Exploitation of Natural Resources

Natural resources

Materials from the earth that are used to support life and meet people’s needs. e.g Oil, coal, gas, sunlight, water

Exploitation (Of resources)

Making use of and benefiting from resources.

Overexploitation

When too much of a resource is used. This may result in resources being depleted (seriously reduced in quanitity) or exhausted (wiped out completely)

Sustainabble exploitation

The use of resources in such a way that they will be available in the future

Pghysical facotrs on why people can’t get access to water

Rivers : river systems move huge quantities of water from where it falls as rain towards seas and lakes. They an dry up in areas of little or no rainfall, makin ghtme unreliable as sources of water

Climate : The changing climate affects the amount of rainfall and snowfall and rates of evaporation. This can affect water availability. Areas with low rainfall have access to less water

Human facotrs on why people can’t get access to water

Pollution of water supplies : Fresh water sources around the world are threatened by pollution. e.g humans littering in bodies of water, agricultural run-off that makes it way into bodies of water

Overexploitation of resevoirs : Taking more water from resevoirs that is falling can lead to drought. In hot summer months, there can be less rainfall so people need to be careful about their water use

Physical factors on why irrigation is needed in egypt

Surrounded by desert to the east, west and south, and bordered by the mediterranean on the north. It receives little annual precipitation. The Nile is therefore the primary source of fresh water and the only source of water for agricultural

Human factors on why irrigation is needed in egypt

The population is generally rising at an extremely fast rate, which causes the government concern. In 2022, the pop. was approx. 106M, and it is predicted to reach 160m by 2050. Some 90% of the country’s pop lives close to the Nile, and therefore it is under extreme pressure

Economic benefit of irrigation in egypt

To date, 10,000 people have been employed in the construction and planning of the system.

Environmental impact of irrigation in egypt

The new irrigation system resulted in a 46% reduction in energy costs for pumping water. 

Social impact of irrigation in egypt

In the past, farms owned and run by women had been denied access to irrigation in favor of male-owned farms.

FIMP allowed women to modernise and irrigate their farms and helped improve their agricultural skills. This enabled these women to provide food and income for their families.

Overfishing

When fish are taken from the sea faster than they can reproduce. When this happens, fish stocks decrease quickly and become depleted

Reasons for Overfishing

These boats can catch masive amounts of fish at once, they can then store their catch in massive refridgerators to preserve their catch, so they can remain at sea

Super-trawlers have improved capability to locate fish. They use echo-sounders and sonar equipment to locate shoals.

Purse Seining

This involves catching fish which inhabit the mid-water regions or upper layers of water e.g tuna

Bottom trawling

Catches fish that inhabit the bottom layers of water near the ocean floor. e.g flounder

Traps and Pots

Mainly used to catch invertebrates like crab and lobster.

Ways to prevent overfishing

Ensuring fishing trawlers fish only within their own waters. All countries with a coast have designated fishing zones off their coastlines.

Reducing the amount of fish that are allowed to be caught. In Ireland, quotas are set by the government and the EU and are calculated based on the EUs Total allowable catches (TACs). These are limits on the amount of fish a country is allowed to catch over a year