Resources and Sustainability
Resource - any commodity or feature of the environment that people use to meet
their needs.
Raw Materials - the inputs needed to make a resource.
Deplete - to use up something
Different Types of Resources
1. Natural resources - soil, land, water, air, forests, minerals
2. Human resources - people to operate mines, factories and farms
3. Manufactured Resources - people have made these and they help to
produce goods
4. Financial Resources - capital (money) needed to open and run mines and
factories
Relationship between resources and economic development
Economic development - the growth of productive activity (farms, mines &
factories) which brings the growth of towns, increased employment & personal
wealth.
- towns and cities, factories and infrastructure often developed where resources
were available.
- especially true when resources were heavy and bulky (logs & coal)
- Japan - depend on imported coal and iron ore
- Witwatersrand - still continues after most gold mines are closed
Exploitation and depletion of resources
Renewable resources
- continually being replaced (water, air & solar energy)
- renewable as long as they are not used faster than they are replaced (trees,
forests)
- huge amounts of pollution from humans are endangering resources
Non-renewable resources
- will not be replaced when they have been used
- they form very slowly (gold, platinum, iron & fossil fuels)
- once used up, they are gone forever
, Why natural resource are depleted and degraded
- greedy businesses over-exploit resources to maximize profit
- gaps in the understanding of natural processes
- population pressure on natural resources
Ways people relate to their natural resources
1. Exploitation - make use of resources, may eventually cause a species to be
depleted
2. Depletion - reduce the number of a species either by over - exploitation or
degrading its environment
3. Conserve - protect a species or habitat for future use
4. Preserve - keep in the present condition areas of the earth that are still
untouched by humans
Sustainable use of resources
Sustainability - a process of change in which the exploitation of resources meets
current human needs and will not endanger the meeting of future human needs.
Non-sustainability
- increase in population
- increasing stress on natural resource (climate change)
Ways to achieve successful sustainability
1. developing techniques - can be used and affordable for local people and can
be handed down to their children. (solar operationed cooking devices)
2. natural resources without damaging natural environment - producing materials
that are better suited for their use (growing wood that last longer in homes)
3. educating rural people - affordable ways to improve the productivity of their
farms (building underground tanks for storing rainwater, using improved
seeds, improving fertility of their fields with compost or clean manure)
Soil and Soil Erosion
How soils are formed
Soil - thin upper layer of the earth's crust
- Minerals : weathered over time from underlying parent bedrock
- Organic matter : decaying plant and animal remains, slowly decomposed by
microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, worms and organisms (biota) to form humus)
- air
- water
Resource - any commodity or feature of the environment that people use to meet
their needs.
Raw Materials - the inputs needed to make a resource.
Deplete - to use up something
Different Types of Resources
1. Natural resources - soil, land, water, air, forests, minerals
2. Human resources - people to operate mines, factories and farms
3. Manufactured Resources - people have made these and they help to
produce goods
4. Financial Resources - capital (money) needed to open and run mines and
factories
Relationship between resources and economic development
Economic development - the growth of productive activity (farms, mines &
factories) which brings the growth of towns, increased employment & personal
wealth.
- towns and cities, factories and infrastructure often developed where resources
were available.
- especially true when resources were heavy and bulky (logs & coal)
- Japan - depend on imported coal and iron ore
- Witwatersrand - still continues after most gold mines are closed
Exploitation and depletion of resources
Renewable resources
- continually being replaced (water, air & solar energy)
- renewable as long as they are not used faster than they are replaced (trees,
forests)
- huge amounts of pollution from humans are endangering resources
Non-renewable resources
- will not be replaced when they have been used
- they form very slowly (gold, platinum, iron & fossil fuels)
- once used up, they are gone forever
, Why natural resource are depleted and degraded
- greedy businesses over-exploit resources to maximize profit
- gaps in the understanding of natural processes
- population pressure on natural resources
Ways people relate to their natural resources
1. Exploitation - make use of resources, may eventually cause a species to be
depleted
2. Depletion - reduce the number of a species either by over - exploitation or
degrading its environment
3. Conserve - protect a species or habitat for future use
4. Preserve - keep in the present condition areas of the earth that are still
untouched by humans
Sustainable use of resources
Sustainability - a process of change in which the exploitation of resources meets
current human needs and will not endanger the meeting of future human needs.
Non-sustainability
- increase in population
- increasing stress on natural resource (climate change)
Ways to achieve successful sustainability
1. developing techniques - can be used and affordable for local people and can
be handed down to their children. (solar operationed cooking devices)
2. natural resources without damaging natural environment - producing materials
that are better suited for their use (growing wood that last longer in homes)
3. educating rural people - affordable ways to improve the productivity of their
farms (building underground tanks for storing rainwater, using improved
seeds, improving fertility of their fields with compost or clean manure)
Soil and Soil Erosion
How soils are formed
Soil - thin upper layer of the earth's crust
- Minerals : weathered over time from underlying parent bedrock
- Organic matter : decaying plant and animal remains, slowly decomposed by
microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, worms and organisms (biota) to form humus)
- air
- water
