Natural Resources of The Earth: Our Responsibility
Natural Resources of The Earth: Our Responsibility
Natural Resources of The Earth: Our Responsibility
OUR RESPONSIBILITY
NATURAL RESOURCE:
Natural resources are materials and components (something that can be used) that
can be found within the environment. Every man-made product is composed of
natural resources (at its fundamental level). A natural resource may exist as a
separate entity such as fresh water, and air, as well as a living organism such as a
fish, or it may exist in an alternate form which must be processed to obtain the
resource such as metal ores, oil, and most forms of energy.
TYPES OR CLASSIFICATION:
Natural Resources are classified into different types based on
their origin and availability
Based on their origin natural resources are of 2 types they are:
Biotic – Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere (living
and organic material), such as forests, animals, birds,
and fish and the materials that can be obtained from
them. Fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are also included
in this category because they are formed from decayed organic
matter.
Abiotic – Abiotic resources are those that come from non-living,
non-organic material. Examples of abiotic resources
include land, fresh water, air and heavy metals including ores
such as gold, iron, copper, silver, etc.
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
AVAILABILITY:
Based on availability natural resources are classified into two types:
Renewable resources: are ones that can be replenished naturally. Some of these resources,
like sunlight, air, wind, etc., are continuously available and their quantity is not noticeably
affected by human consumption. Though many renewable resources do not have such a
rapid recovery rate, these resources are susceptible to depletion by over-use. Resources from
a human use perspective are classified as renewable only so long as the rate of
replenishment/recovery exceeds that of the rate of consumption.
Non-renewable resources: are resources that form extremely slowly and those that do not
naturally form in the environment. Minerals are the most common resource included in this
category. By the human perspective, resources are non-renewable when their rate of
consumption exceeds the rate of replenishment/recovery; a good example of this are fossil
fuels, which are in this category because their rate of formation is extremely slow
(potentially millions of years), meaning they are considered non-renewable. Some resources
actually naturally deplete in amount without human interference, the most notable of these
being radio-active elements such as uranium, which naturally decay into heavy metals. Of
these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them, but coal and petroleum cannot
be recycled.
BASIC NATURAL RESOURCES:
• Forest resources:
*forest is a land with wide range of
plants/tress and supports the ecosystem.
*from forests man has productive and
protective use.
*Threats to forest resources:
.Deforestation
.Desertification
.Decrease in rainfall
Water resource:
* Water is a liquid which is used for drinking ,
stabilization of temperature and for domestic purposes.
*water is called as a universal solvent.
*Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface and is vital
for all known forms of life. On Earth, 96.5% of the planet's water is
found in oceans, 1.7% in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and the ice
caps of Antarctica and Greenland, a small fraction in other large
water bodies, and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid
and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation. Only
2.5% of the Earth's water is freshwater, and 98.8% of that water is in
ice and groundwater. Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in rivers,
lakes, and the atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of the
Earth's freshwater (0.003%) is contained within biological bodies and
manufactured products.
MINERAL RESOURCES
Minerals are commercially valuable non
renewable resources.
A metal having definite chemical properties
and indefinite physical properties is
technically called mineral
Food Resource:
Materials which provides energy and maintains
metabolism in body in called Food
Plants are primary producers of food
LAND
Land Resource: RESOURCES
Land is a area which constitutes biotic and
abiotic components .It is technically called
as biosphere
Soil is an organic mixture of all minerals
which are deposited as sediments.
Energy resources
Energy Resource:
Materials which provides energy are called energy
resources.
Based on availability they are classified into two types:
Renewable energy resources
Non renewable energy resources
MEASURES TO
PRESERVE
NATURAL
RESOURCES:
MEASURES TO CONSERVE FOREST RESOURCES: