Assignment 2: Natural Resources and Associated Problems

Introduction:
Natural resources are resources that occur naturally in the environment and can be
used by humans for economic gain or for their everyday needs. Natural resources are
essential for human survival and economic development, but they must be managed
sustainably to ensure their availability for future generations.
Resources that are derived from the natural world do not require human involvement.
The purposes for the qualities can be for industrial, commercial, or aesthetic reasons as well
as for reasons related to science, culture, or aesthetics. In addition to all animal life, the
ecosystem of the Earth consists of sunshine, air, land, water, minerals, and vegetation. Our
national heritage and nature reserves can both help to safeguard our natural resources. The
ecosystem of certain places frequently exhibits bio- and geo-diversity. Natural resources can
be divided into different categories.
Resources can be defined as any material that can be changed so that it gains more
worth and utility. In other words, anything can be used to gain valuable stuff. Resources are
thus the tools used to achieve specific goals. We view a thing or substance as a resource as
long as it satisfies our wants since the component of fulfillment is so crucial. Natural
resources are any of the numerous goods and services that nature provides that are
essential to life on this planet. Natural resources include, among other things, water, air, soil,
minerals, coal, forests, agricultural land, and wildlife.

Content:

Natural Resources Associated Problem

1. Forest resources - Important renewable  Deforestation - Forest are burned or

resources include forests. The economic
prosperity of every nation can benefit greatly
from the composition and diversity of its
forests. Plants, in addition to trees, cover
enormous areas, yield a wide range of goods,
feed living things, and are crucial to
environmental preservation.
According to estimates, 26% of the world's
land is covered by pastures, compared to
30% by forests. Africa has the most forested
land of any continent (33%) followed by
South America (25%), with only 11% of North
America's land covered in trees. 14% of Asia
and the former USSR are covered with
forests. Just 3% of the land in European
countries is covered by forests. As of 2005,
the forest cover in India covered 20.6% of the
nation's total land area.
cut for clearing of land for agriculture,
harvesting for wood and timber,
development and expansion of cities.
These economic gains are short term
where as long term effects of
deforestation are irreversible
 Use and over-exploitation - It has long
been understood that forests offer
enormous potential for human use,
and this potential has led to extensive
exploitation of forests.
 Timber extraction - Teak and
Mahogany are two types of valuable
timber that can be harvested through
logging. Few huge trees per hectare,
but around a dozen more trees overall
due to their close interconnection with
one another due to vines and other
vegetation. Moreover, road
construction for approaching trees
creates additional problems,
destruction of the forests

2. Water resources - contain water sources
which are beneficial or possibly beneficial to
humans. Water is used for a variety of
purposes, such as agriculture, industry,
domestic consumption, recreation, and
environmental protection. Almost all of these
human uses call for fresh water. Just 3% of
the water on Earth is fresh water, and just
over two-thirds of that is frozen in ice, making
up the other 97% of the planet's water. Arctic
ice caps and glaciers. With only a small
portion present above ground or in the air,
the remaining unfrozen freshwater is mostly
found as groundwater.
 Mining and its effects in forests - In
order to extract minerals and fossil
fuels like coal, mining operations
frequently include extensive forest
regions. Surface mining is used for
shallow deposits, whereas subsurface
mining is used for deep deposits.
More than 80,000 acres of country
land are currently being stressed by
mining operations. Vegetation, the soil
mantle beneath it, and the abutting
rock masses must all be removed
during mining and its related activities.
The area's topography is damaged,
and the landscape is destroyed as a
result.
 Dams and their effect on forests and
tribal people - Forests have an impact
on the forest, both directly and
indirectly. Deforestation is mostly
caused by hydroelectric dams.
Workloads Rivers are currently
blocked by over 40,000 big dams. For
the purpose of building large dams,
forests are destroyed, which disturbs
the natural equilibrium. Landslides,
droughts, and floods may become
more common as a result social and
economic issues pertaining to Tribal
and indigenous people are the result
of building large dams.
 Use and overutilization of water -
Extraction of water for human
consumption and irrigation is referred
to as "water exploitation." Agriculture
and water use are closely related,
particularly in the Mediterranean
coastal region where intensive
irrigation is used extensively. The
industrial, residential, and,
occasionally, tourist industries all play
a significant role in the exploitation of
water in various places. By comparing
the withdrawal of conventional
freshwater resources (surface and
groundwater) to all renewable
resources (given in percentages), the
"exploitation index" can be used to
assess the amount of water being
exploited.
 Floods, droughts etc. - Flooding can
happen when water from water

