:EN:PDF COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2371/2002] of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy. Retrieved 2013-01-05.</ref> The [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]] treaty deals with aspects of overfishing in articles 61, 62, and 65.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part5.htm
|title=Text of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: Part V
|access-date=2012-05-01
}}</ref>

Examples of overfishing exist in areas such as the [[Fishing in the North Sea|North Sea]] of [[Europe]], the [[Grand Banks of Newfoundland|Grand Banks]] of [[North America]] and the [[East China Sea]] of Asia.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.gov.cn/english/2006-08/16/content_363493.htm
|title=Pollution, overfishing destroy East China Sea fishery
|editor=Lu Hui
|work=[[Xinhua]] on GOV.cn
|date=16 August 2006
|access-date=2012-05-01
|archive-date=2012-02-24
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224105748/http://www.gov.cn/english/2006-08/16/content_363493.htm
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

The decline of [[penguin]] population is caused in part by overfishing, caused by human competition over the same renewable resources<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100906145115.htm |title=Most Penguin Populations Continue to Decline, Biologists Warn |publisher=Science Daily |work=Science News |date=Sep 9, 2010 |access-date=2013-01-05}}</ref>

[[File:Deforestation central Europe - Rodungen Mitteleuropa.jpg|thumb|[[Deforestation]] in [[Europe]] in 2018]]

===Deforestation===
{{main|Deforestation}}
Besides their role as a resource for fuel and building material, trees protect the environment by absorbing carbon dioxide and by creating oxygen.<ref>[http://chemistry.about.com/od/environmentalchemistry/f/oxygen-produced-by-trees.htm How Much Oxygen Does One Tree Produce?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115175416/http://chemistry.about.com/od/environmentalchemistry/f/oxygen-produced-by-trees.htm |date=2012-11-15 }} By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., About.com Guide</ref> The destruction of rain forests is one of the critical causes of [[climate change]]. Deforestation causes carbon dioxide to linger in the atmosphere. As carbon dioxide accrues, it produces a layer in the atmosphere that traps radiation from the sun. The radiation converts to heat which causes [[global warming]], which is better known as the [[greenhouse effect]].<ref>Mumoki, Fiona. "The Effects of Deforestation on our Environment Today." Panorama. TakingITGlobal. 18 July 2006. Web. 24 March 2012.</ref>

Deforestation also affects the [[water cycle]]. It reduces the content of water in the soil and groundwater as well as atmospheric moisture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrm.org.uy/deforestation/UNreport.html |title=Underlying Causes of Deforestation |work=UN Secretary-General's Report |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010411092448/http://wrm.org.uy/deforestation/UNreport.html |archive-date=2001-04-11 }}</ref> Deforestation reduces soil cohesion, so that [[Soil erosion|erosion]], flooding and [[landslide]]s ensue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uwec.edu/jolhm/EH2/Rogge/index.htm|author=Daniel Rogge|work=University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire|title=Deforestation and Landslides in Southwestern Washington|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805191140/http://www.uwec.edu/jolhm/EH2/Rogge/index.htm|archive-date=2012-08-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/413717.stm |title=China's floods: Is deforestation to blame? |work=BBC News |date=August 6, 1999 |access-date=2013-01-05}}</ref>

Rain forests house many species and organisms providing people with food and other commodities. In this way biofuels may well be unsustainable if their production contributes to deforestation.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/Publications/AssessingBiofuels/tabid/56055/Default.aspx |title=Assessing biofuels: towards sustainable production and use of resources |year=2009 |publisher=[[International Resource Panel]], [[United Nations Environment Programme]] |access-date=2013-01-05}}</ref>

[[File:Bison skull pile edit.jpg|thumb|Over-hunting of [[American Bison]]]]

===Endangered species===
{{main|Endangered species}}

Some renewable resources, species and organisms are facing a very high risk of extinction caused by growing human population and over-consumption. It has been estimated that over 40% of all living species on Earth are at risk of going extinct.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.conservationandwildlife.com/threatened-species/|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170525032656/http://www.conservationandwildlife.com/threatened-species/|archive-date=25 May 2017|title=Threatened Species|publisher=Conservation and Wildlife|access-date=2 June 2012}}</ref> Many nations have laws to protect hunted species and to restrict the practice of hunting. Other conservation methods include restricting land development or creating preserves. The [[IUCN Red List|IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] is the best-known worldwide conservation status listing and ranking system.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/about/red-list-overview |title=Red List Overview |date=February 2011 |publisher=IUCN |access-date=2 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527175928/http://www.iucnredlist.org/about/red-list-overview |archive-date=27 May 2012 }}</ref> Internationally, 199 countries have signed an accord agreeing to create [[Biodiversity Action Plan]]s to protect endangered and other threatened species.