Forest and mineral resources

Forests and Minerals are important part of natural resources. Their uses and conservation must be taught at many levels of education.

1. FOREST RESOURCES Many animals need forests to live and survive. Forests are very important and grow in many places around the world. They are an ecosystem which includes many plants and animals. Temperature and rainfall are the two most important things for forests.

2. USES OF FORESTS Commercial U ses : Forests provide us a large number of commercial goods which include timber, firewood, pulpwood, food items, gum, resins, non-edible oils, rubber, fibers, lac, bamboo canes, fodder, medicine, drugs and many more items, the total worth of which is estimated to be more than 300 billion per year. Many forest lands are used for mining, agriculture, grazing, and recreation and for development of dams.

3. Production of oxygen:  The trees produce oxygen by photosynthesis which is so vital for life on this earth. They are rightly called as earth’s lungs. Reducing global warming:  The main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is absorbed by the forests as a raw material for photosynthesis. Thus, forest canopy acts as a sink for CO 2 thereby reducing the problem of global warming caused by greenhouse gas CO­ 2 . Wildlife habitat:  Forests are the homes of millions of wild animals and plants. About 7 million species are found in the tropical forests alone. Ecological U ses

4. Regulation of hydro-logical cycle  : Forested watersheds act like giant sponges, absorbing the rainfall, slowing down the runoff and slowly releasing the water for recharge of springs. About 50-80 %of the moisture in the air above tropical forests comes from their transpiration which helps in bringing rains. Soil Conservation  : Forests bind the soil particles tightly in their roots and prevent soil erosion. They also act as wind breaks. Pollution moderators  : Forests can absorb many toxic gases and can help in keeping the air pure. They have also been reported to absorb noise and thus help in preventing air and noise pollution.

5. OVER EXPLOITATION OF FORESTS : Excessive use of fuel wood and charcoal, expansion of urban, agricultural and industrial areas and overgrazing have together led to over-exploitation of our forests leading to their rapid degradation.

6. DEFORESTATION Deforestation is the permanent removal of trees to make room for something besides forest. This can include clearing the land for agriculture or grazing, or using the timber for fuel, construction or manufacturing. Forests cover more than 30% of the Earth’s land surface, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

7. Major Causes of Deforestation Shifting cultivation It is a form of agriculture, in which an area of ground is cleared of vegetation and cultivated for a few years and then abandoned for a new area until its fertility has been naturally restored. I t is harmful for the environment because trees and leaves are burnt, and their ash is added to the soil to increase fertility and after certain period of time the land gets abandoned and loses all its fertility and no crops can be grown on it. In India, we have this practice in north – east and to some extent in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and M.P which contribute to nearly half of the forest clearing annually.

8. Mining Oil and mining of coal require a large amount of forest land. Construction of roads leads to deforestation as they provide the way to remote land. The waste that comes out from mining pollutes the environment and affects the nearby species.

9. Logging Illegal logging activities are very common that destroy the livelihoods of the people depending on forests. Wood-based industries like paper, match-sticks, furniture need a substantial amount of wood supply. Wood is used as fuel most commonly and so large amounts of trees are cut down for fuel supplies. Firewood and charcoal are used as fuel.

10. Urbanization Massive destruction of forests occurs for various development projects like hydroelectric projects, big dams, road construction, mining etc. As the population grows, the needs of people increases which further leads to deforestation. Forests shrink to a great extent to meet the requirements like for construction of roads, development of houses, mineral exploitation and expansion of industries.

11. Forest Fires We lose many trees each year due to fires in the forest in various portions worldwide. This happens due to extreme summers and winters. The fire caused, by man or nature, results in huge loss of forest cover.

12. Overgrazing The poor in the tropics mainly rely on wood as a source of fuel leading to loss of tree cover and the cleared lands are turned into the grazing lands. Overgrazing by the cattle leads to further degradation of these lands.

13. It threatens the existence of many wildlife species due to destruction of their natural habitat. Gases such as methane and carbon dioxide trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere, leading change in climate. Trees absorb the carbon dioxide and release oxygen and water into the atmosphere, and this contributes to global warming. Biodiversity is lost and along with that genetic diversity is eroded. Hydro-logical cycle gets affected, thereby influencing rainfall Problems of soil erosion and loss of soil fertility increase. Deforestation leads to land erosion because the trees maintain the surface of the mountains. The water level of the rivers increases suddenly, causing floods. In hilly areas it often leads to landslides. Major Consequences of Deforestation

14. Solution to Deforestation Trees play a vital role in protecting our environment in several ways so we should protect the forest: Ban on cutting of trees and new trees and planting more. There should be an implementation of regulations of laws at organizational and governmental levels due to the extent of deforestation. Spread the awareness about sensitization and organize educative campaigns about the effects of deforestation.

15. Minerals provide the material used to make most of the things of industrial- based society; roads, cars, computers, fertilizers, etc. Demand for minerals is increasing worldwide as the population increases and the consumption demands of individual people increase. The mining of earth’s natural resources is, there­fore accelerating, and it has accompanying environmental consequences. Definition

16. A mineral is a pure inorganic substance that occurs naturally in the earth’s crust. All the Earth’s crust, except the rather small proportion of the crust that contains organic material, is made up of minerals. Some minerals consist of a single element such as gold, silver, diamond (carbon), and Sulphur. More than two-thousand minerals have been identified and most of these contain inorganic compounds formed by various combinations of the eight elements (O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Na, K, and Mg) that make up 98.5% of the Earth’s crust. Industry depends on about 80 of the known minerals.

