 Definition-Anything which is useful to man or

can be transformed into useful product or

can be used to produce a useful thing can be
referred to as resource.
 Natural resource- resource obtained from
nature.
 Valuable in its natural form
 Classification-
 Renewable and non renewable resource
 Can be reproduced. Eg forest.
 Can restock if used sustainably

 If consumed at a rate that exceeds natural

rate of replacement, the standing stock will
diminish.
 Renewable resource- 1) living renewable
resource-forests, fishes- can renew
themselves if not over harvested.
 Non living renewable resource- water ,wind
,tide.
 Forest recycles its plant material.
 Grasslands recycle faster,

 Aquatic ecosystem also depends on solar

energy.
 Renewable resources are renewable only
within a certain limit.
 The can lose capacity to regenerate on over
utilization and degradation.
 Resources which are not reproducible and
are obtained from finite non living reserves.-
coal.
 Take millions of years to regenrate.

 Present in fixed amount.

 Land itself is an important resource
 Food production and animal husbandry

( breeding and caring of animals), industr ies ,

human settlements.
 Land use are extended at the cost of –
forests, grasslands , wetlands , deserts.
 Important to evolve policies – how land must
be used.
 Use of alternate sites at which industries and
dams can be made.
 10% of land and water bodies of each
ecosystem should be kept as wilderness to
protect nature.
 Land is under pressure due increasing land
hunger to produce food for the growing
population.
 Land and water resources are polluted by
industrial waste and sewage from rural urban
areas.
 Wetlands are being drained.

 The most damaging change- rate at which

forests have vanished in India and world.
 Land forms like hills, valleys, plains, river basin and
wetland generate resources .
 Many traditional societies had ways of preserving
resources.
 Eg. sacred groves of Western Ghats.
 Land is a renewable resource if utilized carefully
 Wasteland formation- if forest and grasslands are
depleted.
 Intensive irrigation causes water logging
( saturation of soil with water.)
 Land converts to Non renewable resource- when toxic
industrial wastes is dumped..
 We need land for building homes, developing
industries, domestication of animals etc.
 Careful planning for land use is required
 Erosion is movement of soil components
specifically top soil from one place to
another by the action of wind and water.
 The roots of trees and forest hold the soil

 Deforestation leads to soil erosion

 ESAs- ecologically sensitive areas- where
deforestation has led to erosion of hill slopes
as Himalayas and Western Ghats.
 IT IS IMPORTANT TO REFOREST.
 SOIL ENRICHED BY LEAF LITTER(FALLEN
LEAVES)
 TYPES OF SOIL EROSION-

 1) WATER EROSION- TOP SOIL REMOVED BY

HEAVY RAINS
 2)WIND EROSION-WIND ACTS AS AGENT OF
EROSION IN ARID AND SEMI ARID REGIONS.
 Sheet erosion
 Rill erosion

 Gully erosion
 Landslides

 Stream bank erosion

 Uniform removal of a thin layer of soil from
large area is called sheet erosion.
 It is affected by run-off effect of rain water.
 In
this type of soil erosion, heavy rainfall
and rapidly running water produce finger
shaped grooves or rills over the entire field
Gully erosion:
 It is more prominent type of erosion in
which heavy rainfall, rapidly running water
and transporting water may result in deeper
cavities or grooves called gullies.
 Gullies may be ‘V shaped or ‘U’ shaped. Gullies
cut the fields into small fragments and make
them uncultivable .
 Continuous flow of water through gullies further
deepens the grooves and may ultimately result in
ravines.
 Ravines are 15 to 30in deep and with steep
vertical sides.
 This type of soil erosion is caused by heavy
rainfall and it occurs in sloppy lands, such as
mountains and hills.
 In this type of erosion when the running
water percolates through the crevices of
rocks great masses of soils and loose rocks
lying on the steep slopes slip downward.
 On the banks of swollen rivers it is most
active.
 During the rainy season when fast
running water streams take turn in some
other directions, they cut the soil and make
caves in the banks.
 As a result of this, quite often large masses
of soils become detached and washed away
from the banks and are deposited at places
in course of streams.
 Removal of soil by wind is called wind
erosion.
 Stormy winds carry the soil particles to
distant places and sometimes form sand-
dunes.
 Wind currents usually remove the top soil
which is fertile and frill of humus and
minerals.
 Wind causes the following three types of soil
movements.
 (I) SALTATION;
 (II) SUSPENSION; AND

 (II) SURFACE CREEP.

