✅ 3.2.5.2 RESOURCE SECURITY - Natural Resource Issues Flashcards
What is a Hubbert Curve
A model which maps out the rate of use of a resource over time
Suggests all resources will follow this pattern
What resource has not followed the Hubbert Curve?
Oil
Demand has continued, encouraged alternative sources of oil like fracking which has created a second peak
Patterns of Water Availability
Canada, New Zealand — annual rainfall is quite high, and low or moderate temperatures limit evaporation - more rainfall
Egypt - has an arid climate and inadequate water treatment facilities.
Jordan has an arid climate. There is over-abstraction of water upstream, reducing water availability
Patterns of Water demand
Some countries have high demand for water, e.g.:
USA, Argentina - lots of farming, mining and industry, which use lots of water.
Other countries use much less water, e.g.:
Angola, Papua New Guinea - poor water infrastructure (e.g. broken pipes) and high prices limit access to water, so people can’t use much.
LICs have more industrial and agricultural use for water
HICs have more domestic use
Water consumption per capita
N. America
Oceania
Asia
Europe
Sub-Saharan Africa
N. America: 1600m^3/ year
Oceania: 800m^3/ year
Asia: 600m^3/ year
Europe: 600m^3/ year
Sub-Saharan Africa: less than 200m^3/ year
What % of global water supply do Asia and North America each use, and what is their comparative population
N. America: 15% of supply, 8% of population
Asia: 36% of supply, 60% of population
How Global energy production is unevenly distributed
Some countries produce lots of energy because they have lots of natural resources to produce energy (e.g. coal, oil) and the money to exploit them. For example:
Iran, Saudi Arabia - large oil reserves.
China, Australia-large coal reserves.
UK, Russia, Canada - large oil and gas reserves.
USA, Indonesia - large coal, oil and gas reserves.
Some countries produce little energy because they have few resources or are unable to exploit their resources due to lack of money or political instability.
Angola - large oil reserves, but politically unstable and lacks money.
Spain-relatively wealthy, but small fossil fuel reserves.
How Global energy consumption is unevenly distributed.
There’s a strong relationship between GDP and energy consumption:
Wealthy countries tend to consume lots of energy per person because they can afford to. Most people in these countries have electricity and heating, and use energy-intensive devices like cars. E.g. Sweden, USA.
Poorer countries consume less energy per person as they are less able to afford it. Less energy is available and lifestyles are less dependent on high energy consumption than in richer countries. E.g. Ghana, Mongolia
How Energy production and use affects relationships between countries
Countries that produce lots of a particular type of energy might form alliances, e.g. the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a group of countries that work together to influence the global supply and price of oil.
Because energy resources are unevenly distributed across the world, conflicts can arise between countries trying to obtain the resources they need.
A country’s financial situation or existing conflicts with other countries can reduce its ability to trade energy.
Global Patterns of copper production
Chile. Mine production: 5 million MT
Peru. Mine production: 2.6 million MT
China. Mine production: 1.7 million MT
United States. Mine production: 1.1 million MT
Russia. Mine production: 910,000 MT
MT (Metric tons)
Why is risk of disruption to copper production low
Producers of copper are spread out across many countries
Why does Chile have so much copper
Fold mountains have made them accessible, bringing the ore upwards from the crust
Global Patterns of copper consumption
China has the greatest consumption due use in electricals- 8.7 million metric tons
Average developed country’s use of copper pp per year in 11kg, in China its 5kg (used less in domestic usage, more national energy etc)
Due to copper alternatives, estimates suggest this average will go down to 9kg in develop countries however
Global Patterns of copper trade/ movements
Top 5 exporters:
Chile
Russia
Japan
DR Congo
Zambia
(big industry in developing countries for exporting)
(US not major exporter, consumes most of what it produces, doesn’t rely on exports)
How can a resource be geopolitical
Political ideologies - e.g., communism, capitalism
Cross boundary nature
Uneven distribution
Growing demand
International trade- dependancy
Global governance
Dutch Disease
What is the Dutch Disease
When a country relies to heavily on a discovered resource, causes damage to economy
Discovery of resources causes currency to rise in value, causing the price of its exports to increase, meaning less trade, so have to start importing instead
Risky due to dependency + volatility in commodity prices
Also due to underdevelopment in other sectors
How is Russia’s geopolitics relevant to energy
Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused EU to try to stop using Russian energy
However this is hard due to dependency - 100% of Poland’s energy use is from Russia
How is political instability geopolitically related to energy
Many of the largest reserves of oil and gas are in areas that are politically or economically unstable, e.g. Iraq. This means that energy supplies to many countries are at risk of being disrupted.
How do some countries control the price of oil
Countries producing oil often only sell it in smaller portions at a time to keep demand, and therefore price, high
How much has China’s energy demand increased by since 1980? Due to what?
500%
Due to rapid industrialisation
(As other countries develop, demand will rise)
How is water geopolitical
transboundary - have to share supplies - conflicts, agreements needed
essential for survival- conflicts over it
What does transboundary mean
moving or having effect across a boundary or boundaries
What is an example of a transboundary river
Indus River- supplies 85% of Pakistan’s food, but 5 of its 6 tributaries cross India
Agreement established - Pakistan gets 70% of the water
How many in Syria were displaced and moved due to the 2006-10 droughts
2 million
How does Indonesia ensure it is not being taken advantage of by TNCs in copper mining
Agreements with mining TNCs there, such as Freeport-McMoRan the largest copper producing TNC, ensure that the government recieves a greater share of the profits and more of the operations in processign have to be local in Indonesia - less risk of footloose TNC
Example of copper creating investment
China has invested much in Africa seeing its largely untapped mineral wealth
Sets up infrastructure to extract and export copper
Much of this is being sent back to China so it can manufacture and export it
