NATURAL RESOURCES
Human life on earth depends on the use of all those things which we obtain from the natural environment. We use land, water, air, a large variety of minerals, plants and animals for different purposes. Imagining life without the use of these substances is almost impossible. Any substance which is useful to man is a resource. In other words, the entire accessible and available wealth of the universe falls within the realm of resources. Among these resources, some are created by man while majority are provided by nature. Those resources which are provided by nature are called natural resources. However, anything that may satisfy human wants becomes a resource only when it comes to be utilized by man e.g. coal occurs in nature, but for it to become a resource it required man to develop and utilize the technology to extract it and use it. Thus, a majority of the resources occur as “neutral stuff” which is there but has to be converted into a resource. As such man's role in the creation of resources is supreme. Some resources however, occur as such e.g. air, water, land, sunshine. Also, man today realizes that everything in the physical environment i.e. all parts of the earth's surface, hydrosphere and atmosphere are of use to man. The ever changing needs and social objectives of man give rise to new resources. Resources are not static but expand and contract in response to human wants and actions.
We freely use several gifts of nature such as air and water. Infact, we use a variety of resources to live; we need air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat etc. We also need energy for cooking food and running machines. Thus, not all resources that we use are of the same type and hence, their classification into different types is important. To begin with, some of the resources are living or biotic, while others are non-living or abiotic. Also, some of the resources get exhausted once they are used while the others are such that they can be renewed and so do not get exhausted. Natural resources thus, can be classified according to their nature and characteristics.
BIOTIC (LIVING) AND ABIOTIC (NON-LIVING) RESOURCES:
Some resources such as plants and animals have life e.g. our food comes from living plants. Also, cattle and other livestock are used to provide food items and also as draught animals and even as a mode of transportation. They are known as living resources or biotic resources. The biotic resources grow, multiply and respond. They are thus, renewable. On the other hand, there are resources which do not have life such as air, water, rocks, iron, copper etc. They are non-living and do not grow, multiply or respond biologically. They are the abiotic resources.
RENEWABLE AND NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES:
Some of the resources used are such that once utilized they finish. They are not unlimited and they cannot be created by man. Such natural resources which are finished once they are used are called non-renewable or exhaustible resources e.g. coal, petroleum, iron-ore, all minerals etc.
On the other hand, there are other resources which are constantly and periodically renewed and regenerated by nature and are therefore not likely to get exhausted. The natural resources which are replenished or renewed periodically by nature are called renewable resources e.g. forest products, water, hydro-electricity, all crop cereals, vegetables, fruits, plants and animals, solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, tidal energy etc. Some of these e.g. solar and tidal energy will never finish; therefore, these are known as inexhaustible resources. However, it may be borne in mind that as population increases, the demand for excessive use of some of these resources is too rapid for nature to be able to replenish them leading to their scarcity and finally extinction. Thus, the intelligent and optimal use and conservation of resources is of utmost importance.
POTENTIAL AND DEVELOPED RESOURCES:
Unlimited number of resources exists in nature but their utilization is determined by the level of technological development, skill and also need, e.g. early man was a hunter and gatherer and did not require nor use modern energy sources such as coal, petroleum or electricity. But these existed in nature, only their use was not known. The resources which exist but are not in use are called potential resources while the developed resources are those which are being used to fulfill the needs of society. A clear distinction between potential and developed resources can be made with the help of an example. The state of Himachal Pradesh has many rivers and streams. There are also many sites where power can be harnessed. Unfortunately, the state does not have sufficient capital resources to install power generating plants even at 10 percent of the favorable sites. Thus, water power is being harnessed only at a few places. Now, the actual amount of electricity generated in the state is termed as ‘developed water power' while the total amount that can be generated is referred to as ‘potential water power’ of the state. The same can be the case with petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore etc. The total amount of the estimated reserves of coal are ‘potential resources’ while the actual amount of coal currently being mined at different places is, 'the developed resources'. The development of resources depends upon many factors. Money, market, material (raw material), men (labor) machinery, fuel etc. generally determine the development of the resource. In case of hydro-electricity, mountainous topography, adequate and seasonally well distributed rainfall, suitable site etc. shall be the added factors. In North America and Europe hydro- electric power is fairly developed because favorable factors exist. On the other hand, Asia and Africa have large potential resources of water power but for want of favorable conditions a very small part of the same has been developed so far, the remaining comprising the potential resource. It is important to remember that what may be a potential resource today, may become a developed resource tomorrow.
Further, resources may also be classified into different types according to their utilization. Thus, we have agricultural resources which include all crops, cereal-crops, beverage crops, fibre crops, fruits, vegetables, rubber, tobacco, spices, etc. cultivated by man; and pastoral resources comprising livestock, reared as an integral part of agriculture and animals reared for obtaining dairy products, hides, skins, bones, wool etc. Further, the resources obtained from the earth's crust through the process of mining are referred to as mineral resources e.g. iron ore, copper, gold, silver, manganese, uranium etc. Industrial resources again can be divided into main groups i.e. (i) raw materials, which include mineral ores and various products gathered through primary activities, for their use as raw materials in industries, and (ii) energy resources i.e. resources which are used to generate power in industries such as coal, petroleum, natural gas, electricity etc. Industrial resources, therefore include all materials derived from the earth's crust or produced from animals, oil, water, air or are products of some chemical actions and usable in industries.