Natural Resources and Conservation

Natural Resources

  • Natural resources include air, water, forests, animals, fishes, marine life, biomass, fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gases), wildlife, and renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal).

  • A nation's prosperity depends on its available natural resources.

Types of Resources

  • Two main types:

    • Renewable: Can be regenerated (e.g., solar energy, air, wind, water, tides, soil, plants).

    • Non-renewable: Cannot be re-made or re-grown at a comparable rate to consumption (e.g., fossil fuels, metallic/nonmetallic minerals).

Renewable Resources

  • Generated from natural sources (sun, wind, rain, tides).

  • Can be generated repeatedly when required.

  • Available in plenty and are generally the cleanest energy sources.

  • Examples: Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Biomass (from plants), Tidal.

Non-Renewable Resources

  • Cannot be re-made or re-grown at a scale comparable to consumption.

  • Not always environmentally friendly; can negatively impact health.

  • Cannot be regenerated within a short time span.

  • Exist as fossil fuels, natural gas, oil, and coal.

Forest Resources

  • Cover the Earth, providing goods and environmental services.

  • Products from trees include paper, plywood, turpentine, chemicals, alcohol, insecticide, sawdust fuel, wallboard, molasses, plastics, lumber, rayon.

Deforestation

  • Cutting down forests on a large scale.

  • Worldwide forest area:

    • 1900: 7,000 million hectares.

    • 1975: 2,890 million hectares.

    • 2000: 2,300 million hectares.

Over-Exploitation of Forests

  • Deforestation: Forests burned or cut for agriculture, wood, timber, development, and city expansion.

  • Short-term economic gains lead to irreversible long-term effects.

  • Deforestation rate higher in tropics than temperate countries.

  • If current rates continue, 90% of tropical forests could be lost in six decades.

  • Ecological balance requires 33% forest cover; many nations have less (e.g., India with only 20.6%).

Causes of Deforestation

  • Shifting cultivation.

  • Commercial logging (for timber sale).

  • Fuel requirement (lighting, cooking, heating).

  • Expansion for agribusiness.

  • Development projects (buildings, dams, bridges).

  • Raw materials for industrial use.

  • Forest fires.

Causes of Forest Over-Exploitation

  • Agriculture:

    • Slash & burn practices.

    • Shifting cultivation.

    • Monoculture (for feedstock cultivation/commercial product extraction).

  • Dams:

    • Upstream impacts: Forest clearing, wildlife habitat destruction, flooding.

    • Downstream impacts: Reduced biodiversity, decreased fish population, disrupted sediment and water flow.

  • Mining:

    • Deforestation, landscape defacing, water logging.

    • Noise pollution driving away wildlife.

    • Landslides.

Major Effects of Deforestation

  • Soil erosion and loss of soil fertility.

  • Decrease in rainfall affecting the hydrological cycle.

  • Expansion of deserts.

  • Climate change and water table depletion.

  • Loss of biodiversity (animals, plants, microorganisms).

  • Environmental changes and disturbance in forest ecosystems.

Measures for Forest Resources Conservation

  • Mixed cropping.

  • Afforestation programs.

Water Resources

  • Essential for life; approximately 71% of Earth's surface is water.

  • About 97% is saltwater in oceans, 2% in glaciers, and 1% available as freshwater.

  • Two types: Groundwater and Surface water.

Groundwater

  • 9.86\% of total freshwater.

  • 35-50 times more abundant than surface water.

  • Aquifers: Water percolates down until it reaches an impervious rock layer.

Aquifers

  • Underground water layers.

  • Types:

    • Confined: Sandwiched between less permeable materials.

    • Unconfined: Having a water table.

Surface Water

  • Water from precipitation (rainfall, snowfall) that doesn't percolate into the ground or return to the atmosphere.

  • Forms streams, ponds, wetlands.

Frozen Water

  • Himalayas contain extensive high-altitude areas, glaciers, and permafrost.

Importance of Water

  • Required for agriculture.

  • Used in hydrothermal power for generating hydroelectricity.

  • Needed for growing plants, caring for animals, cooking, bathing, etc.

Problems with Water Resources

  • Water scarcity (due to low precipitation).

  • Floods and droughts (heavy rains, shifting land use, recurrent droughts).

