1
Learning Unit 7 (Resources: Use and abuse)
Notes:
Section B, Chapter 14: pages 342 to 367.
Resources – Key Terms
Acid deposition: The deposition of substances with acid on the land,
or in water, due to sulfur and nitrogen oxide pollution
of the atmosphere.
Biofuel: Liquid or gas fuel produced from biomass.
Cartel: A group of producers that control a particular market
by limiting production to drive up the prices.
Conservation: Efficient use and careful management of resources
for maximum benefits or use.
Consumptive use: Usage of water where the water is evaporated rather
than returned into nature as a liquid.
Fossil fuel: Chemical energy stored in formerly living organisms
(plant or animal), eg coal,oil and natural gas.
Natural resource: Something that’s useful and exists independent of
human activity.
Nonpoint source: A source of pollution coming from a large, diffuse
area.
Nonrenewable resource: A resource that’s being used at rates exceeding the
rates at which it replenished in nature.
Particulate: A small, solid particle in the air which is a component
of air pollution.
Photovoltaic electricity: Electric generation using a device that converts light
into electricity.
Point source: A source of pollution for which a distinct location can
be identified where the pollutant enters the
environment.
Pollution: A human-caused increase of substance in the
environment.
Preservation: Limiting resource development for the purpose of
saving resources for the future.
Renewable resource: Something that’s getting produced by nature at a
rate similar to what it’s being consumed by humans.
Reserve: In context of geologic resources, a deposit that has
been identified and is commercially extractable at
with present prices and technology.
Sustainability/sustainable Resource management and/or economic
development: development that provides the needs of the present
without compromising future opportunities.
Sustained yield: A way of managing a renewable natural resource
such that harvest can continue indefinitely.
Temperature inversion: A layer in the atmosphere, where warmer air lies
above cooler air, causing inhibition of vertical
circulation.
Summaries by Marizanne du Plessis All rights reserved.
, 2
Wastewater: Water that was used for a purpose, and returned to
the environment as a liquid.
Understanding resources and their value:
* Natural resources are important to all the inhabitants of Earth. However, access to
natural resources varies among regions and ultimately adds different values to
certain resources. The value of a resource is determined by culture, technology and
the economy, but because of the variety of variables involved, competing interests
for the same resources need to be somehow balanced. Resource accessibility,
competing interests and resource overuse are all factors that complicate the
management of the natural resources.
The identification of a natural resource and the distinction between a
renewable resource and a non-renewable resource:
Natural resource:
• Is anything that’s created by natural processes that people use.
• Examples include plants, animals, coal, water, air, land, metals, sunlight and
wilderness.
• Important to geography because they’re specific elements of the atmosphere,
biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere with which people interact.
• Can be distinguished from human made resources.
Is defined by:
1. Culture:
- Influences the demand for commodities and affects society’s willingness to
influence supply and demand with policies.
2. Technology:
- Influences the ability to use certain resources and the relative costs and benefits of
using those resources.
3. Economic system:
- Influences whether a resource is affordable and accessible. Supply + demand =
determining affordability.
Renewable resource:
• If the resource is naturally produced at rates similar to our use.
Nonrenewable resource:
• Resource used at rates far exceeding the rates at which it’s replenished in nature.
The aspects that define the use and value of a natural resource:
A natural resource is defined by:
1. Cultural values – influence demand for commodities, and also affect society’s
willingness to influence supply + demand through policy.
Summaries by Marizanne du Plessis All rights reserved.
, 3
2. Technology – has a tremendous influence on our ability to use certain resources,
and on the relative costs + benefits of using those resources.
3. Society’s economic system – affects whether a resource is affordable +
accessible. In market economy, supply + demand are the principal factors
determining affordability.
Use + value of natural resources:
1. Cultural values:
• To survive humans need shelter, food + clothing and make use of a variety of
resources to meet their needs.
• We can build homes of grass, wood, mud, stone or brick.
• We can eat flesh of fish, cattle, pigs, etc – or consume fruits + vegs.
• We can make clothing from animal skins, cotton, silk, etc.
• Cultural values help us to identify things as resources to sustain life.
• A swamp = good example of how shifting cultural values can turn an unused
feature into a resource.
• A century ago swamps were used as humid, buggy places where diseases thrived
– they were only valued to dump waste or to convert into agricultural land.
• Eliminating swamps = good because removed the breeding ground for mosquitoes
+ created more land.
• During 20th century the cultural values changed = we became more aware of the
value of natural ecosystems + role of swamps in controlling floods, providing habitat
for wildlife, and reducing water pollution.
• Changing public attitude towards swamps is reflected in our vocabulary = we now
call them wetlands.
• Wetlands = valued land, protected by law.
• We restore damaged wetlands, create new ones and restrict activities that might
harm them.
2. Technology:
• Utility of a natural resource depends on a society’s technological ability to obtain it
and adapt it to the society’s purposes.
• Example = metals = elements can be formed into materials that have high strength
in relation to their weight, can withstand high temperatures + good conductors of
heat.
• A metal ore = not a resource if we don’t know how to recover and shape it into a
useful object, such as a tool, coin, etc.
• Earth = may substances we don’t use because we don’t know how to extract or use
them.
• Potential resources – things that may become resources in the near future.
• Radioactive uranium = had little value until we developed technology to use it in
weapons + generating electricity.
3. Economics:
• Natural resources acquire a monetary value through exchange in a marketplace.
Summaries by Marizanne du Plessis All rights reserved.
