It is vital to understand the various types of natural resources and the importance of each type to conserve them while restricting exploitation. We depend on natural resources for almost every need: food, fuel, energy, light, and more. You must learn more about natural resources and explore interesting facts stated in this article about them. So, continue reading to witness the curious world of natural resources!
What are Natural Resources?
Natural resources are the resources that exist in nature independent of human actions for their development. Some common examples of natural resources are air, sunlight, soil, water, plants, animals, and fossil fuels.
Natural resources are naturally occurring materials. Many of them are directly useful for humans, while many can be useful with the use of various technologies.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Science Chapter 14 Natural Resources
The Different Types of Natural Resources
Natural resources can be classified on several bases such as:
- Biotic or abiotic (on the basis of whether they are derived from organic materials or inorganic materials).
- Exhaustible and inexhaustible ( based on the number of resources that are available for human consumption)
Renewable/Inexhaustible Natural Resources
There are certain natural resources that occur in nature in an unlimited supply, and therefore, these resources are called inexhaustible resources or renewable resources.
Some examples of renewable energy resources are solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, tidal energy, and others.
Characteristics of Renewable Resources
- They are capable of regeneration
- These are renewed at the same rate at which they are exploited. This rate maintains a constant supply of renewable resources.
- The regeneration of these renewable sources includes certain ecological processes on a time scale.
Non-Renewable /Exhaustible Natural Resources
The human population has reached a number of 7.4 billion today! This increasing number implies that we require an increasing number of natural resources. If we do not restrict our rate, we will soon face a scarcity of resources such as plants and trees, mineral ores, animals, fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum. A scarcity of non-renewable resources can lead to less food to eat, no energy for power, and no material to build a shelter with. Thus, these natural resources are exhaustible or non-renewable.
Curiously Enough:
80% of the world’s total energy consumption is fulfilled by the extraction of fossil fuels. This includes non-renewable resources: oil, coal, and natural gas. This overexploitation can soon lead to scarcity of these resources.
Characteristics of Non-Renewable Resources
- They are not easily replenished.
- These non-renewable sources deplete over time.
- Mostly these sources are not environment friendly.
- There are logistical issues due to transportation for refining.
Difference between Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources
The table below enumerates the key differences between renewable and non-renewable resources.
Renewable Resources | Non-Renewable Resources |
It is available in infinite quantities and thus it can be renewed. | It cannot be renewed once completely consumed, as they are limited in stock. |
They are environment-friendly. They have a low cost. | They are less environment-friendly and have a high cost. |
They replenish quickly. | They replenish slowly or do not replenish at all. |
They are sustainable in nature | They are exhaustible. |
Here is an important concept on Renewable & Non-renewable resources provided by Aakash.
Depletion of Natural Resources
The depletion of natural resources takes place when resources are consumed at a rate faster than that of replacement. Natural resource depletion is often used in reference to water usage, fossil fuel consumption, and mining. Natural resource depletion is measured in terms of a resource’s availability in nature.
Causes of Resource Depletion
There are several causes of the depletion of our natural resources. Some common causes are as follows:
- Overconsumption: This is the excessive use of resources.
- Deforestation and the destruction of ecosystems lead to the loss of biodiversity. Moreover, increased logging activities cause soil erosion too and degrade natural soil minerals.
- Mining of minerals and oil.
- Technological and industrial development.
- Poor farming practices such as poor irrigation contributes to soil salinization and alkalization, making it unfit for plant growth.
- Overpopulation: An increase in the population causes an expansion in the need for resources and thus the conditions necessary to sustain it.
- Pollution due to the increase in population and modern anthropogenicity is a major contributor to the depletion of resources. The disposal of pollutants into the natural environment degrades the value of natural environments slowly and gradually. For e.g., the uncontrolled release of nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide has resulted in ozone layer depletion leading to global warming. A change in environmental temperature impacts the natural habitats of animal and plant species, and several species are on the verge of extinction.
Impact of Natural Resource Depletion
Depletion of natural resources can have a profound impact on our lives and the environment we live in. Some prominent impacts of natural resource depletion are
- Water shortages: Pollution, poor farming practices, and deforestation are major contributors to water resource depletion. Contamination, wastage, and destruction of water resources have led to a lack of access to clean water sources and groundwater. This water shortage contributes to famine and food insecurity.
