NATURAL RESOURCES

Natural resources can be defined as the resources that exist (on the planet)
independent of human actions.
These are the resources that are found in the environment and are developed without
the intervention of humans. Common examples of natural resources include air,
sunlight, water, soil, stone, plants, animals and fossil fuels.
Natural resources are naturally occurring materials that are useful to man or could be
useful under conceivable technological, economic or social circumstances or supplies
drawn from the earth, supplies such as food, building and clothing materials, fertilizers,
metals, water and geothermal power. For a long time, natural resources were the
domain of the natural sciences.

Different Types of Natural Resources

Based on the availability are two types of natural resources:

1. Renewable: resources that are available in infinite quantity and can be used
repeatedly are called renewable resources.

A renewable resource, also known as a flow resource, is a natural

resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and
consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in
a finite amount of time in a human time scale. When such recovery rate of
resources is unlikely to ever exceed a human time scale, these are
called perpetual resources. Renewable resources are a part of Earth's natural
environment and the largest components of its ecosphere. A positive life-cycle
assessment is a key indicator of a resource's sustainability. . Example: Forest,
wind, water, etc.

2. Non-Renewable: resources that are limited in abundance due to their non-

renewable nature and whose availability may run out in the future are called non-
renewable resources.

A non-renewable resource (also called a finite resource) is a natural

resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick
enough to keep up with consumption. An example is carbon-based fossil fuel.
The original organic matter, with the aid of heat and pressure, becomes a fuel
such as oil or gas. Earth minerals and metal ores, fossil
fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas) and groundwater in certain aquifers are all
considered non-renewable resources, though individual elements are always
 conserved (except in nuclear reactions). Examples include fossil fuels, minerals,
etc.

The 5 Most Important Natural Resources are:

1. Air: Clean air is important for all the plants, animals, humans to survive on this
planet. So, it is necessary to take measures to reduce air pollution.
2. Water: 70% of the Earth is covered in water and only 2 % of that is freshwater.
Initiative to educate and regulate the use of water should be taken.
3. Soil: Soil is composed of various particles and nutrients. It helps plants grow.
4. Iron: It is made from silica and is used to build strong weapons, transportation
and buildings
5. Forests: As the population increases, the demand for housing and construction
projects also increases. Forests provide clean air and preserve the ecology of the
world.

Natural resource depletion

Resource depletion can be defined as the consumption of resources faster
than they can be replaced. Natural resource depletion can be divided into the
depletion of renewable as wells as in the depletion of non-renewable
resources.
Resource depletion can cause many adverse effects on our environment.

Types of Resource Depletion

1. Deforestation
2. Mining
3. Aquifer depletion
4. Contamination of resources
5. Slash-and-burn agriculture
6. Overconsumption

Deforestation
One major type of resource extraction is deforestation. Wood is an important material
which is used for many different purposes. Moreover, through deforestation, there is
more space for farming purposes.
Mining
Mining is another important type of resource extraction. We need metals, oil and coal for
many industrial purposes. These resources have to be extracted out of our earth.
 Aquifer depletion(Ground water depletion)
Another form of natural resource depletion is groundwater depletion. Groundwater is an
important source for clean drinking water and thus for all life on our earth.
Contamination of resources
The contamination of natural resources can be regarded as resource extraction in an
indirect manner. Though it is not exactly an extraction, it contributes to a shortage of
resources.
Slash-and-burn agriculture
Slash-and-burn agriculture refers to a method in which plants or trees are cut or burned
down in order to create fields for agricultural purposes.
Overconsumption
Overconsumption refers to a state in which we extract too many resources for consumption
purposes which results in an unsustainable environmental system.

Causes for Resource Depletion

1. Farming
2. Overpopulation
3. Waste
4. Erosion
5. Mining
6. Pollution
7. Overconsumption
8. Deforestation
9. Industrialization
10. Technological development

Farming
Farming can be a severe cause of natural resource depletion. Due to our growing world
population, the pressure to produce enough food for everyone is immense.
This leads to unsustainable farming practices. In the short run, due to excessive use of
fertilizers and pesticides, farmers will be able to supply great amounts of food.
In the long run, however, the soil will be harmed due to this farming practices and
farmers will have lower crop yields. The use of heavy machines can also destroy the
soil structure, which in turn may also lead to lower crop yields and may even make the
soil unfitting for future farming purposes.
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is another cause of natural resource depletion. We consume many
products that are made from natural resources every day. In order to be able to do that,
large amounts of resources have to be extracted out of our earth. This leads to an
excessive incentive to extract too many resources.
Making things worse, an increasing number of people aspires to a consumption-
intensive lifestyle right now. For example, countries that had been quite poor for a long
period of time now strive to increase their living standards, leading to an increased
consumption per capita. This further exacerbates the problem of resource extraction.

Waste
How we deal with our waste is another great cause of the issue of excessive resource
extraction. Most of the time, we just throw away our garbage without separating it. Thus,
many precious resources are lost since they will be burnt instead of reusing them.

Erosion
Erosion can also cause resource depletion in the sense that natural resources can be
lost due to the erosion of soil. Thus, these resources may no longer be available for
human use in an economic way.

Mining
Mining is another significant cause of resource depletion. Since in our modern
technology-driven world, we need huge amounts of metals and other resources, these
resources have to be extracted out of the earth.
Mining is an effective way to do that, however, excessive mining behavior leads to
excessive resource extraction and can also harm the local environmental system.