3. Mineral resources - A mineral is a
naturally occurring substance with a known
chemical makeup, physical characteristics.
An ore is a material or mixture of minerals
from which a valuable a substance, such as a
metal, can be extracted and used to create a
useful product. The earth's crust's mineral
production over millions of years was
triggered by geological processes. The
distribution of mineral deposits is relatively
bodies, such as a river or lake,
overflows or bursts, causing part of
the water to escape its regular
confines or it could happen as a result
of rainwater gathering on saturated
ground during a localized flood. When
a river's flow rate exceeds its
channel's carrying capacity,
particularly near bends in the
waterway, floods can also happen.
Floods could cause damage to homes
and businesses if they are in the river
floodplains that form naturally.
 Conflicts over water - There are many
different types of water battles
throughout history, but conventional
wars are rarely fought over only one
body of water. Water, on the other
hand, has historically been a source
of conflict and a factor in
disagreements that begin for other
causes. Water disputes, however, can
occur for a number of causes, such as
territory disputes, resource conflicts,
and strategic benefit.
 Dams and problems - More than
45,000 substantial dams exist today,
and they are crucial to the
communities and businesses that use
these water resources for economic
development. According to recent
estimates, dams are used to irrigate
between 30 and 40% of the world's
land. Another option for using water
that has been stored is hydropower,
which today provides 19% of the
world's electric power needs and is
used in more than 150 nations. China
and India, the two nations with the
largest populations, have constructed
about 57% of the large dams in the
world.
 Use and exploitation - Mineral
resources are used for economic
development while they are being
exploited. Environmental issues have
been caused by the heedless and
rapid exploitation of mineral resources
to satisfy the expanding demands of
contemporary civilization.
 Environmental effects of extracting
and using minerals - Prospecting,

erratic, and most mineral occurrences are
localized. Mineral resources are non-
renewable, and mining is the procedure used
to remove the mineral ore.
4. Food resources - Food resources include
all goods and products (simple, mixed, or
compound), or additions to such goods and
products, that can be consumed by humans
or animals, regardless of other uses to which
they may be put, at all stages of processing
from the raw material to the products thereof
in a form that can be sold for human or
animal consumption. Food resources include
all starches, sugars, fats and oils, including
those derived from plants, animals, or the
marine environment, as well as potable water
packaged in commercially marketable
containers, seeds, cotton, hemp, and flax
fiber. However, they do not include any
materials that have lost their status as
agricultural products or commodities.
exploration, construction, operation,
maintenance, expansion,
abandonment, decommissioning, and
repurposing of mines are only a few
mining activities that can have a
variety of direct and indirect effects on
social and environmental systems,
both good and bad. Deforestation,
erosion, contamination of nearby
streams and wetlands, alteration of
soil profiles, increased noise levels,
dust, and emissions are just a few of
the environmental harms that may
come from mine exploration, building,
operation, and maintenance.
 World food problems - The majority of
our food is produced by agriculture,
animal husbandry, and fishing, or
76% from croplands, 17% from
rangelands, or meat from grazing
cattle, and 7% from marine and
freshwater fisheries. Sustainable
agriculture is defined by the FAO
(Food and Agricultural Organization of
the UN) as farming that preserves
land, water, and genetic resources for
plants and animals while still being
economically feasible and socially
acceptable.
 Changes caused by agriculture and
over gazing - Ineffective agricultural
practices, deforestation, and
excessive grazing lead to soil
degradation, including loss of organic
matter and nutrient depletion,
acidification, salinization, and
chemical pollution, as well as
deterioration of physical qualities like
water and wind erosion.
 Effects of modern agriculture - It is
frequently believed that by expanding
agricultural and food production
through the use of modern
technology, global food shortages
may be resolved. It is further stated
that adding contemporary inputs, such
as extensive irrigation systems,
chemical fertilizers, farm equipment,
and pesticides, can increase the
land's capacity for production. But,
when a new agricultural technique is
introduced into a society with unequal
 power relations, it only benefits those
who already possess some
combination of land, money,
creditworthiness, and political
influence.
 Fertilizer-pesticide problems - Crops
that are grown for food, feed, fiber,
and fuel need nitrates, phosphates,
and potash to grow. The majority of
these nutrients, when administered
annually, are absorbed by the crop;
however, when applied in excess,
they may be released into the
environment by volatilization into the
air, leaching into ground water,
emissions from the soil to the air, and
discharge into surface waters. Using
best management techniques (BMPs)
that promote fertilizer accessibility,
improve plants' capacity for nutrient
uptake, and more precisely match
nutrient treatments with agronomic
needs will help to reduce these
losses.
 Water logging and salinity - Many
water bodies, including rivers,
streams, lakes, and aquifers, are used
for irrigation and are treated with
millions of tons of chemical fertilizers
and pesticides to increase yields. As a
result of their residues, these
treatments degrade water quality. In
the arid and semi-arid regions
supplied by dams, irrigation activities
linked to poor water use are
contributing to salinity. Salinity is a
result of irrigation water introducing
salts to the soil and the strata beneath
it.

