explain the natural resource type and characteristic
Answers
“Natural resources are resources that exist without the actions of humankind. This includes all valued characteristics such as magnetic, gravitational, and electrical properties and forces.
Explanation:
Natural resources refer to the things that exist freely in nature for human use and don’t necessarily need the action of mankind for their generation or production. The key aspect of natural resources is that they dictate the survival of humans and other life forms on earth. These resources include land, rocks, forests (vegetation), water (ocean, lakes, streams, seas, and rivers), fossil fuel, animals (fish, wild life, and domesticated animals), minerals, sunlight and air.
Some examples of natural resources are: air which provides wind energy, Coal which act as an input for electricity, forests which provide paper, wood and various medicines, Water which is used for drinking and production of hydroelectric energy, sunlight that is used for drying clothes, photosynthesis and solar energy.
They are known as Natural Resources because they provide for the basis of life on earth. It is from the natural resources that humans obtain and produce the components and materials found within our environments. Every artificial product is made from the natural resources. The materials may be used as they occur naturally or may be transformed in other forms.
However, most natural resources are prone to depletion and degradation which has brought about worldwide concerns for their sustainable usage and management. Still, there are other very few resources that are regarded to be inexhaustible such as sunlight and geothermal energy. Air is also inexhaustible but it has to be free from pollution. Natural resources are categorized in various categories as outlined and discussed below
Natural resources are resources that exist without the actions of humankind. This includes all valued characteristics such as magnetic, gravitational, and electrical properties and forces. On earth we include sunlight, atmosphere, water, land, air (includes all minerals) along with all vegetation and animal life that naturally subsists upon or within the heretofore identified characteristics and substances.
Types of Natural Resources
-Renewable and Non-renewable Natural Resources
a. Renewable natural resources
Renewable resources are the ones that are consistently available regardless of their use. They can be fairly recovered or replaced after utilization. Examples include vegetation, water, and air. Animals can also be categorized as renewable resources because they can be reared and bred to reproduce offspring to substitute the older animals.
As much as these resources are renewable, it may take tens to hundreds of years to replace them. The renewable raw materials that come from living things namely animals and trees are termed as organic renewable resources while those that come from non-living things such as sun, water and wind are termed as inorganic renewable resources.
b. Non-renewable natural resources
Non-renewable resources are the ones that cannot simply be substituted or recovered once they have been utilized or destroyed. Examples of such natural resources include fossil fuels and minerals. Minerals are categorized as non-renewable because, even though they take shape naturally through the rock cycle, their formation periods take thousands of years. Some animals mostly the endangered species are similarly regarded as non-renewable because they are at the verge of extinction.
It brings about the many reasons the endangered species have to be protected by all means. The non-renewable materials that come from living things such as fossil fuels are known as organic non-renewable resources while those that come from non-living things such as rocks and soil are referred to as inorganic non-renewable resources.
-Biotic and Abiotic Natural Resources
a. Biotic natural resources
The Biotic natural resources are the ones that come from the ecosphere (organic and living materials). These include resources such as animals, forests (vegetation), and other materials obtainable from them. Fossil fuels such as petroleum, oil, and coal are also included in this grouping because they are generated from decayed organic matter.
b. Abiotic natural resources
The abiotic natural resources are the ones that come from non-organic and non-living materials. Examples of abiotic natural resources are water, land, air and heavy metals like iron, copper, silver, gold, and so on.
Stock Natural Resources
Stock natural resources are those that are present in the environment but t the necessary expertise or technology to have them exploited. Hydrogen is an example of a stock natural resource