pesources

ature has a large variety of rocks, soils,

0
W~en a technique was developed to harness

N J111
·01aJs.
;Jf11
thes
·nerals, natural vegetati on and
These are called g ifts of n ature . We
.
e gifts of nature to fulfill our daily
this force of fall'1~g water, 1t
N
• b ecame a resource.
owadays, fallmg water is used to generate
hydroelec tricity. Thus, this gift of nature has
tJse Early humans were unaware of the become a valuable resource.
eds- f these gifts of nature. Therefore they
ne•JitY o , Technolo gy and time are the two main
utJ fully dependen t upon the environm ent. factors which can change substance into a
1\,ere ver w1t . h th e passage o f hme . human
. resource. Human beings are an importan t
J-Jowe '
. developed technique s to convert these resource. It is their knowledg e and skil1 that
being5 ature mto · · could
usef u I ar t.1cI es. w h 1ch lead to the creation of resources . For example,
'{ts of n
gi. fy their needs. Thus, the gifts of nature the mineral deposits in USA were not v aluable
5at1s
ame resources. to the natives, as they did not know their u se.
beCJ{esource refers to all the materials available However , when the European s migrated to
. ur environm ent which help us to satisfy this region, they explored and develope d the
in O •
ur needs. These matenals are converte d into mineral deposits and the mineral deposits
:sources by value addition . This is possible acquired the value of a resource.
~v processing them into finished products with There are still many things in the world
the help of suitable technolo gy. Most of the whose actual value is either not known to us
industrial activities are based on the conc<.'pt or we do not possess suitable technology to use
them. fherefore , these things are not valuable
of value addition.
The gifts of nature ma} become \ aluable today. Howeve r, human needs in future can
resources with the passage of time. For e,ample, force them to develop a technolog y to convert
d ,raterfall is a gift of nature. It has force,
these things into useful resources.
,rhich can be us<.')d to drive a \\ ater wheel. Many countrie s in the world have vast

Falling water used to generate electricity is a resource.

