Resources & Hazards

Natural Resources, Conservation, and Pollution

Our world contains many natural resources that we use to survive and some that we consume in the pursuit of our modern lifestyles. Air, water, and plant and animal life are all natural resources that we utilize in order to live. Rocks, minerals, and fossil fuels are examples of natural resources that we exploit to power our world and make technology possible. Wealth and status in the world economy is often determined by a nation’s access to natural resources. These resources can be classified as renewable, inexhaustible, and non-renewable.

Renewable resources are, as the name implies, resources that can be renewed, usually through careful management or conservation. Most of the renewable resources used in the world today come from plant and animal material. Our food supply relies on numerous renewable resources. As long as the rate at which we extract living material for our food supply is the same as the rate that it is replenished, we need not worry about the future of this type of resource. However, history provides many examples of situations where demand exceeded supply and a food resource was exhausted. In many nations, conservation laws are enforced and agricultural methods are followed to ensure the future availability of food resources. Some of the renewable resources used by our society go toward the production of items such as clothing and housing. Cotton grown in the southern United States has provided a renewable resource used to make clothing and other material for many years. Timber harvested from carefully managed forests can provide the raw materials to supply materials for future construction.

The United States has a diverse energy production portfolio. The table below lists the types of fuels consumed in the production of electrical energy in our country.

Soil, water, and air are other examples of inexhaustible natural resources. While these resources seem to exist in an unlimited supply, human activities that pollute or deplete these resources are still a cause for serious concern. For instance, fossil fuel combustion releases poisonous chemical compounds such as carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. Chemical and organic pollutants from industry can taint drinking water. A significant percentage of drinking water is wasted each year in activities such as watering lawns, filling swimming pools, and flushing toilets. Conservation measures have been in place for many years to ensure the availability of clean soil, water, and air for future generations. As stewards of the environment, society must continue to attempt to reduce pollution and conserve our natural resources.

With each passing year, our society’s demand for electrical energy increases. Therefore, it is crucial to find other resources that can provide uninterrupted energy for the future. Many decades ago, nuclear energy promised a future of clean unlimited energy. Currently, nuclear energy is unpopular because radioactive waste products usually do not break down for thousands of years. Nuclear energy claimed to be an inexhaustible energy supply. However, there are other examples of inexhaustible energy resources that are environmentally friendly. Wind, solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy are all examples of inexhaustible natural resources. These types of resources help to reduce fossil fuel demand and provide energy though processes that do not create pollution. Oil, however is still necessary for the plastics we use today.

Hazards & Disasters

While natural resources are used to build a society’s infrastructure, natural disasters threaten to destroy it. A natural disaster occurs as the result of a natural phenomenon that can cause wide scale property damage and loss of human life. Sometimes the magnitude of the natural disaster depends upon how a society is able to cope with the event. Technologies have been employed over the years in an attempt to lessen the impact of natural disasters. Buildings that absorb the vibrations from earthquakes, flood control measures such as levees and dams, and tornado shelters are all examples of ways society has developed to prepare for hazards. The table below lists some common natural disasters and the mechanisms of each that cause damage.