Reflection on Problem Solving- II

Prompt 1: In your own words, how do you identify environmental or natural resource challenges?
Provide an example illustrating this.

Environmental or natural resource challenges are often conspicuous and not easy to
pinpoint. To discover these issues, a key thing that should be evaluated is sustainability. Over
time, the sustenance of any environmental factor should be constant. When things are not able to
be maintained in the way they once were, we should consider further investigation and research
to determine whether this is a legitimate concern. An example of this is our use of fossil fuels.
We wouldnt realize that were in a deficit/crisis if we hadnt compared our supply of these
resources to the previous surplus. We were not actively working towards sustainability, so our
vital resources are depleting.

Prompt 2: What are the steps in problem solving for environmental/natural resource challenges?

Much research must be done so that those working at solving a problem are
knowledgeable on the topic. Its necessary that theyre educated on the subject because these
problems are affecting or will affect all of humanity at one point or another. Once extensive
exploration is complete, raising awareness about the subject is important. If the common public
knows about the issues theyre directly or indirectly causing, they can take the first steps at
solving it. Scientists can work with each other to pose various solutions and explore multiple
ways to approach the problem. This may be taken to government, higher authority, and the
people whom should democratically decide the action theyll take to problem solve. It may take
multiple attempts and different approaches to find the best solution to the problem.

Prompt 3: In the arena of natural resources in environment, how do you know if you have in fact
solved a problem?

Knowing if a problem has truly and fully been solved is another complicated issue. Once
again, we should look to sustainability. If we are actively working towards being sustainable, the
problem should not worsen, and ideally improve. In the earlier example, since fossil fuels are
non-renewable, this would mean our supply would not continue to decrease at the rate it is today,
but rather more slowly or not decreasing at all. It may take a long time to evaluate whether a
problem is actually solved, so patience is key. Data is the best way to prove plausibly that the
problem has been resolved. If anything, when these principles are adopted and practiced by the
general public and data proves the sustenance of the environmental issue, the problem has
adequately been resolved.