The challenge of resource management

• Social and economical impacts of life without food


  - malnourishment

  - malnourishment increases likelihood of getting diseases

  - won't perform as well at school, lack the skills to improve a countries economic well-being
• Social and economic impacts of life without water

  - needed for cooking, cleaning, drinking

  - water borne diseases cholera

  - walking long distances - people can't work as long - children can't go to school
• Social and economic impacts of life without energy

  - needed for industry + transport

  - needed for use in homes

  - creates jobs allows a country to develop

  - people have to burn fuel woof instead - deforestation - long distances to find wood
• Distribution of resources around the world

  There are inequalities in the global distribution of resources.
• Why are resources unevenly distributed around the world?

  - Countries wealth
• How is demand for food changing in the UK?

  - Since 1960's people have wanted seasonal fruit and vegetables

  - more demand for exotic foods

  - demand for organic produce increasing
• What is food miles?

  The distance food travels from where it's produced to the consumer
• Why are food miles increasing in the UK?

  Planes generate 100x more emisiones than boat, planes are used for perishable food eg. avocado. Unseasonal food increases food miles
• UK food challenges

  - rising population - not self sufficient

  - want more season produce
• what is the uk doing to reduce food miles

  - encouraging people to source food locally

  - encouraging people to eat seasonal foods produced in the UK
• What are the two major recent trends in UK farming

  agribusiness and organic produce
• What is agribusiness?

  - large-scale, industrial farming where processes from the production of seeds and fertilisers, to the processing and packaging of the food are controlled by large firms.
• how does agribusiness change farms in the UK

  - farm sizes increase - small farms taken over

  - increased amount of chemicals in good production

  - greater use of machinery
• organic farming

  A method of farming that does not use artificial means such as synthetic pesticides and herbicides, antibiotics, and bioengineering
• how is the demand for water changing in the UK?

  - It is increasing because:

  • water used in households has increased

  • population increased

  • more houses being built
• water supply

  availability of water
• water surplus

  when the supply of water is greater than demand for water
• How does water demand differ from the North and South in the UK?

  South East - high water stress

  North West - low water stress
• Problems with river water in the UK?

  - nitrates and phosphates from fertilisers washed into rivers

  - pollutants from vehicles

  - accidental chemical and oil spills
• Strategies to manage water quality

  - improve drainage systems

  - imposing regulations on amount and types of fertilises
• How do water transfers increase water supply?

  They transfer water from areas of water surplus to areas of water deficit via pipes
• Water transfer issues

  - dams are expensive

  - can affect wildlife living in rivers

  - social issues
• what is the environmental agency's role in managing water quality

  - monitor quality of river water

  - filtering water to remove sediment

  - purifying water by adding chlorine

  - restricting recreational use of water sources
• How has the UK's energy mix changed over time

  - renewable sources increasing, unrenewable decreasing

  - all coal fired power stations to be shut by 2025

  - renewable 22% to 40%

  - non renewable 31% to 26%
• what is the major change in the UK's energy mix

  - decline in coal

  - because of raising concerns about greenhouse gas emissions

  - and ageing coal-fired power stations
• The UK is ... dependent on imported energy

  increasingly
• why will fossil fuels remain important in the future

  - remaining fossil reserve will provide energy for several decades

  - coal imports cheap - 3/4 of UK's coal from abroad
• what is fracking

  The process of obtaining gas from shale rock by hydraulic fracturing
• What can fracking cause?

  - earthquakes

  - pollution of underground water sources

  - high costs if extraction
• Economic issues of exploitation of energy sources

  - extracting fossil fuels - expensive (especially North Sea oil)

  
  

  - cost of producing electricity from nuclear are renewables sources are relatively high

  
  

  - money needed for research into alternative energy sources
• Environmental issues of exploitation of energy sources

  - burning fosssil fuels - greenhouse gases

  - fracking

  - oil spills, nuclear disasters can leak toxic chemicals

  - natural ecosystems damaged e.g. large wind farms

  - power stations - wind farms - eyesores
• global distribution of surplus food resources

  - North America

  - East Asia
• Global distribution of déficit food resources

  - Central America

  - Africa
• food security

  People's ability to access sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.
• food insecurity

  the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food
• Why is global food consumption increasing?

  - rising population: more people require more food,

  
  

  - economic development:

  • countries are getting wealthier so more people have a disposable income to spend on food

  • wealthy countries can import food year round,

  • industrialisation of agriculture means some countries are able to produce more food at a lower cost so people can afford to buy more
• what physical factors affect food supply

  - climate (countries with climates that are unsuitable for farming, extreme weather events,)

  
  

  - water stress (areas with low rainfall or little water for irrigation struggle to grow food),

  
  

  - pests and diseases (pests reduce yields by consuming crops, diseases can cause large amounts of damage if they spread through crops and livestocks)
• what human factors affect food supply?

  - poverty (people living in poverty often don't have their own land to grow food and it can affect people's ability to farm effectively),

  
  

  - technology (mechanisation of equipment increases productivity by making farming more efficient, new technologies can increase yields and help protect plants from disease)

  
  

  - conflict (fighting may damage agricultural land or make it unsafe, access to food becomes difficult for people who are forced to flee their homes. Conflict also makes it difficult to import food because trade routes are disrupted and political relationships with countries may break down)
• what are the impacts of food insecurity?

  Famine, undernutrition, soil erosion, rising prices, social unrest
• irrigation

  the artificial application of water to land to assist in the production of crops.