resource management

• what is a natural resource?


  any natural material in the environment that is used by humans to meet their needs.
• in what way can natural resources be classified? (4)

  1. biotic

  2. abiotic

  3. non-renewable

  4. renewable
• what are biotic resources?

  - made up of living organisms

  - obtained from the biosphere

  - capable of reproduction and supporting life

  >> e.g. animals birds plants
• what are abiotic resources?

  - the physical, non-living environment

  - resources are obtained from the litosphere (rocky layer of earth), atmosphere (gases surrounding earth) and hydrosphere (all water on or near earth)

  >> e.g. minerals, soil, sunlight, precipitation
• what are non-renewable resources?

  - combustible sources that cannot be remade

  - formation takes millions of years

  >> e.g. coal, oil, uranium, natural gas
• what are renewable resources?

  - resources that can be naturally replenished on a short time scale

  - it is infinite (will never run out)

  >> e.g. wind, sun, hydro-electric power
• how have humans been exploiting environments? (3)

  - oil extraction in ecuador

  - overfishing in the north sea

  - deforestion in cameroon
• what is happening with ecuador's oil extraction?

  - in the1960's,texacodiscovered oil in theoriente regionand built350 oil wells

  - the demand for fossil fuels has led to extensive vegetation clearing for oil wells and overexploitation has resulted in a marked decrease in reserves of fossil fuels available
• what are the impacts of oil extraction in ecuador on the environment?

  - this resulted in pipe linkes cracking;1000 open unlined pitsfilled with toxic sludge were left behind to overflow which caused water pollution

  -18 billion gallonsof toxic water were dumped into rivers, reducing water quality

  - overall leaves a lack of biodiversity
• what is happening with the north sea's overfishing?

  - in the last 50 years, unsustainable fishing practices have resulted in critical fish population levels

  - this is due to a higher demand for fish as it is a good source of protein and so more fish are being caught than being replaced through natural production

  - fishing also provides jobs for the industry so more people are able to make a living and earn a wage, improving their development
• what is the impact of overfishing in the north sea on the environment?

  - decades of overfishing in the north sea has led to a severe decline in cod numbers;300,000 tons in the 1970sfell to20,000 in 2006

  - the length of fish has also changed:2m in 1915fell to35cm in 2012
• what's happening with deforestation in cameroon?

  - resources are being extracted as rainforests in cameroon have high biodiversity (600+ species of trees and bushes and one of the oldest woodlands) producing high quality timber, which is a valuable export
• what are the impacts of deforestation in cameroon on the environment?

  - loss of habitats for forest living organisms

  -70,000 hectareswill be cleared to make way for palm oil plantations, which cause extensive soil erosion

  - biodiversity is under threat
• what is the global distribution of soil and agriculture?

  - there is higher precipitation and solar radiation near the equator where it is very productive for extensive plantation agriculture

  - colder and drier at the poles, where there is low productivity and the soil is podsol (infertile and acidic)

  - 30 degrees north and south of the equator there is high solar radiation and very low precipitation which means there is no vegetation and sandy soils; therefore nomandic herding occurs here and crops can only grow where irrigation is possible
• what is the UK's distribution of soil and agriculture?

  - the types of agriculture depend on soil, climate and relief

  -east angliahas flat land, fertile soil and warm summers so is suitable for arable farming e.g. wheat

  - sheep farming occurs in upland areas like scotland
• what is the global distribution of fossil fuels?

  - fossil fuels like coal are found in sedimentary rock areas

  - overall an uneven distribution but more fossil fuels are used within the continents europe and southern america
• what is the UK's distribution of fossil fuels?

  - oil and gas are extracted from the north sea where billions of barrels are produced each year
• what is the global distribution of water?

  - in europe, north america and australia, the access to clean drinking water is100%

  - however in countries like somalia in africa, only32%have access to clean water and some in asia e.g. afghanistan22%
• what is the UK's distribution of water?

  - water resources are plentiful in some parts of the uk especially in the north and west where rainfall is high but there is a low population

  - the thames region contains much of greater london and the thames valley, including large towns such as reading. therefore population density is high as well as water demand, resulting in high volumes of water extraction
• what is the global distribution of minerals?

  minerals like gold tend to be found in past tectonically active areas
• what is the global usage and consumption pattern for energy?