Pollution
Since the industrialization period, pollution levels have significantly increased. This is
due to the fact that we all strive for higher living standards, which also includes an
increase in material consumption. In order to be able to produce the amounts of things
necessary to meet the demand, industries have to produce large quantities at scale.

This is likely to result in all sorts of pollution. For example, industrial by-products may
not be disposed of properly and rather be discharged in rivers or lakes nearby.
Additionally, through the emission of harmful gases, the likelihood of acid rain
increases, leading to an increased level of pollution on fields and in turn may lower crop
yields for farmers.
 Overconsumption
Overconsumption is a related cause for the depletion of resources. Since everyone
seems to have to follow the newest trends, older things that are still working are often
just dumped into the garbage instead of using them. Thus, this behavior also leads to
an increased amount of resources which in turn can lead to resource depletion.

Deforestation
Deforestation is another great cause of resource depletion. On the one hand, wood is
an important material for industrial purposes.
However, even more important, deforestation is often done with the intent to get more
land for farming purposes since farming is often more lucrative for locals than selling
wood.
Thus, in the Amazonian Rainforest, it is even quite common that farmers
intentionally burn down significant areas of land in order to get space to grow
soy or other plants.

Industrialization
Through our advances in industrialization, we need an increasing amount of resources
to develop new technologies and to supply enough things of our daily lives for all people
on our planet.
Moreover, more and more people strive for a materialistic lifestyle and thus the overall
resource demand increases dramatically. If this trend for increasing consumption levels
continues, resource depletion at large scale will be the dramatic consequence.
Technological development
Technological development may either save resources or contribute to resource
depletion, depending on our intentions. If we use technological development for the sole
purpose to increase our consumption and comfort levels, chances are that we will
further deplete our natural resources to a significant degree.
However, if we are able to use technological development to decrease the use of
natural resources in the sense that we make processes more efficient, stable
consumption levels may be possible by using ever lower amounts of resources.

Effects of Resource Depletion

1. Air pollution
2. Health effects
3. Global warming
4. Loss of forests
5. Extinction of animals and plants
6. Depletion of elements and minerals
7. Fresh Water shortages
8. Oil shortages
9. Gas shortages
10. Economic effects

Air pollution
Resource depletion can have significant adverse effects on our air quality. For example,
deforestation leads to a higher level of air pollution. Trees naturally absorb a certain
amount of harmful gases and turn them into oxygen.
If there are fewer trees due to deforestation, this beneficial effect of trees is reduced and
thus the level of air pollution increases. Moreover, through industrial processes, the
extracted resources are turned into things for our daily use or into energy, which results
in the emission of harmful gases and therefore in air pollution
Health effects
Resource depletion also indirectly contributes to severe health effects. Since resource
extraction causes air pollution, it can in turn cause health issues like lung cancer or other
diseases. Thus, excessive resource extraction also increases the likelihood of severe health
conditions.

Global warming
Resource depletion also contributes to global warming in a significant way. By
processing natural resources, harmful gases are emitted into the air. This includes the
emission of CO2 and methane which are quite harmful greenhouse gases.
These gases are known to increase the process of global warming. Thus, resource
depletion also causes global warming and the resulting adverse consequences to our
environment.
Loss of forests
Resource depletion, in particular logging and deforestation, lead to a loss of forests.
This problem is especially severe in the Amazonian Rainforest where huge areas of
forests have been cut down in the past.
Making things worse, farmers often burn down forests intentionally since they
want to plant soy and other crops since it is more profitable for them compared to
selling wood.
However, this flawed incentive may result in a huge loss of forest land and thus to
further adverse consequences arising from this forest loss.
Extinction of animals and plants
Another related topic is the loss of many animals and plants due to deforestation and
other extraction processes. By extracting resources, we usually destroy the environment
of a variety of animals and plants. These species will have to move to other places.
If they don’t since they are quite sensitive to their living conditions, they may even
become extinct due to human intervention. The depletion of natural resources therefore
also increases the endangered species problem.
Depletion of elements and minerals
If the extraction rate of natural resources stays on the levels we currently face, it is quite
logical that many precious materials and elements will be entirely depleted in the near
future.
If at this point in time, our technology still relies on these materials, we will have a
problem since we will no longer be able to extract enough material to meet the supply.
Therefore, switching to renewable resources seems to be the best way to mitigate this
issue.
Water shortages(Fresh Water)
Water shortage will become a quite severe problem in the near future. Due to
industrial processes and the inappropriate disposal of waste, rivers and lakes
have already been polluted in a severe way.
Moreover, the global warming issue will further exacerbate this problem.
Water will become a quite precious resource in a couple of years and many
people will have to leave their homes due to water shortages.
Oil shortages
Oil is used for many industrial purposes. All things made of plastic have been
manufactured from oil. Moreover, oil is also needed when it comes to the production of
fossil fuels. The fuel for our cars is produced through the processing of oil.
Thus, we need great amounts of oil in our daily lives. However, this can lead to a
massive shortage or even to the depletion of oil since oil is a fossil resource and will
eventually be used up.
Economic effects
Apart from the ecological effects, resource depletion also has serious economic effects.
The price for goods, including natural resources, is determined through supply and
demand on the world market. The supply is likely to drop in the future since resources
will become scarcer.
Assuming that demand stays constant, this leads to a significant increase in natural
resource prices over time. Especially for poor countries, this would lead to severe
issues since they may no longer be able to afford fuel or other materials necessary for
technological development and thus the gap between developed and developing
countries may get bigger.
Pravendra Kumar
Department of Chemistry ,MJPRU