- Oil depletion: Oil accounts for approximately 40 percent of the total energy used worldwide. EIA’s International Energy Outlook has conducted research that reveals that the remaining oil on Earth would last for only 25 years. Oil depletion can have adverse effects, including the fall of the business, high living costs in developing countries, and unreliability in the transport sector.
- Loss of forest cover: Depletion of natural resources has caused the destruction of almost 18 million acres of forest cover annually, i.e., almost half the world’s natural forest cover has been cleared. There is a 12% to 17% rise in greenhouse gases due to the reduction of forests. Furthermore, loss of forest cover also leads to soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, drought conditions, landslides, and increased flooding.
- Depletion of mineral ores: An increased exploitation of minerals such as phosphorus, copper, gasoline, and zinc shows that the Earth could soon run out of these essential minerals. For instance, phosphorus – an essential element for plant growth, is expected to get scarce in the upcoming 50 to 100 years.
- Extinction of species: A change in natural living conditions of animals and plants has resulted in habitat degradation and extinction of some species. Deforestation is progressively depleting forest habitats. Moreover, overfishing and pollution are also contributors to a drastic reduction of marine species such as tuna fish.
Curiously Enough:
Although our planet has 70% water, only 2.5% is freshwater, and the remaining is salt water which is not fit for human consumption. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation predicts that 1.8 billion people will not have water to drink by 2025.
How Can We Conserve Natural Resources?
The following solutions to conserve the depletion of natural resources have produced favourable results in several countries. We must encourage these practices to obtain better results.
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- Protecting ecosystems: Wetlands and coastal areas require serious protection as they are vital in sustaining the food chain. Wetlands are saturated with groundwater, and they have a significant role in sustaining vegetation cover. They replenish water sources, minerals, and nutrients for producers and consumers. Moreover, they are essential for maintaining the biodiversity of plants and animals. Coastal ecosystems aid in controlling overfishing and also protect coral reefs.
- Adopt awareness creation practices: We need to educate the masses on how their daily practices can cause stress on scarce natural resources. People must be educated on their individual contributions to the depletion of natural resources. The aim should be to encourage people to preserve the natural environment by employing conservation efforts.
- Controlling deforestation: We require programs that can check deforestation. REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is an effective program created by the World Bank. There are other programs, too, such as the New York Declaration on Forests, United Nations initiatives, and others that aim at the reduction of natural resources depletion.
- Reducing oil and mineral consumption: Oil-rich countries form consumables regulatory bodies together with the World Bank to regulate oil and mineral consumption and exploitation. Manufactures should be trained on lean manufacturing while consumers should be sensitized on adopting re-use, reducing wastage, and recycling techniques.
- Use pipelines to transport oil: Often oil leaks occur and they cause excessive pollution and depletion of water resources. Oil leaks are a part of transporting oil using ships. Therefore, if we use it for transporting oil we can escape the risk of oil spills.
- Growing of vegetation in catchment areas: Catchment areas are a source of water that flows in the rivers, streams, and oceans. If we enhance vegetation cover in the catchment areas we can promote sufficient percolation of water into the soil layers and thus, formation of groundwater.
Read the blog on Conservation of Water.
- Rain harvesting: Rainwater harvesting ensures water conservation. Through this practice we can harvest rainwater during the wetter seasons of the year and utilise it during the dry seasons, thereby minimising the usage of water from the water-bodies. This harvested water can be employed in irrigating farms, watering the lawns, and much more.
- Formulate policies to curb poaching: Poachers kill animals such as elephants, leopards, rhinos, for their skin and horns, and sell them in the black market. Poachers pose a major threat to our biodiversity. Their practices are slowly making some species extinct. We require policies and regulations to ensure that poaching is curbed.
- More exploration of renewable sources of energy: Renewable resources (solar and wind power) should be explored more. We must reduce the dependency on fossil fuel, as it is a major cause of environmental pollution, global warming, climate change, and the destruction of natural habitats.
Frequently Asked Questions on Natural Resources
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