IntroductionHuman wants, needs, and actions have created significant impacts on the Earth's environment. Although people have depended on natural resources for thousands of years, our consumption of resources has rapidly increased in recent decades. This has caused the depletion of many important resources like fresh water, as well as the looming possibility of a shortage of widely used non-renewable resources like oil. The planet is experiencing a shortage of waste-digesting resources due to overexploitation, which has further exacerbated climate change problems. Without sustainable resource management, the future of the world's natural resources and a healthy planet looks bleak. This paper will describe both the depletion of renewable and non-renewable resources, the causes of resource depletion, and the appropriate resource management necessary to maintain the world's incredibly large supply of resources. Natural Resources Natural resources are the elements of the environment and nature that provide human services (Roberts, 2011, p. 7). All resources have value or utility and can be considered “natural capital” (Elkin, 2013). The services provided by resources can be divided into two main groups: economic goods and attributes of nature. Economic goods are resources such as oil, gas, metals, forests or minerals, which can be classified as raw materials, as well as energy flows (Elkin, 2013). These goods are available in the market to be bought and sold. Generally, these types of resources are intended for human needs, although some may be essential for human survival. The attributes of nature are different in the sense that they cannot be bought or sold in the market, but they provide us with something invaluable like clean air and water,...... middle of paper ......urce Exhaustion: is population the problem? Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine, 64 (8), 13-26. National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy – NRTEE. (2003). Protecting Canada's natural capital: a vision for nature conservation in the 21st century. Ottawa, ON: National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. Neumayer, E. (2000). RARE OR ABUNDANT? THE ECONOMY OF THE AVAILABILITY OF NATURAL RESOURCES. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, 14 (3), 307-335.Roberts, J. (2011). Environmental policy. New York, NY: Routeledge. Suzuki, D. (2011). Is seven billion people too many? David Suzuki Foundation. From the World Health Organization. (2009). 10 facts about water scarcity. Retrieved from < http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/water/en/index.html>