Natural resources

Natural resources are materials and components (something that can be used) that can be found within the environment. Every man-made product is composed of natural resources (at its fundamental level). A natural resource may exist as a separate entity such as fresh water, and air, as well as a living organism such as a fish, or it may exist in an alternate form which must be processed to obtain the resource such as metal ores, oil, and most forms of energy.

1. By
SURYAKANT VERMA
Assistant Professor,
Department ofPharmaceutics,
Dr. K. N. ModiInstitute of Pharmaceutical Education &
Research, Modinagar, U.P., India.

2. Natural Resource:
Naturalresourcesarematerialsandcomponents(somethingthatcanbe
used)thatcanbefoundwithintheenvironment.Everyman-madeproduct
iscomposedofnaturalresources(atitsfundamentallevel).Anatural
resourcemayexistasaseparateentitysuchasfreshwater,andair,aswellas
alivingorganismsuchasafish,oritmayexistinanalternateformwhich
mustbeprocessedtoobtaintheresourcesuchasmetalores,oil,andmost
formsofenergy.

3. Natural resources
Theresourcesthatarederivedfromthe
environmentarecalledasnaturalresources.
Someofthemaremostessentialforour
livingwhilemostofthemareusedfor
satisfyingourneeds.
Theyareusedtopromotethemankind.
Everymanmadeitemconsistsofnatural
resources.
Sunisthemajornaturalresourcewhich
neverends.

4. TYPES OF CLASSIFICATION:
NaturalResourcesareclassifiedintodifferenttypesbased
ontheiroriginandavailability
Basedontheiroriginnaturalresourcesareof2typesthey
are:
Biotic–Bioticresourcesareobtainedfrom
thebiosphere(livingandorganicmaterial),such
asforests,animals,birds,andfishandthematerialsthat
canbeobtainedfromthem.Fossilfuelssuch
ascoalandpetroleumarealsoincludedinthiscategory
becausetheyareformedfromdecayedorganicmatter.
Abiotic–Abioticresourcesarethosethatcomefrom
non-living,non-organicmaterial.Examplesofabiotic
resourcesincludeland,freshwater,airandheavymetals
includingoressuchasgold,iron,copper,silver,etc.

5. Types of Natural Resources
They are mainly classified into 6 types:
1.Forest Resources
2.Water Resources
3.Mineral Resources
4.Food Resources
5.Land Resources
6.Energy Resources

6. Forest Resources
Forest:landoccupiedwithwiderangeof
floraandfaunawhichsupportsecosystem.
Uses:1.Theygiveuswoodfordifferent
purposes.
2.Theyareusedinmedicines.
3.Theygivefuelslikefossilfuels,coal.
4.Theyhavecommercialuselike
honey,gum,lace,paper.
5.theyprovide30%ofoxygen.

7. Uses

8. Threats
Mainlytwotypesofthreatsarepresent.
1.Naturaldisasters
2.Maninducedthreats
Forestfires

9. * International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (The Economist, Sept 6, 1997)
High wind: 21%
Earthquake: 8%
Flood: 19%
Other natural
disasters: 21%
Volcanoes: 1%
Drought & Famine: 6%Landslides: 3%
Man-made
disasters: 34%
Disasters*
by type: 1971-96
Total: 8,219,000

10. Reasons for depletion of Forest
resources
Over-consumption/excessiveorunnecessaryuseofresources
Non-equitabledistributionofresources
Overpopulation.
Slashandburnagriculturalpractices,currentlyoccurringin
manydevelopingcountries.
Technologicalandindustrialdevelopment.
Erosion
HabitatdegradationleadstothelossofBiodiversity.
Irrigation
Miningforoilandminerals.
Aquiferdepletion.
ForestryForestReserveswithinaparticularcountry.
Pollutionorcontaminationofresources.

11. Control Measures
Controllingdeforestation:
Effortstocontroldeforestationmustbetakenona
globalscale.
Inadditiontomakingsurethatemissionsfrom
deforestationarekepttoaminimum,aneffortto
educatepeople.
Reforestationisalsobeingencouragedinmany
countriesinanattempttorepairthedamagethat
deforestationhasdone.

12. Participateinyourcommunity'srecyclingprograms.
Implementarecyclingprogramatyourofficetoo.
Buyproductsmanufacturedwithrecycledpaper.
Manycompaniesusetheirreputationasrecyclersto
attractbusinessfromeco-consciouscustomers.
Reusejunkmailandscrapsofpaperwhenever
possible.Insteadofpitchingoldenvelopes,usethem
tokeepnotesormakegrocerylists.

13. Oceans
(71%)
Land
(29%)
Most
of the
Earth
is
covered
by
water
“...water, water, every where
nor any drop to drink!”

14. Water Pollution
Waterpollution:
1.Themainproblemsofpollutionthatneedtobe
addressedinthecountryarethefollowing:
Pollutionfromdomesticsewage
Thehighratesofdrinkingwateranddrainage
Thegenerallackofsewagetreatmentplants.
Thedischargeoflargequantitiesofuntreatedsewage
atspecificpointsofthewaterresourcesystemsor
alongthecoastlineconstitutethemainwaterpollution
sourceinourcountry.

15. Remedies for depletion of Water
resources
Improvement of efficiency in water use.
Identification of water resources.
Technical training and education about water .
Information about water resources and flood
mitigation.
Several programs are implemented such as
1.Integrated development and use of water resources .
2.Drinking water supply and sanitation

16. Mineral Resources
Minerals : which have definite chemical
properties and indefinite chemical properties .
There are 2 types of minerals namely
1.Metallic
2.Non-metallic
Examples for metallic minerals are Iron , gold ,
Alluminium , Silver etc.,
Examples for some non metallic minerals are
Gypsum , Lime stone , Coal etc.,

17. Threats to Mineral Resources
1.Mining
2.Disturbences to mantle layer which leads to Earth
quakes , drowning of land.
3.Deforestration–leads to loss of Bio diversity.
4.The acid mine drain-by usage of acids to extraction
process which leads to mix of acids in soil and Aquifer.
5.Loss of marine life due to oil spils while extracting oil.

18. Remedies for depletion of Mineral
resources
We must go for bio mining where we use microbial
organisms for mining purpose.
Mining waste treatment technology.
EOR: This process must beimplemented to extract oil
by using bacteria.

19. Food Resources
Foodis any substance consumed to provide nutritional
support for the body.
It is usually of plants or animal origin, and contains
essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins,
vitamins, or minerals.
It is also said as source of energy for human activities.
Based on production rate agriculture is divided into 2 types
as
1.Subsistence
2.Intensive
These are traditional practices

20. Green revolution shifted traditional
practices to modern practices.
It was first given by Norman Borlang.
There were many draw backs such as salinity
, soil erosion , water logging , death of non
micro organisms.
For these problems Albert Howard
introduced some practices known as organic
farming.

21. Remedies for depletion of Food
Resources
Organic farming must be followed which is a
combination of traditional farming and modern
farming.
Crop rotation method must be followed .
Contour farming or terrace farming method must be
followed to overcome irrigation problems.
We have to enrich the soil fertility by using natural
ways not by using pesticides.

22. Land Resources
Land is an area which constitutes of biotic and a biotic
compounds.
Due to soil erosion and land degradation soil is being
eroded by agents like wind , water and human
activities .
Improper agricultural practices like Monoculture and
also introduction of alien species through hybrid
varieties also leads for the erosion of soil.

23. Control Measures
Twocontrolmeasureslike
1.Biologicalcontrol
2.Mechanicalcontrolarepractices.
•Inbiologicalcontrolmeasures
1.Mulching
2.Polyculture
3.Croprotationmustbefollowed.
Inmechanicalcontrolprocess
1.counterfarming
2.terracefarming
3.Stepfarmingmustbepracticed.

24. Energy resources
Thecapacitytodoworkisknownasenergy.
Itisdividedas2types:
1.Renwable
2.Nonrenewableresources
Therearemanydisadvantagesbyusingtheseresources
1.Theyleadstoglobalwarming.
2.Theypolluteair.
3.Releaseofcarbondioxideandotherharmfulgases.
Renewableresourcesarecostlyandspaceoccupying
Suncannotbeusedincoolerareas.

25. Energy Resource:
Materials which provides energy are called
energy resources. Based on availability they are
classified into two types:

26. Remedies to control depletion of
Energy Resources
Use diesel car to reduce your dependence on fossil
fuels.
Go solar to reduce the use of non renewable resources.
Telecommute.
Turn your lawn into an organic garden.
Heat with wood to reduce your dependence on non
renewable resources and fossil fuels.

27. References
Class notes
Wikipedia