Under the influence of direct pressure of
stormy wind small soil particles of 1 to 1.5
mm diameters move up from the soil
surface, generally in vertical direction.
Major part of wind carried soil is moved in a
series of bounces, called saltation.
 Inthis, fine soil particles (diameter less than
1 mm) are suspended in air.
 These suspended particles are kicked up
when particles of saltation strike on the soil.
 The soil particles are deposited at distant
places.
 In this, there are larger particles ranging
from 5 to 10 mm in diameter.
 Because they are too heavy to move in
saltation, they creep on surface of soil.
A PROCESS OF LAND DEGRADATION IN ARID ,
SEMI ARID AREAS .
 PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL OF TOPSOIL FALLS
BY 10%.
 HAPPENS DUE TO PROLONGED DRAUGHT AND
HUMAN ACTIVITIES THAT EXPOSE TOPSOIL TO
EROSION.
 ONLY EXTREME CASES LEAD TO DESERT
FORMATION
 OVERGRAZING
 DEFORESTATION

 FARMING PRACTICES
 URBANIZATION.

 CLIMATE CHANGE

 NATURAL DISASTERS
 FARMING BECOMES NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE
 HUNGER

 FLOODING
 POOR WATER QUALITY
 OVER POPULATION IN CERTAIN AREAS.

 POVERTY
 POLICY CHANGES
 EDUCATION

 TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES
 SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES.
 HIGH DENSITY TREES
 ANIMAL HABITATS

 SOIL CONSERVERS
 LIVES DEPEND ON FOREST RESOURCES FOR
PEOPLE NEAR FORESTS
 HOMES FURNITURE ETC
 MEDICINES
 TRIBAL PEOPLE CONTROLLED THE FOREST
EARLIER SINCE THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
 TRIBALS HUNTED ANIMALS , GATHRED PLANTS
AND LIVED ENTIRELY ON FOREST PRODUCE.
 BRITISHERS ALIENATED LOCAL PEOPLE BY
CREATING PROTECTED AREAS AND RESERVES
AND CURTAILED THE ACCESS TO RESOURCES.
 INDIASHOULD HAVE OF LAND AS FORESTS-33%
 WE HAVE ONLY 12 %
 Loss in area covered with forest- deforestation
 Degradation- condition of forest involving a reduction
in its quality,
 Expansion of lands, industrialisation, urbanisation are
causes of degradation.
 Dams built for hydroelectric power or irrigation have
submerged large tracts of forests and have displaced
tribal people whose lives were closely knit to forest.
 National forest policy- 1988
 Joint Forest Mangement (JFM)LOCAL PEOPLE AND
FOREST DEPT WORK TOGETHER TO SUSTAINABLY.
 VFCs-village forest communities- 25% income should
go to these communities
 Shares -kerala 25%
 50% in Gujarat, Maharshtra, Orissa, and
tripura .
 andhra pradesh.100%

 Some states have stopped grazing others

have rational grazing schemes which helped
in forest regeneration.
 Destruction of biodiversity.
 Desertification

 Soil erosion.
 No recycling of water
 Process of converting a non forest land to
forest.
 Maintain biodiversity and ecological balance
 Afforestation- development of new forest