  • Groundwater availability and quality (aquifer size, saltwater infiltration, pollution).

  • Watershed degradation (deforestation, urbanization).

  • Coastal interaction (salinity infiltration, coastal pollution).

Floods

  • Unusually large amount of water in an area.

  • Depends on climate, collecting basins, soil, vegetation, snow melt, rainfall.

  • Types: Flash floods, river floods, coastal floods.

Droughts

  • Severe deficiency in water supply.

  • Types: Meteorological, hydrological, agricultural.

Mineral Resources

  • Naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline solids with a definite chemical composition.

  • Types:

    • Critical minerals: Essential for a nation's economy (e.g., aluminum, copper, gold).

    • Strategic minerals: Required for defense (e.g., manganese, cobalt, platinum, chromium).

Minerals Importance and Availability

  • Important for the formation and functioning of organisms.

  • Needed for industry-based civilization.

  • India has a rich mineral resource base.

  • Sufficient reserves of nuclear energy minerals.

  • Adequate reserves in petroleum, copper, lead, zinc, graphite, mercury, and fertilizer minerals.

Absorption of Minerals

  • Sodium and iron are used at a rate of about 0.1 to 1.0 billion metric tons per year.

  • Nitrogen, sulphur, potassium and calcium are primarily used as fertilizers at a rate of about 10 to 100 million metric tons per year.

  • Zinc, copper, aluminium and lead are used at a rate of about 3 to 10 million metric tons per year

  • Gold and silver are used at a rate of about 10 thousand metric tons per year.

Environmental Impacts of Mineral Extraction

  • Land degradation.

  • Pollution of surface and groundwater resources.

  • Effect on vegetation growth due to leaching.

  • Occupational health hazards.

  • Air pollution.

  • Deforestation affecting vegetation and wildlife.

  • Rehabilitation of affected population.

Food Resources

  • Basic human requirement for proper functioning and well-being.

  • Humans eat a variety of plant and animal foods for necessary nutrients.

  • Only 15 plant and 8 animal species supply 90% of our food.

Aquaculture

  • Production of food from aquatic habitats.

  • Fish and seafood contribute about 70 million metric tons of high-quality proteins to the world's diet.

  • Important protein source, especially in Asia and Europe.

Sources of Food

  • Ancient societies: Gathering and hunting.

  • Modern societies: Agriculture, animal domestication, fishing.

  • Agricultural Revolution: Increased food supply through science and technology.

World Food Supply

  • Includes:

    • Mixed farming.

    • Good irrigation facilities.

    • Soil erosion control.

    • Quality seeds.

    • Chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

    • Agricultural implements.

    • Storage and market facilities.

  • Green Revolution: Increased food production, improved quality.

Food Problems in India

  • Lack of improved cultivation methods.

  • Poverty and lack of purchasing power.

  • Excessive population growth.

  • Lack of cold storage.

  • Food wastage due to ignorance and wrong cooking processes.

Solving Food Problems in India

  • Improved cultivation methods.

  • Improvement of financial and educational status of Indian cultivators.

  • Balancing demand with supply.

  • Checking population growth.

  • Increasing food grain production.

  • Protecting food from pests.

  • Judicious distribution and proper transport facilities.

Over Grazing

  • Removes vegetation cover, leading to soil exposure and erosion.

  • Loss of plant regeneration capacity.

  • Decreased production.

Effects of Modern Agriculture

  • Intensive use of irrigation, chemical fertilizers, high-yielding seeds, pesticides.

  • Benefits: High crop yields, farmer awareness, improved income, raised living standards, increased employment and national economy.

Adverse Impact of Modern Agriculture

  • Fertilizer-related problems: Micro-nutrient imbalance, eutrophication.

  • Pesticide-related problems: Killing non-targeted species, affecting food quality and human health.

  • Water Logging: Accumulation of excess water due to inadequate drainage.

  • Salinity: Use of saline water, leading to reduced crop production.

  • Loss of genetic diversity of agricultural crops.

Energy Resources

  • Key input in economic growth.

  • India consumes energy as fuel, wood, animal waste, and agricultural residues.

  • Commercial fuels (coal, petroleum products, natural gas, electricity) are replacing non-commercial fuels.