\i\aterfall is a gift of nature.
 for hu mc m co ns um pti on
.
I [en\ ev er,
t, t-' 1 " ' do no t
'th us , fhe pla ce wh er e na tur a1 re
I , tJw m • r exa sol.Ire
inf lue nc es the ir use. Fo
l'!;.
rcb en cs pf n•! ;<1 tirt
. t dt' \' C lCl/'·ki v ird an d Olp /e es
km H, lh>W to t•-.:p/n,t · l(l< ll' l,ll ,1n t '
rce s oc cu r on the ea rth ' ' so'11e 0 cc lit
, rec,ou s 'sllrfa ll)·11)f• •
~ul·h cnuntrie-., rem,1111 J he rs ma y oc cu r de ep u
, l'V l'r\ rw lw re ot r· 1 nd er tL" eCe,•vhi .. -till
/
un de rdc , <--.]oped. •, nl tlw .'-,l lllt J"rolll t 11nc t.urfacc. I t ,., . d·r 1 1cu t to mi ne b
t eyo '1d e<lt ~
t
I /wl l,1 /l llt' l't ~ ,ll·l to n'• •w n ,HH
n . ,
fhc ref orc , znin ad th·
ut 2,0 00 m. e/:ltl \
fro m n'R Hll l " .. / l •11v1ronm,,nt ,1bo us ed b
era /s 0 ccurt· •1 flf
fhe ,· v,1 1)'
.J 111 th , <
J1 llll l,l
cu ltu ral .,u ch de pth s ca nn ot be y hu ll) ,,,!>
f b _() ilt
1,e ut1 1ty o an y na t ur aJ r,an
•
tti time. It de pe nu; sof'. ~(1 Cl,l f, l'l <Hl<H
.' lll<
'.
·1.
, f, orc , the Th us , t . e111
d on tI1t t. ~ - ('/t..
, ,nt Tlw ret . fol low ing fr, t eso ur &\
,rn c,1l de ,, lnp1111. Ol · d J
de tcr mm ed by the . c,c ors• Ce 1
md 1L•chnol<1~i • . . • 1 ,. n",· l rce. ep cn os . .
ich oc cu rs. '· \
• rta nc e,, t,1 pa it1 <.. t1, l 1 • Th e for m m wh 1t
im pn
iw t Clnh' tll1 the chc1ng
ing ted1110/og}, bu t a so • Th e place wh er e it occurs.
cess it.
on tlw ;hu i,~ ing need~ of
the people. • Th e eff or ts ne ed ed to pro
♦ Th e co st of pr oc es sin g it.
TVPES OF RESOURCES Na tur al res ou rce s. ca n .be
fu rth
. ed
er clas Stfi
ou rce s. Th ese ar e . f th de v
Ou r ea rth ha s en ou gh res h e b as1 s o e1r on gi n, 10
ur ce s, on t e Pnient,
,~e ner.illv cla ssi fie d int o na tu ra l re so re ne wa bil ity an d dis tri bu tio n.
0 •
d hu ma n res ou rce s.
human-made resources an
S
On the Basis of Or ig in
NATURAL RESO UR CE c resources
su ch as lan d, air , Bi ot ic Re so ur ce s Bi oti Th are also
The na tur al en do wm en ts, I . . g resources. ey inc lud e
ge tat ion an d kn ow n as ivm
rg an ism s. Some exa Plants,
l, mi ne ra ls, na tur al ve
water, soi s. an im als an d mi cr oo
na tur al res ou rce
fossil fuels are kn ow n as ec tly the se res ou rce s are forests, agricultura~ples of
be us ed dir
Some of the se resources can n or an d wi ld an d do me sti c animals. Mo
st ~;ops,
th
y mo di fic at io
by us , i.e . wi th ou t an res ou rce s ha ve the ca pa cit y to reprod e
na tur al res ou rce s biotic uce
processing. Ho we ve r, mo st "d e d th e en vI.To nm en ta l co nd iti on s are'
uc e go od s fit for prov1
ne ed to be processed to pr od renewable.
favourable. Thus/ the y are
consumption.
For ex am ple , air, wa ter an
d fru its ca n be resources
ne ra ls ha ve to be sep ar ate d Ab lo tic Resources W e ge t abiotic
used directly, bu t mi ed l or no n- liv in g en vi ro nm
ent.
tro leu m ha s to be re fin fro m ph ys ica
from ores. Cr ud e pe mi ne ra ls an d po we r res ources
d wa x. Th us , na tur al La nd , wa ter , air ,
to ge t petrol, die sel an rces can be
pr ov id e us ra w ma ter ial s, wh ich are ab iot ic res ou rce s. Th es e res ou
resources reserve
oc ess ed int o us efu l pr od uc ts fit ex ha us ted by ex ce ssi ve use. Th eir total
have to be pr m an effort. Thus
ca nn ot be inc re as ed by hu I

Th eir us efu lness

th ey ar e no n- re ne wa bl e.
e an d accessibility.
de pe nd s up on th eir va lu
ea t de ma nd for the
Th es e res ou rce s ar e in gr
de ve lop me nt of ind us tri es .