 Reforestation-reestablishment of forest cover

naturally or artificially.
 water resources are the resources of water
that are useful or potentially useful to
humans.
 Important for life to exist
 Water cycle through evaporation and
precipitation maintains the hydrological
systems which forms lakes and rivers
 Wetland species are high moisture dependent
 All aquatic systems are used by people for
drinking water, cooking etc.
 The world depends on limited quantity of
water.
 Water covers 70 % of earths surface.
 3% is freshwater
 2% is present in polar icecaps
 1% is usable water.
 Global level- 70% is used for agriculture, 22%
industry, 5 % domestic level( national
commission for water resource development
plan, ministry of water resources, 1999)
 There is need to rethink over the mangement
of water resouces.
 Water polluted by- sewage and toxic
substances
 world population has increased greatly.
 Enormous demand for water supply.
 The total freshwater withdrawl is twice as
much as 50 yrs ago.- 3800 cubic kms.
 A person needs 20- 40 lts of water for drinkin
and sanitation.
 Local water conflicts- Cauvery water-
Karnataka and TN.
 BY 2025 India will face critical water stress.
 At global level 31 countries have water
shortage 48 will have by 2025
 Will lead to multiple conflicts between
countries.
 100 countries share water of 13 large rivers
and lakes.
 Certain nations can starve the other nations.
 International accords will become critical to
world peace
 India and Bangladesh already have
negotiated over use Ganges river.
 Some precipitation infiltrates the ground and
percolates downward through spaces of soil,
gravel and rock until an impermeable layer of
rock spots it.
 WATER TABLE - The top of this ground water
zone is called water table.
 Falls in dry weather, and when ground water is
removed at faster rate.
 We use pumps to bring large quantities of water.
 Aquifers-underground porous layers of sand,
gravel, rock through which groundwater flows.
 Natural recharge- rain
 Lateral recharge of aquifers- rivers and streams
 Freshwater from precipitation and melted
snow.
 Precipitation that does not infiltrate the
ground or return to the atmosphere by
evaporation is called the surface runoff.
A flood happens when freshwater in stream
overflows its normal channel and spills into
an adjacent area called floodplains.
 People settle in floodplains-fertile soil,
ample freshwater, availability of nearby
freshwaters.
 Floods are environmental hazard.
 Wetlands are natures flood control system.
 Deforestation in Himalayas causes floods in
Himalayas
 Rivers change their course and valuable soil
is lost.
A prolonged period in which precipitationis
atleast 70% lower and evaporation is higher
than normal is an area that is normally dry.
A dam is a structure built across a river to
control its flow.
 It creates an artificial lake or reservoir.
 Advantages-

 Irrigation

 drinking water
 Cheap electricity
 Reduces stream flooding.
 Disadvantages-

 Social consequences.
 Fragmentation and physical transformation
of rivers,
 This project is a multi purpose dam project
built in narmada river valley.
 “Save water”: campaign are essential to
make everywhere aware of the dangers of
water scarcity.
 Conservation of water-
 RAIN WATER HARVESTING-
 technique of collection of water into natural
reservoir of tanks, the infiltration of surface
water into subsurface aquifers before it is
lost as runoff.
 Interstateconflict-
 Kauvery river water- karnataka and Tamil
Nadu.
 INTERNATIONAL

 INDUS WATER TREATY BETWEEEN INDIA AND

PAKISTAN.
A MINERAL RESOURCE IS CONCENTRATION OF
NATURALLY OCCURING MINERALS FROM THE
EARTHS CRUST THAT WE CAN EXTRACT AND
PROCESS INTO RAW MATERIALS AND USEFUL
AT AN AFFORDABLE COST.
 TWO TYPES – METALLIC AND NON METALLIC
MINERALS.
 MINES ARE OF TWO TYPES:
SURFACE (OPEN CAST) AND DEEP( SHAFT).
 HAZARDOUS OCCUPATION
 SURFACE MINNING IS LESS HAZARDOUS THAN
DEEP MINING.
 UNDERGROUND MINES- ROOF FALL, FLOODING
ETC.
 OCCUPATION HAZARDS- INJURIOUS TO
HEALTH.
 METHANE FROM COAL STRATA.
 RADIATION IS LIFE THREATENING.
 MINING SOURCES ARE CONSIDERED ONE OF
THE MAIN SOURCES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
DEGRADATION.
 DEPLETION OF LAND.

