8.2 resource use in society

Question 1

natural capital definition

Answer 1

supply of resources and services we get from nature

Question 2

economic capital

Answer 2

• has no value in a society that doesn’t use money as the basis for its “economy”
• e.g. tribal lands in Papua Ne Guinea have large reserves of uranium that they refuse to sell because tribal land is more useful to them than money
• value and status changes over time –> e.g. lithium wasn’t useful when first discovered until a use was found during WW2 vs flint which was always seen as economic natural capital

Question 3

factors to determine status of fossil fuel reserves

Answer 3

• economic, environmental, and technological factors
• The North Sea has extensive oil reserves but extracting oil close to shore wasn’t possible until 1960s when tech was developed (lack of tech + env challenges due to high wind and heavy seas)
• Fracking tech discovered to exploit previously inaccessible oil reserves

Question 4

cultural and spiritual value

Answer 4

• religious buildings; Sacre Coeur (Paris, France)
• ancient religious sites;
• ancient monuments; Stonehedge (Salisbury, UK)

Question 5

natural capital and technology

Answer 5

• natural capital can change status quickly with the speed of tech development
• many of the techs today were built in obsolescence (will become useless quickly)

Question 6

renewability definition

Answer 6

how long it takes to replace itself compared to how fast we use it

Question 7

non-renewable and renewable definition

Answer 7

• Non-renewable: onply replaced over geological timescale (fossil fuels, minerals, rocks) –> poor management can also lead to a resource becoming renewable
• Renewable: replaced as fast as being used (.g. solar energy)

Question 8

non-renewable natural capital and how to manage

Answer 8

• oil: takes between 5000-10 million years to form (takes long to get the geological conditions right)
• managing: alternative energy solutions, finding substitutes for oil as a fuel in vehicles

Question 9

renewable

Answer 9

the living natural capital must be used sustainably or it can become non-renewable
- harvesting fish or others stocks is sustainable as long as enough to breeding individuals are left behind to reproduce and replace loss
- if stocks harvested too heavily, NC is depleted & positive feedback cycle initiated
- renewable energy isn’t depleted through use but they can be mismanaged and used unsustainably; e.g. over-extracting groundwater reserves and it not refilling in time = NC lost

Question 10

calculating total pop

Answer 10

N = total population.
n1 = number of animals marked in the first capture and released.
n2 = number of animals recaptured (second sample).
m2 = number of animals marked in the recapture (second sample).

N = (n1 x n2) / m2