AP Human Geography - Chapter 14 Resource Issues

Animate power

Power supplied by people or animals

Biomass fuel

Fuel from plant material and animal waste

Inanimate power

Power supplied by machines

Thee main fossil fuels

Coal, petroleum, and natural gas

Region that consumes the most energy per capita

North America

Fossil fuel

Energy source from remains of ancient plants and animals

Why are fossil fuels a concern for the future?

They are finite and unevenly distributed

Renewable resource

A resource that can be replenished quickly

Nonrenewable resource

A resource that forms slowly and can be depleted

Examples of renewable energy

Solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal

Proven reserve

The known quantity of a resource that can be extracted

How long will petroleum last at current rates?

About 43 years

How long will natural gas last?

About 49 years

How long will coal last?

About 131 years

Potential reserves

Undiscovered resources that might exist

Enhanced recovery

Techniques to extract more fuel from old fields

Unconventional resources

Difficult-to-extract sources like oil sands and oil shale

Where are oil sands found?

Canada, Venezuela, Russia

Major issue with extracting unconventional resources

High environmental and economic costs

Where are the largest coal reserves?

United States, Russia, China

Where are the largest petroleum reserves?

Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran

Where are the largest natural gas reserves?

Russia, Iran, Qatar

OPEC

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

Why was OPEC formed?

To control petroleum prices and production

Which event caused a major oil crisis in the 1970s?

The 1973 Arab Oil Embargo

Trend happening with LDCs and energy consumption

LDCs are consuming more energy than MDCs

Which country is expected to become the top energy consumer?

China

Metallic minerals

Minerals used in machinery, tools, and construction

Most widely used ferrous metal

Iron

Examples of ferrous metals

Iron, chromium, manganese, molybdenum

Nonferrous metals

Metals not used to make iron products

Main source of aluminum

Bauxite

Where is most copper mined?

Chile

Precious metals

Gold, silver, platinum

Major use of platinum

Catalytic converters in cars

Minerals critical for fertilizers

Phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sulfur

Pollution

Waste exceeding the environment’s capacity to absorb it

Greenhouse effect

Trapping of heat by gases like carbon dioxide

Gas most responsible for global warming

Carbon dioxide

Damages the ozone layer

Chloroflourocarbons (CFCs)

Acid deposition

Sulfur and nitrogen oxides forming acid rain

How does acid rain affect the enviornment?

It damages forests, lakes, and buildings

Point-source pollutants

Pollutants that enter water at specific locations

Nonpoint-source pollutants

Diffuse pollution sources like agricultural runoff

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)

The amount of oxygen needed to decompose organic material

Thermal pollution

Heated water discharged into lakes or rivers

Why is clean water crucial?

It’s necessary for drinking, agriculture, and industry

Global region highly vulnerable to rising sea levels

Small island countries like Tuvalu