en t
On the Basis of De ve lopm
os e res ou rce s whose
Potential Resources Th
total available qu an tit y is
no t kn ow n at present
Forests are biotic resources. are called po ten tia l res ou
rce s. Th es e res ou rces
 .• A at present, but can be
_,.t t.J~ used in h
,..,- otential resourc~s need detailed 8 t e
,t'..te· P ....,3 tion of their quantity d urveys
flip,- . e5tl••· an quali
'"" ~ ,pie, Afnca has great potential fo ty ·
.
rv, ~ o t l of hydroelectricity . This c r the
~.,eratt 1ectricity generation is based ~:cept
.!i )1)'Jtot? f waterfalls, their height
, ..,,, o . and the
th
11 .,fl,v- f water falling. However the
.,.. to ' Y are y e
oLJ 0 .-,ed due to lack of suitable te h et
,1111 J ve1Or· . c nology
- o5t o f the developmg
....nt"e . countries , potential· -
f1'I are not appreciably developed \Nine! e ne r · ·
111 LJ~~ . g'I is an inexh
Non-reno aust\ble resource
# or oeveloped Resources Th . --Wab\e R
which
. are availableesources Th
~ct 110 1 whose total quantity and qu 1. ose in h e resou-t:c.es
orces a i ty are minerals and fossil t xed quann\:.1.es, WKe
¢l' resen t }<rlown are called actual or deve1oped renewable or exhau ; e\s, are called non-
.it f' surveys had been conducted t fin resources once h s 1ble resourc.es. '1:hese
orce.
5 o d M ost ot the non ex austed
¢0 the";,. total available reserve · A part o f the
-1·iving
.
th"cannot be ren\ac.ed
r ·
human wants m gs, wh ich sahsfv
ctt.la1resources can be
ol.l 1
. developed. For ex amp1e, are non-rene ~l J
J . d blowing at a high spee d w as a potential process of th . f wa e as the nauua\
eir orm f .
\v'~urce about 200 years a g~. Today, a number r apid population a ion is vet'j slow. The
su ch resour growth creates ·p-ressm e on
res ·odrnills have b e en ins ta ll e d in m a n y
of w1 ces.
of the world to h a rness w ind ener
arts . gy.
r e windmills, such as 1n the Netherlands and On the Basis of O\str\but\on
~rnil Nadu, now generate elec tr icity. H ere high
R:sources are not uniformly distributed over
s~d wind is an actual or d eveloped resou rce. t e earth . According to their dist rib u tion
reso u rces can be ubiq_uitous or localiI.e~.
on the sasls of Renewability R eso_u rces tha t are found ev erywh ere, sucn.
Renewable Resources Rc..,o u rce.:. \,\ hich as air a nd sunlight, are calle d. u'oiq_u1\:.ous.
can be renl'Wl'd bY re production are called Resources w h ich are found. a\:. cert ain. -places are
renewable reslmrn's. rhc\ can abo be renewed known as l ocalized resources . G old and. silver
bv physical, mechanic~1I or dwn1ical processes. are localized resources.
&1me of tlwse resource..,, an.' unlin1ited. li\...e c:;olar
HUM~N-M~OE RESOURCES
and wind t'nergy. Tht.'~L' ..ire cl1lled inexhaustible
Natural resources have limited. uses in tb.eh
resources. Their qu ;ln ti ty is not affected
crude form. lt ma)7 or ma'j not satist,1 b.uman
by human activities . Th e biotic re5ources needs. Human beings are ca\)ab\e
ot changing
are also renl'W .1 b1t' . Tht'v can be rene,, ed such natural resources into usetu\ \)to<iucts.
under fa,·ourable l~nvironn1ental conditions. They use their knowledge anci sl<.i\\s to <ieve\o\)
Unfortunately, hun1an being~ destroy and
pollute the envir0n1nent. As a result many so,\ ,s a renewa'o\e resource o\Jer a
species of plants and ani1nals are either extinct \Jer'I \ong per,od a, time. But ,t ,s a
m- on the , erge of extinction. \ Vater is the most non-renewab\e resource o\Jer a
nnportant rene\\·able resource, ,vhich is getting short penod .
polluted due to hu1nan activities.
 Human resources
Human-made resources With scientific and technological
t al resources . d . Progre
technology to convert the na ur b ·ngs use human beings starte usmg resources atss,
. d ts Human e1 much larger sea1e. Th e continuous . .a
·nto useful pro uc · d . rise 1
~atural resources to develop buildings, roa s, opulation also caused an rncreasing ct 11
P . ernanq
machinery and vehicles. These are known as for resources. This created a situarIon 111.
human-made resources. Technology is also an which the non-renewable resources could
e).ample of a human-made resource. exhausted after some time. Therefore, a balan~e
between population growth and the utilizatio~
HUMAN RESOURCES of resources is absolutely necessary.
The greatest resource of the earth is human Using natural resources carefully without
beings. They are capable of making the best
wasting them is called conserva tion of
use of natural resources through their
resources. When we use natural resources
knowledge, skills and technology. Only
properly for today's need and also conserve
human beings can discover, exploit, develop
the future generations, it is called
and convert the available or potential resources them for
into useful products or wealth. Education sustainable development. The use of resources
and good health have helped human beings should be sustainable.
to become a valuable resource. Therefore, In recent times, a lot of awareness about
any country which wants to progress preservation and conservation of resources
must take care of both its natural and and the environment has been created. This
human resources. is due to the fear of a situation which may
arise as a result of large-scale destruction of
CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES natural resources. Each one of us has to make
In early times, the density of population was a sincere effort to save our natural resources for
low and the needs of human beings were the future of our planet. Our future is actually
limited. They were dependent on plants and dependent upon our ability to maintain and
animals, which were easily available in the preserve the life support system which nature
environment. Thus, they never felt the need for has provided. Thus, we must reduce the
the conservation of resources. damage done to our natural environment.