 Growing energy needs - Nearly every

day, the world's energy demand
5. Energy resources - It is advantageous for
increases, causing an energy crisis
sustainability and the environment when
and environmental damage. Due to
energy resources are used wisely through
their finite, depleting supply and
energy conservation measures, which results
negative effects on the environment,
in a stabilization of the rate of growth of
fossil fuels continue to be
energy consumption. An energy source is
unsustainable as an energy source.
anything that can move objects, power life,
As a result, the need for sustainable
generate heat, or create electricity.
and eco-friendly alternative energy
sources has increased.

6. Land resources - Land Resources are  Land degradation and control of land

resource endowments for economic
development in order to gradually raise
peoples' standards of living. The current
review of land resource research aims to
provide an overview of works on how to use
landform studies to socioeconomic
development. Better land use, land capability,
land appraisal, land development, and land
management all depend on the study of
landforms.
7.
degradation - Without prompt
corrective action, one of the most
serious environmental issues facing
the planet will worsen: land
degradation. Around 25% of the
world's land has been degraded. Land
degradation is one of the main causes
of climate change because it releases
nitrous oxide and carbon from the soil
into the atmosphere.
 Landslides and man induced land
slides - Human-Induced Landslides
(HIL) are landslide occurrences that
are either completely or partially
exacerbated by human activity. The
majority of them are caused by
anthropogenic factors including
altered terrain, altered water
circulations, altered land use,
deteriorating infrastructure, etc.
 Soil erosion - Beside the loss of
agricultural land, soil erosion has
other negative repercussions. In
streams and rivers, it has increased
pollution and sedimentation, blocking
these waterways and resulting in a
loss in fish and other species.
Moreover, deteriorated soils are
frequently less able to retain water,
which can make floods worse.
Sustainable land use can lessen the
negative effects of livestock and
agriculture, minimizing soil erosion
and degradation as well as the
desertification of significant areas of
land.
 Desertification - the deterioration of
land due to climatic changes, human
activity, or both in dry or semiarid
areas. Temporary but severe
droughts and long-term shifts in the
climate toward aridity are climatic
causes.
Conclusion:
Natural resources are materials and substances that occur in nature and are used by
humans to satisfy their basic needs and to promote economic growth. Different types of
natural resources include minerals, forests, freshwater, land, and other materials. Each type
of resource has its own set of challenges and problems associated with their extraction and
use.
One of the most significant problems associated with minerals is the environmental impact of
mining. Mining can result in soil erosion, water pollution, and the destruction of habitats for
wildlife. Additionally, many minerals are non-renewable, meaning that they cannot be
replenished once they are extracted, which creates concerns about long-term sustainability.
Forests are important resources for providing timber, food, and other materials, but
deforestation can lead to serious environmental consequences. The destruction of forests
can lead to soil erosion, loss of habitat for wildlife, and contribute to climate change by
releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Illegal logging is also a significant problem,
with some estimates suggesting that up to 30% of the world's timber trade is illegal.
Freshwater is a precious resource that is necessary for life, but it is also limited in supply and
under increasing stress due to climate change and overuse. Water scarcity is a significant
problem in many parts of the world, leading to conflict over access to water resources.
Pollution is also a significant problem, with industrial and agricultural runoff contaminating
water supplies.
Land is a crucial natural resource for agriculture, housing, and other human activities. Land
degradation is a significant problem, with soil erosion, desertification, and loss of topsoil
affecting agricultural productivity. Land use change, such as deforestation and urbanization,
can also have significant impacts on the environment and the climate.
Overall, the different natural resources and the problems associated with their use highlight
the importance of responsible management and conservation. Sustainable practices can
help to mitigate the environmental impact of resource extraction, reduce waste and pollution,
and ensure that resources are available for future generations. By using natural resources in
a responsible and sustainable manner, we can ensure a healthy and thriving planet for all.

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