17. A mineral deposit is a concentration of naturally occurring solid, liquid, or gaseous material, in or on the Earth’s crust in such form and amount that its extraction and its conversion into useful materials or items are profitable now or may be so in the future. Mineral resources are non-renewable and include metals (e.g. iron, copper, and aluminum), and non-metals (e.g. salt, gypsum, clay, sand, phosphates). Minerals are valuable natural resources being finite and non-renewable. They constitute the vital raw materials for many basic industries and are a major resource for development. Management of mineral resources has, therefore, to be closely integrated with the overall strategy of development; and exploitation of minerals is to be guided by long-term national goals and perspectives

18. Types of Mineral Resources Fuel minerals like coal, oil and natural gas have been given prime importance as they account for nearly 87% of the value of mineral production whereas metallic and non-metallic constitutes 6 to 7%.

19. Fuel Minerals Coal, oil and natural gas are the basic fossil fuel. We have good reserves for coal but are very poor in more essential fuel — oils and natural gas.

20. Proven coal reserves of the country as on January 1994 (estimated by GSI) is about 68 billion tonnes . We are mining about 250 tonnes annually and this rate is expected to go by 400 – 450 tonnes by 2010 A.D. If we could maintain our mining rate of 400 tonnes per year, then the coal reserves might last for about 200 years taking proven reserves as 80 billion tonnes Coal

21. The calorific value of coal varies with percentage of carbon present in it. Coal depending upon variation in percentage carbon, can be divided into three cat­egories as follows (bituminous / anthracite type is the most abundant form present in Indian coal) . Categories of Coal Type % Carbon % Volatile Matter % Moisture Lignite 38 19 43 Bituminous 65 10 25 Anthracite 96 1 3

22. Crude Oil (Petroleum) It is believed that petroleum has been formed over a period of millions of years, through conversion of remains of micro-organisms living in sea, into hydrocar­bon by heat, pressure and catalytic action. The petroleum on fractional distillation and further processing provides us nu­merous products and by-products. Some of the common products obtained on fractional distillation are given in Table in next slide, along with the temperature (just below the boiling point) at which they tend to liquefy after crude oil feed at the base is heated to about 400°C. One million tonnes of crude oil on fractional distil­lation provides about 0.8 million tonnes of petroleum products. The percentage composition varies with the quality of crude oil, or it could be varied up to a certain limit depending upon the requirement or demand. On an average the percentage composition of the common product with their number of carbon atoms is given in table.

23. Average % Composition of Petroleum products (with no. of C atoms) obtained through fractional distillation S. No. % Composition Name of products No. of carbon atoms with average value 1. 25 Petrol C 6 -C 12  (C 8 ) 2. 45-60 Diesel & Kerosene C 6 – C 22  (C 14 ) 3. 15-20 Naphtha  C 5  – C 12   4. 8- 10 Fuel oil C 30  – C 80  (C 40 ) 5. 2-5 Asphalt C 50  -C 100  (C 100 )

24. We have very poor reserves for petroleum just limited to 700 million tonnes . About 40% of the total consumption of the overall petroleum products of the country is used in road transport sector (in case of diesel, consumption of road transport sector is to the extent of 70% of the total diesel consumption of the country). Rest 60% of the petroleum products are used in industries including power generation, domestic and for miscellaneous purposes. In view of rapid growth of these vital sectors, the consumption of petroleum products has been increasing consistently over a period of last few years and is bound to increase at rapid pace in near future.

25. Natural Gas The proven reserve for natural gas on April 1993 works out to be approx. 700 billion cubic meter (BCM). As regard to production vis a vis utilization aspect in earlier years, more than half of gas coming out of the wells remained unutilized. However, in recent years, we have achieved a utilization rate of 80 – 90%. Keeping in view the future demands and proven gas reserves, it is unlikely that our gas reserves might last for more than 20 years.

26. India is poorly endowed with mineral wealth. Except for iron ore and bauxite our share of world reserves of every other mineral is one percent or less. How­ever, there has been a phenomenal growth in production since independence. As per estimates if the present trend of production continues, we will exhaust our reserves of all the important minerals and fuels, except coal, iron ore, lime­stone and bauxite, in 25 to 30 years. Metallic and Non-metallic Minerals

27. The use of minerals varies greatly between countries. The greatest use of min­erals occurs in developed countries. Like other natural resources, mineral deposits are unevenly distributed around on the earth. Some countries are rich in mineral deposits and other countries have no deposits. The use of the min­eral depends on its properties. For example, aluminum is light but strong and durable, so it is used for aircraft, shipping and car industries. Human wealth basically comes from agriculture, manufacturing, and mineral resources. Our complex modern society is built around the exploitation and use of mineral resources. Since the future of humanity depends on mineral resources, we must understand that these resources have limits; our known supply of min­erals will be used up early in the third millennium of our calendar. Further­more, modern agriculture and the ability to feed an overpopulated world is de­pendent on mineral resources to construct the machines that till the soil, enrich it with mineral fertilizers, and to transport the products. We are now reaching limits of reserves for many minerals. Human population growth and increased modern industry are depleting our available resources at increasing rates. The pressure of human growth upon the planet’s resources is a very real problem. The consumption of natural resources proceeded at a phe­nomenal rate during the past hundred years and population and production increases cannot continue without increasing pollution and depletion of min­eral resources. Use and Exploitation

28. In a world that has finite mineral resources, exponential growth and expanding consumption is impossible. Fundamental adjustments must be made to the present growth culture to a steady-state system. This will pose problems in that industrialized nations are already feeling a loss in their standard of living and in non-industrialized nations that feel they have a right to achieve higher stand­ards of living created by industrialization. The population growth continues upward, and the supply of resources continues to diminish. With the increasing shortages of many minerals, we have been driven to search for new sources. As the industrial­ized nations of the world continue the rapid depletion of energy and mineral resources, and resource-rich less-developed nations become increasingly aware of the value of their raw materials, resource driven conflicts will increase.