Geog Chap 1,2

• Resources


  Usefulness varies between people/culture
• Types of natural resources

  • Renewable: solar, water
  • Non-renewable: fossil fuels, gold, tin
• Nature-centric view


  Exploit, overload nature
• Human-centric view


  Conserve, stewardship of nature
• Resource


  Material that is useful to people
• Product


  Made from a resource to fulfil people's needs and enhance well-being
• What is a resource to you might not be for others. Culture and technology can shape how we decide if a material object is useful to people
• Natural resource


  Useful materials found on Earth, produced by natural processes occurring in the physical environment
• How solar energy works

  1. Sun gives off 400 trillion watts of solar energy every second

  2. A lot of the Sun's energy is reflected back into space or absorbed by Earth's atmosphere

  3. An average of 1000 watts of solar energy per square meter per hour still reaches the Earth's surface during peak times

  4. Solar panels/PV cells convert the solar energy to electricity
• Classification of natural resources

  • Renewable
  • Non-renewable
• Renewable natural resources


  Can be replenished, availability is unlimited
• Non-renewable natural resources


  May/may not be replenished, availability is limited
• Nature-centred view


  Physical environment with natural resources is valuable in itself, everything in the physical environment should be preserved and protected
• Human-centred view


  Physical environment is valuable as humans can obtain materials from it for their use and benefit, motivated to extract natural resources to enhance personal well-being
• If extraction occurs faster than natural renewal, availability of the natural resource will be depleted and environmental degradation can occur
• Sustainable use of natural resources

  Actions humans take to ensure the natural resources on Earth continue to be available for future generations
• When we extract natural resources from Earth in the short term, we need to be aware of the possible impacts in the long term</b>
• We must be careful about the amount of natural resources we use now to reduce the environmental degradation that may occur
• Renewable natural resources can become non-renewable if we use them at a much faster rate than they can be naturally replenished
• When non-renewable resources become depleted, future generations will not be able to make use of them and will have to find alternative resources
• How to use natural resources sustainably

  • Encourage conservation
  • Develop technologies to manage our environmental footprint
• Reduce


  We can reduce our consumption of some resources, which reduces the amount of natural resources used
• Environmental footprint


  The land area required to make a product as well as absorb the waste that is generated, enables us to be more aware of our impact on the physical environment and make decisions about our consumption
• Reuse


  Reusing a product/material reduces the need to buy new or additional pieces
• Recycle


  Recycling turns used materials into new and useful ones, reduces the need for raw materials like bauxite
• Technological development can lead us to discover more efficient uses of natural resources so that our environmental footprint can be reduced