Resource Management Flashcards
What is a renewable resource?
Replenishable can be used without its future ability to be used falling
E.g Solar, wind hydroelectricity
What is a non-renewable resource?
Not replenishable and are finite
E.g Coal (Fossil fuels) are not renewable because burning coal today means that the same coal cannot be used in the future and no new coal is created
Coal and oil take mullions of year to form
The way of classifying resources
Renewable or non renewable
And Biotic and Abiotic
Biotic
Something lasted to a living organism e.g plans or animals
Abiotic
Means that something is related to a non-living organism e.g oil, coal, soil or water
How have humans increased food supply
Mechanisation of farming equipment
•In 1880s, lots of farming was done manually by human labourers
•Now combine harvesters and tractors do lots of farming
•Irrigation and the watering of crops can also be done automatically
•This has increased crop yield in UK
•farm= more efficient
•In 1950 wheat production was 2.5 tonnes per hectare 2019 wheat production was 9 tonnes per hectare
Enviromental Impacts of mechanised farming
•Now expensive machinery has automated farming its more efficient to have a few enormous farms rather than lots of small farms
•In UK farms will produce almost half of UK’s carrots
•To create larger farms, lots of hedges and woodland have been cut down. This can increase soil erosion, worsen the greenhouse effect because less photosynthesis happens and damage animals habitats
Commercialisation of fishing and farming
•Commercial fishing is the professional business of capturing fish. Over-fishing can harm fish populations in the long term (a bit like how overgrazing and over farming can lead to soil erosion)
•Grain-fed beef (Cows eating grain) have a lower carbon footprint than grass fed beef because grass fed cows are killed at an older age but at a lighter weight
•However, cows grazing on grasslands improves soil quality.
•Businesses like impossible finds and memphis meats are trying to grow agricultural meat in labs
Ways in which humans manipulate the environment to maximise energy supply
Deforestation
To access the rock under an ecosystem for mining metals or drilling for
oil, all plants, trees, soil, and wildlife have to be removed.
As well as landscape scarring, this deforestation damages animals’
habitats, reduces the amount of photosynthesis taking place globally
and causes severe soil erosion.
Similarly, building a hydroelectric plant involves flooding a huge area
behind a dam.
Deforestation causes soil erosion, reduces the amount of carbon
removed from the atmosphere as a result of soil erosion, and destroys
animals’ habitats
Mining
Landscape scarring is usually caused by mining, instead of drilling
To access the rock under an ecosystem, all plants, trees, soil, and
Wildlife have to be removed.
Landscape scarring is a bit like a very extreme case of soil erosion.
Miners remove everything on top of the coalfield and then dig
dowmwards to accegs the coaf.
This type of mining is called surface mining
CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions
Extracting oil, gas, and coal from underground is an energy-intensive
process. Extracting these fuels uses a lot of fuel.
Mining involves deforestation, fewer trees mean that there is less
photosynthesis happening, and the extraction process also produces a
lot of carbon dioxide.
When drilling for natural gas, methane can also leak out as a
byproduct. Methane is a greenhouse gas
How humans increase water supplies
Dams + reservoirs
The UK uses dams and reservoirs to transfer water.
Networks of dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts can transport water
across the UK.
Manchester gets water from the Lake District, Birmingham gets water
from Wales, London gets its water from the River Thames upstream of
Teddington.
Water is trapped behind a dam. This builds a reservoir, full of water.
Reservoirs essentially build up a stockpile of water throughout the year.
when it is most needed.
Inevitably, some land must be flooded to store water in a reservoir.
Water transfer
Water can be transferred from one area to another by diverting water
supplies.
Water is usually moved from an area of surplus water to an area with a
water deficit
Building aqueducts and canals can help water flow to new places
However. gravity means that it has to be transferred from higher
ground to lower ground
Describe the pattern of the distribution of global and natural resources
The global and natural distribution of resources is uneven. Most of these reasons are geographic or geological and related to a country’s position in the world
Global distribution of forestry
Amazon
In 2019 Amazon rainforest had 390 bn trees
It’s area spans about 8,200,000 km^2 across 9 countries, making it the largest rainforest in the
world
**Russia*
Russia is estimated to be the country with the most trees. It has 642 billion trees. Russia covers 11% of the world’s land area
Global Distribution of Fossil fuels
Electricity produced is measured in Gigawatt hours (GWh).
In 2017. China produced the most electricity in the world (7.1 million
GWh). The USA came 2nd, with 4.45 million GWh
In 2019. Saudi Arabia produced 15% of the world’s oil
In 2019. Russia produced 13% of the world’s oil Russia also has very
large natural gas reserves
In 2014, Lebanon and Singapore had to import 98% of the energy that
they used. japan imports 94% of its energy and ire and imports 84% of
its energy
Sudan Ethiopia, and the DRC consume the least amounts of energy per
capita of any country in the world
Global distribution of soil and agriculture
China produces the most food in the world eats the most food in the
world and imports the most food in the world. They do have 1.34 billion
People there.
India
India is the second-largest producer of food, followed by the USA.
Brazil
Brazil is the largest food producer in Latin America
Countries that are at risk af food insecuritw where their population
cannot get enough food to be healthy are Afghanistan, Nigeria
Zimbabwe
Yemen. Zambia and Chad
The war in Yemen means that 24 milion people don t have enough
Food
Chad’s drought and flooding mean that it is difficult to produce crops.
Distribution of Freshwater globally
Freshwater
•Some countries hav lots of energy resources, some countries have lots of access to water, some countries have access to food and some countries have acces to all of them
•The DRC has 52% of all he surface water in Africa
•Access to water is determined by temperature and rainfall
Distribution of Rocks and minerals globally
•China is one of the largest producers of graphite, gold, tin, lead and zinc.
•Russia, Botswana, the DRC, Australia and Canada are the 5 largest producers of diamonds in the world
Uk distribution of fossil fuels
The UK’s industrial revolution was driven by coal
There were enormous coal mines in the North of England, the Midlands and Wales
In 1913, the UK mined 290 million tonnes of coal. In 1960, this had fallen to 200 million tonnes. Today it is 3 million tonnes
Natural gad is located off Aberdeen (in Scotland) in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway
