Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
6.THE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES, image, image - Coggle Diagram
6.THE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Economic activities and production systems have changed greatly over the last few years, natural resources and their conversion into goods, free or economic, are the basis of the whole system.
6.1.RENEWABLE RESOURCES
Renewable resources
, together with
inexhaustible resources (sunlight, wind, salty water...)
are fundamental because their existence and renewal depend on rational use. Examples are land and forests
1.Fertile soil is one of the most important because agriculture and livestock form
the basis of the global food supply, and overexploitation can use it up.
Excessive use of pesticides, fertilisers and inappropriate crops make the soil less fertile
, or make land disappear altogether (desertification, loss of soil), and
this brings serious consequences.
2.Forests are an important source of resources
, such as
wood
, but they are also
essential to the absorption of CO2 emitted by industrial processes and everyday activities
(vehicles, heating...)
They are necessary in order to
maintain plant and animal biodiversity or to generate oxygen, becoming natural lungs' and recreational areas
3.Logging and forest fires
expose the ground to weather conditions that can cause soil erosion, uprooting and displacement.
Thousands of hectares of rich soil disappear every year and it cannot be recovered
The
forests are one the most threatened renewable resources due to
abusive exploitation
, especially the equatorial forests and tropical forests.
6.2.NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES
Intense
industrial and economic development, a high global population
and a lifestyle based on
consumerism
all rely on large amounts of
nonrenewable resources
, such as
hydrocarbons (oil, natural gas) or mining resources
These resources must not be wasted and it is
essential that we find alternatives
to produce the energy that we need.
The demand for these products is so great that the whole of the Earth, including the ocean, is ripe for exploration and exploitation
The increased level of oil resources used in energy production may lead to non-renewable resources being used up completely.
6.3.THE DEMAND FOR WATER
Fresh water is renewable
and is in
scarce supply
on our planet.
Fresh water is another one of
the most threatened resources and there is no alternative
(except desalination of sea water); just like
air, it is necessary in order for life to exist.
Pollution and overexploitation of aquifers
or wasteful use of this resource are serious dangers due to its consumption in developed countries.
The availability of drinking water for people and animals does not depend on the country being dry or wet, but on its level of development.
There are countries that have the greatest amount of rainfall due to the equatorial climate but they
do not have a sewerage system or a water distribution network
(India, China, Central America and South America)
The
most advanced countries do not worry about the scarcity of water
. They don't worry that it is a renewable good that must be conserved, whether in domestic consumption(in inadequate watering systems in farming or recreational spaces that consume vast amounts of water)