 CONVERSION OF LAND TO INDUSTRY AND

POLLUTION OF LAND.
 ECOLOGICAL
 POLLUTION.

 PHYSICAL
 OCCUPATION

 SOCIO ECONOMIC.
 RENEWABLE NON RENEWABLE
 PHOTO MEANS LIGHT AND VOLTAIC MEANS
ELECTRIC.
 PV CELLS ARE MADE UP PF SILICON( ELEMENT
THAT RELEASES ELECTRONS WHEN EXPOSED
TO SUNLIGHT)
 LOW MAINTENANCE, WORRKS CLEANLY,
SAFELY, SILENTLY.
 THEY CAN BE INSTALLED IN SMALL MODULES
AT PLACES WHERE THERE IS SUNLIGHT.
 TWO SEPARATE LAYERS OF SILICON , EACH
CONTAINS CHARGE.
 WHEN THE LIGHT HITS THE CELL, CHARGES
BEGIN TO MOVE AND ELECTRICITY IS
PRODUCED.
 PV CELLS ARE WIRED TOGETHER TO FORM A
MODULE.
 A MODULE OF 40 CELLS IS ENOUGH TO LIGHT
A BULB.
 FOR MORE POWER PV MODULES ARE WIRED
TOGETHER.
 PV CELLS ARE USED IN CALCULATORS
WATCHES.
 WHEN A LOG OF WOOD IS BURNED . WE ARE
USING BIOMASS ENRGY.
 BIOMASS ENRGY IS STORED SOLAR ENRGY.
 THREE WAYS TO USE BIOMASS-

1) BURNED TO PRODUCE HEAT.

2) CHANGED TO GAS- METHANE

3) CHANGED TO LIQUID – BIOFUELS.
 BIOMASS CHANGED TO LIQUID
 TWO FORMS OF ACOHOL- METHANOL AND
ETHANOL.
 CAN BE USED FOR OUR FUEL NEEDS.

BIODIESEL-
 DIESEL MADE FROM VEGETABLE OIL.
 RESEARCHERS ARE PRODUCING OIL OILS
FROM ALGAE , WHICH CAN BE CONVERTED TO
BIODIESEL, NEW WAYS HAVE BEEN FOUND TO
PRODUCE BIODIESEL.
 BIOGAS IS PRODUCED FROM PLANT
MATERIALS, ANIMAL WASTE, GARBAGE, WASTE
FROM HOUSEHOLDS AND SOME TYPES OF
INDUSTRIAL WASTE.
 IT IS A MIXTURE OF GASES WHICH INCLUDES
METHANE, CARBON DIOXIDE, HYDROGEN
SULPHIDE, WATER VAPOUR.
 METHANE BURNS EASILY.
 1 TON OF FOOD = 85 cu m of biogas.

 once used residue is used as an agricultural

fertiliser.
 Wind was the earliest enrgy use dfor
transportation by ships.
 wind speed increases with height.
 Power above 30m( 60%) > power available at
10 m.
 Connected to a generator to generate
electricity as the bladed is moved by the
wind.
 Principal problem with this is bird kills
,noise, effect on tv reception.
 Power achieved by capturing the energy
contained in tides and open sea currents.
 Tidal power is obtained by placing a barrage
( dam structure)across an estuary and forcing
tidal flow to pass through turbines.
One way system- incoming tide is allowed to
fill the basin and used to produce electricity.
Two way system- power is generated from
incoming and outgoing tide both.
 Energy stored within earth.
 Geo- earth thermal – heat

 Geothermal energy starts with molten rock

deep inside earth.
 The heat rising from magma warms
underground pools of water known as
geothermal reservoirs.