how many types of natural resources exist on earth
Answers
1)Natural resources are resources that exist without actions of humankind
Biotic — Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere (living and organic material), such as forests and animals, and the materials that can be obtained from them. Fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are also included in this category because they are formed from decayed organic matter.
Abiotic – Abiotic resources are those that come from non-living, non-organic material. Examples of abiotic resources include land, fresh water, air, rare earth metals and heavy metals including ores, such as, gold, iron, copper, silver, etc.
Considering their stage of development, natural resources may be referred to in the following ways:
Potential resources — Potential resources are those that may be used in the future—for example, petroleum in sedimentary rocks that, until drilled out and put to use remains a potential resource
Actual resources — Those resources that have been surveyed, quantified and qualified and, are currently used—development, such as wood processing, depends on technology and cost
Reserve resources — The part of an actual resource that can be developed profitably in the future
Stock resources — Those that have been surveyed, but cannot be used due to lack of technology—for example, hydrogen
Many natural resources can be categorized as either renewable or non-renewable:
Renewable resources — Renewable resources can be replenished naturally. Some of these resources, like sunlight, air, wind, water, etc. are continuously available and their quantities are not noticeably affected by human consumption. Though many renewable resources do not have such a rapid recovery rate, these resources are susceptible to depletion by over-use. Resources from a human use perspective are classified as renewable so long as the rate of replenishment/recovery exceeds that of the rate of consumption. They replenish easily compared to Non-renewable resources.
Non-renewable resources – Non-renewable resources either form slowly or do not naturally form in the environment. Minerals are the most common resource included in this category. By the human perspective, resources are non-renewable when their rate of consumption exceeds the rate of replenishment/recovery; a good example of this are fossil fuels, which are in this category because their rate of formation is extremely slow (potentially millions of years), meaning they are considered non-renewable. Some resources actually naturally deplete in amount without human interference, the most notable of these being radio-active elements such as uranium, which naturally decay into heavy metals. Of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them,[5] but coal and petroleum cannot be recycled.[6] Once they are completely used they take millions of years to replenish.