  • Commercial fuels account for 60% of total energy, non-commercial fuels account for 40%.

  • Of commercial energy: 69% from coal, 25% from hydel, 3% from diesel and gas, 2% from nuclear, less than 1% from non-conventional sources.

Energy Concept

  • Capacity to do work.

  • All living creatures need energy.

  • Earth is a storehouse of energy (fossil fuels, wind, water, sunlight).

Recyclable vs Non-Recyclable Resources

  • Recyclable: Non-energy mineral resources (e.g., aluminum, copper, mercury), fertilizer nutrients, minerals used in their natural state.

  • Non-recyclable: Fossil fuels and nuclear energy sources (90% of energy requirements).

Alternate Energy Sources

  • Renewable energy sources: Solar, wind, hydel, waste, bio-mass.

  • Bio-mass: Agriculture-related resources (wood, cow dung, seeds).

Fossil Fuels

  • e.g Coal, Petroleum, Natural Gas.

  • Remains of organisms from 200-500 million years ago.

  • Finite in quantity, non-renewable.

  • Formed inside the Earth's crust through heat and compression.

Coal

  • Anthracite, bituminous, and lignite.

  • Used for cooking, industrial heating, and electricity production.

  • About 5% of world coal found in India.

  • Major coal states: Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra.

  • Large coal deposits remain (200 years).

  • Mining and use harmful due to air pollution (carbon dioxide emissions) and respiratory diseases.

Petroleum

  • Petrol, diesel, kerosene.

  • Major oil-producing countries: USA, USSR, West Asian regions.

  • OPEC has 70% oil reserves; Saudi Arabia alone has 25%.

  • World demand rising rapidly; new discoveries declining.

  • World oil peak likely before 2020.

Natural Gas

  • Mixture of methane, ethane, propane, and butane (200-300 years).

  • Russia and Kazakhstan have 40% of gas.

  • LPG (propane and butane).

  • Low cost, low pollution.

  • Requires pipelines.

Alternate Energy Sources

  • Nuclear power.

  • Geothermal power.

  • Solar power.

  • Wind power.

  • Hydropower.

  • Ocean currents/tidal.

  • Biomass energy.

Nuclear Power

  • Obtained through fission or fusion of radioactive materials.

  • Limited availability of uranium and radioactive elements.

  • Environmental and security concerns.

  • High building and operating costs.

  • Questionable safety and deadly waste.

  • Nuclear power plants and weapons testing create contaminated sites.

Geothermal Energy

  • Heat energy from Earth's interior used to heat buildings and generate electricity.

  • Considered non-renewable when extraction rates exceed supply.

Geothermal Power Details

  • Low Temp: Use of groundwater ( 55 F (13 C) year-round).

  • High Temp: Deep wells (over 100 feet) use groundwater as a heat source in winter and coolant in summer.

  • Higher initial costs but lower running costs.

Solar Energy

  • Energy received from the sun as radiation.

  • Immense amount of incoming solar energy.

  • In 10 weeks, incoming solar energy equals energy of all known fossil fuel reserves.

  • Variable distribution due to climate and location.

  • Can be converted directly or indirectly into other forms of energy.

  • Inexhaustible resource.

Uses of Solar Power

  • Indirect: Biomass energy (photosynthesis).

  • Direct: Heating, light, electricity (solar cells, solar water heaters, solar furnaces).

  • CO_2 + Water + Oxygen --(Chlorophyll)--> Sugar

Wind Energy

  • Generation of electricity using wind to turn turbines.

  • Free energy, but needs constant high-velocity winds.

  • Best used in specific sites.

Hydroelectric Power (Hydel Power)

  • Energy harnessed from moving water to power turbines and generate electricity.

  • High-quality energy output.

  • Creates water reserves for recreation.

  • Costly to build; can cause flooding and impact local hydrology.

Hydropower Details

  • Power generated by harnessing the energy of falling water.

  • Greater the difference in water level, the more energy.

  • Dams prevent fish migration and natural river flows, causing sedimentation.

Ocean Currents/Tidal

  • Generation of electricity from the movement of ocean tides or currents.

  • Rising tides trapped behind a dam, then released to turn a generator.

  • Ocean buoys can harness water movement to generate electricity.