Learning Unit 7 (Resources: Use and abuse)
Notes:
Section B, Chapter 14: pages 342 to 367.
Resources – Key Terms
Acid deposition: The deposition of substances with acid on the land,
or in water, due to sulfur and nitrogen oxide pollution
of the atmosphere.
Biofuel: Liquid or gas fuel produced from biomass.
Cartel: A group of producers that control a particular market
by limiting production to drive up the prices.
Conservation: Efficient use and careful management of resources
for maximum benefits or use.
Consumptive use: Usage of water where the water is evaporated rather
than returned into nature as a liquid.
Fossil fuel: Chemical energy stored in formerly living organisms
(plant or animal), eg coal,oil and natural gas.
Natural resource: Something that’s useful and exists independent of
human activity.
Nonpoint source: A source of pollution coming from a large, diffuse
area.
Nonrenewable resource: A resource that’s being used at rates exceeding the
rates at which it replenished in nature.
Particulate: A small, solid particle in the air which is a component
of air pollution.
Photovoltaic electricity: Electric generation using a device that converts light
into electricity.
Point source: A source of pollution for which a distinct location can
be identified where the pollutant enters the
environment.
Pollution: A human-caused increase of substance in the
environment.
Preservation: Limiting resource development for the purpose of
saving resources for the future.
Renewable resource: Something that’s getting produced by nature at a
rate similar to what it’s being consumed by humans.
Reserve: In context of geologic resources, a deposit that has
been identified and is commercially extractable at
with present prices and technology.
Sustainability/sustainable Resource management and/or economic
development: development that provides the needs of the present
without compromising future opportunities.
Sustained yield: A way of managing a renewable natural resource
such that harvest can continue indefinitely.
Temperature inversion: A layer in the atmosphere, where warmer air lies
above cooler air, causing inhibition of vertical
circulation.
Summaries by Marizanne du Plessis All rights reserved.
, 2
Wastewater: Water that was used for a purpose, and returned to
the environment as a liquid.
Understanding resources and their value:
* Natural resources are important to all the inhabitants of Earth. However, access to
natural resources varies among regions and ultimately adds different values to
certain resources. The value of a resource is determined by culture, technology and
the economy, but because of the variety of variables involved, competing interests
for the same resources need to be somehow balanced. Resource accessibility,
competing interests and resource overuse are all factors that complicate the
management of the natural resources.
The identification of a natural resource and the distinction between a
renewable resource and a non-renewable resource:
Natural resource:
• Is anything that’s created by natural processes that people use.
• Examples include plants, animals, coal, water, air, land, metals, sunlight and
wilderness.
• Important to geography because they’re specific elements of the atmosphere,
biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere with which people interact.
• Can be distinguished from human made resources.
Is defined by:
1. Culture:
- Influences the demand for commodities and affects society’s willingness to
influence supply and demand with policies.
2. Technology:
- Influences the ability to use certain resources and the relative costs and benefits of
using those resources.
3. Economic system:
- Influences whether a resource is affordable and accessible. Supply + demand =
determining affordability.
Renewable resource:
• If the resource is naturally produced at rates similar to our use.
Nonrenewable resource:
• Resource used at rates far exceeding the rates at which it’s replenished in nature.
The aspects that define the use and value of a natural resource:
A natural resource is defined by:
1. Cultural values – influence demand for commodities, and also affect society’s
willingness to influence supply + demand through policy.
Summaries by Marizanne du Plessis All rights reserved.
, 3
2. Technology – has a tremendous influence on our ability to use certain resources,
and on the relative costs + benefits of using those resources.
3. Society’s economic system – affects whether a resource is affordable +
accessible. In market economy, supply + demand are the principal factors
determining affordability.
Use + value of natural resources:
1. Cultural values:
• To survive humans need shelter, food + clothing and make use of a variety of
resources to meet their needs.
• We can build homes of grass, wood, mud, stone or brick.
• We can eat flesh of fish, cattle, pigs, etc – or consume fruits + vegs.
• We can make clothing from animal skins, cotton, silk, etc.
• Cultural values help us to identify things as resources to sustain life.
• A swamp = good example of how shifting cultural values can turn an unused
feature into a resource.
• A century ago swamps were used as humid, buggy places where diseases thrived
– they were only valued to dump waste or to convert into agricultural land.
• Eliminating swamps = good because removed the breeding ground for mosquitoes
+ created more land.
• During 20th century the cultural values changed = we became more aware of the
value of natural ecosystems + role of swamps in controlling floods, providing habitat
for wildlife, and reducing water pollution.
• Changing public attitude towards swamps is reflected in our vocabulary = we now
call them wetlands.
• Wetlands = valued land, protected by law.
• We restore damaged wetlands, create new ones and restrict activities that might
harm them.
2. Technology:
• Utility of a natural resource depends on a society’s technological ability to obtain it
and adapt it to the society’s purposes.
• Example = metals = elements can be formed into materials that have high strength
in relation to their weight, can withstand high temperatures + good conductors of
heat.
• A metal ore = not a resource if we don’t know how to recover and shape it into a
useful object, such as a tool, coin, etc.
• Earth = may substances we don’t use because we don’t know how to extract or use
them.
• Potential resources – things that may become resources in the near future.
• Radioactive uranium = had little value until we developed technology to use it in
weapons + generating electricity.
3. Economics:
• Natural resources acquire a monetary value through exchange in a marketplace.
Summaries by Marizanne du Plessis All rights reserved.