  - energy usage is high in technically advanced countries and low in less developing countries.

  - rapidly rising in china
• what is the global usage and consumption pattern for food?

  - food consumption is high in wealthy countries like the USA - over 3500 calories a day

  - whereas people in ghana in africa survive on fewer than 2000 calories a day
• what is the global usage and consumption pattern for water?

  - there is a water surplus in the tropical rainforests such as brazil as precipitation occurs faster than evaporation

  - there are water deficiencies in north africa as evaporation of rain occurs faster than precipitation
• what is the difference in average daily consumption of resources in north amercia compared to africa?

  america: 90kg per person

  africa: 10kg per person
• state three renewable resources:

  wind, sun, hydro-electric power
• state four non-renewable resources

  coal, oil, gas, nuclear
• how does wind energy work and name a place which uses wind energy?

  - kinetic energy from the wind is transferred to electrical energy in the wind turbine

  -chinais the leading wind energy producer, producing115 gigawatts a year
• what are the advantages of wind energy?

  - produces clean fuel; harnessing wind energy doesn't pollute the atmosphere

  - lowest priced renewable energy

  - new technology means turbines are more efficient and make less noise
• what are the disadvantages of wind energy?

  - energy is only sufficient when there is wind to move the blades and it is not possible to store the power produced for calmer days

  - installations can spoil the landscape as many are needed for sufficient energy

  - relatively high cost to develop; turbine construction, site access roads, foundation and cabling costs
• how is energy extracted from coal and name a location where it is used

  - extracted by mining, burned for heating and electricity by converting water into stream in a turbine

  - used in the UK
• what are the advantages of coal?

  - mining coal is technically relatively easy and cheap

  - very productive resource; generates large amounts of energy

  - there is still enough coal to last the next200+years
• what are the disadvantages of coal?

  - non-renewable

  - burning coal releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing air pollution

  - increase of sulphur dioxide, causing acid rain and carbon dioxide impacting global warming

  - mining of coal is dangerous and has caused many death

  - the mines have significant impacts on the surrounding environment and wildlife habitats & are expensive to develop
• what is an energy mix?


  the range of energy sources of a region or country, both renewable and non-renewable.
• explain the composition of the uk's energy mix

  - in the UK during 2014, the main sources of energy were gas (34.1%) and oil (34%) which made up2/3of the whole energy consumption of the uk

  - in totalall the non-renewablesources consumed equaled to92%

  -5.5%of bioenergy and1.9%of HEP

  - the uk government heavily relies on non-renewable energy as they are cheaper and easier to access so can be reliable when needed in high demand

  - the government has a target of15%of energy to be from renewable resources by2020
• explain why the uk has started to use an energy mix

  - in the 1970s, the uk had a large number of deep and open cast coal mines, which meant that coal was relatively cheap and readily available, so coal and oil provided over90%of energy consumption.

  - however coal became less economic to mine and concerns about greenhouse gas emissions have meant that renewables increased from3.8% in 2005 to 19.3% in 2012.

  - government policy means that renewables will become more important in the future
• what factors are global variations in the energy mix dependent on? (3)

  1. population

  2. income and wealth

  3. availability
• how does population affect energy mixes?

  - a greater population uses more resources for example china has a very large population and therefore relies on a variety of energy types

  - iceland has a small population and uses one energy type- geothermal power
• how does income and wealth affect energy mixes?

  - a greater incomes means more people can use resources

  - more developed countries like the USA can invest in a wider mix of energy types

  - less developed countries cannot afford an energy mix e.g. pakistan depends on imported oils
• how does availability of resources affect energy mixes?

  - the more resources available, the more resources that can be used

  - countries such as the uk are able to develop wind power and tidal power due to their location

  - other countries, which arent on the coast or do not get alot of wind therefore have to rely on oil and coal
• why has global demand and supply of energy changed in the past 100 years? (3)

  1. rapid population growth

  2. rising affluence

  3. advances in technology