NATURAL

RESOURCES

NATURAL RESOURCES
Renewable Resources
Inexhaustible
Can be regenerated
e.g., Forests,
Wildlife,
Wind Energy,
Bio-mass Energy,
Tidal Energy,
Hydro Power

Non-renewable Resources
Limited
Cannot be regenerated
e.g., Fossil Fuels like
Coal,
Petroleum
Minerals

Rate of Consumption >

Rate of Regeneration

MAJOR NATURAL RESOURCES

Forest Resources
Water Resources
Mineral Resources
Food Resources
Energy Resources
Land Resources

FOREST
RESOURCES

FOREST RESOURCES
Covers earth like a green blanket
Produce innumerable goods
Provides several environmental services
1/3rd of the worlds land area is forested.
Former USSR 1/5th
Brazil 1/7th
Canada 6-7%
USA 6-7%

USES OF FORESTS
Commercial Uses
Timber
Fire wood
Pulp Wood
Food items
Gum
Resins
Non-edible Oils

Rubber
Fibers
Lac
Bamboo Canes
Fodder
Medicines

USES OF FORESTS
Ecological Uses
Production of Oxygen
Reducing of Global Warming
Wild Life Habitat
Regulation of Hydrological Cycle
Soil Conservation
Pollution Moderators

OVER EXPLOITATION OF
FORESTS & DEFORESTATION
Increased Population Increased
requirements.
Total forest area in
1900 7000 mha
1970 2890 mha
2000 2000 mha
Deforestation rate is less in temperate
countries compared to tropical countries (4050%).

CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION
Shifting Cultivation
300 million people living as shifting cultivators.
5 lakh ha of forests cleared annually.

Fuel Requirements
Increase in fuel wood requirement
o 1945 65 million tons
o 2001 300-500 million tons

Raw Materials for Industrial Use

wood for making boxes, furniture, railway sleepers, plywood
Pulp for paper industry.

Development Projects
Hydroelectric power projects, Big dams, Roads, Mining

Growing Food Needs

Creation of agricultural land and settlements by clearing forests.

Overgrazing

CONSEQUENCES OF
DEFORESTATION
It threatens the existence of many wild life
species due to destruction of their natural
habitat.
Biodiversity is lost and along with that
genetic diversity is eroded.
Hydrological cycle gets affected, thereby
influencing rainfalls.
Problems of soil erosion and loss of soil
fertility increases.
In hilly areas it often leads to landslides.

CASE STUDY 1
Desertification of Hilly regions of the
iHimalayas
Deforestation in Himalayas, involving clearance of
natural forests and plantations of monocultures
like Pinus Roxbhurgi, Eucalyptus Camadulenses
etc. have upset the ecosystem by changing the
various soil and biological properties. Nutrient
cycling has become poor, original germplasm is
lost and the area is invaded by exotic weeds.
These areas are not able to recover and are
losing their fertility. The entire west Khasi hill
district of Meghalaya in North-East Himalayas,
Ladakh and Parts of Kumaon and Garhwal are
now facing the serious problem of desertification.

CASE STUDY 2
Disappearing Tea gardens in Chhota Nagpur
This hilly region used to be a good forested area
towards the turn of century and used to receive
fairly frequent afternoon showers favouring tea
plantations. Following the destruction of forests,
rainfall declined in chhota Nagpur to such an
extent that tea gardens also disappeared from
the region.

CASE STUDY 3
Waning rainfall in Udhagamandalam (Ooty)
The sub normal rainfall during 1965-1984 at Ooty
in Nilgiri Mountains has been found to be closely
associated with declining forest cover in this
region in the past 20 years. The rainfall pattern
was found to fluctuate with wooded land area in
the hills. When the NIlgiri mountains had
luxuriant forest cover annual rainfall used to be
much higher.

MAJOR ACTIITIES IN FORESTS

Timber Extraction
Mining

Effects of Timber Extraction

poor logging results in degraded forests.
soil erosion, especially on slopes.
sedimentation of irrigation systems.
loss biodiversity.
climatic changes, such as lower precipitation.
new logging roads permit shifting cultivators
and fuel wood gatherers to gain access to
logged areas.
loss of non-timber products

WATER
RESOURCES

WORLD WATER DISTRIBUTION

Location

Land Area
Fresh water Lakes
Saline lakes and inland seas
Rivers
Soil moisture
Ground water
Glaciers and ice caps

Volume in
million cubic
km
0.125
0.104
1.25 10-3
0.067
8.3
29.2

% of Total

0.009
0.008
0.0001
0.005
0.61
2.14

Total land are water

Atmosphere
Oceans

37.0
0.013
1320

2.8
0.001
97.3

Total world water

1360

100

WATER USE AND OVER EXPLOITATION

Increased Human Population + Rapid Development
Increased water withdrawal demands + Wastage
due to Pollution (anthropogenic activities)
Globally, 70% of water withdrawn is used for
agriculture
India 93% water for agriculture sector
Water Poor Countries 4% for watering crops

Global Industrial Usage 25%

Developed Countries 70%
Less Developed Countries 5%

Per Capita Usage of water - wide variations

In USA an average family of 4 members consumes 1000M 3 of water
every year.`

Ground Water vs Surface Water

Ground Water Aquifers
A layer of sediment or rock that is highly permeable
and contains water is called as an aquifer.
Unconfined Aquifer overlaid by permeable and
is rechargeable
Confined Aquifer sandwiched between two
impermeable layers of rock or sediments,
recharged only where aquifers intersects with the
land

Surface Water Streams, ponds, lakes

Effects of Ground water Usage

Subsidence
when ground water withdrawal is more than its
recharge rate the sediments get compacted
Results
- Sinking of overlying land surface
- Structural damage to buildings
- Reversing the flow of sewers and canals

Lowering of Water Table

Water Logging

Sustainable Water Management

Building several small reservoirs instead of a
few mega projects
Developing small catchment dams and
protecting wet lands
Soil Management, and afforestation permits
recharging of underground aquifers, thus
reducing the need for big dams
Treating and recycling municipal waste water
for agricultural use
Preventing leakages from dams and canals
Preventing loss in municipal pipes

 Effective rain water harvesting in urban

environment
Water conservation measures in agriculture,
such as using drip irrigation
Implementing methods to retain moisture and
re-vegetate the degraded areas

MINERAL
RESOURCES

Mineral Resources
Minerals Naturally occurring, inorganic,
crystalline solids having definite chemical
composition and characteristic physical
properties
e.g., Quartz, Feldspar, Biotite, Dolomite,
Calcite, Leterite
Composed of elements like silicon, oxygen
iron, magnesium, calcium, aluminum

Uses and Exploitation

Development of industrial plants and machinery
Generation of energy Coal, Liginite, Uranium
Construction, Housing and other Settlements
Transportation means
Communication Telephone wires, cables,
Electronic devices
Medicinal uses
Formation of alloys
Agriculture as fertilizers, seed dressings,
fungicides
Jewellery

MINERALS
Non-Metallic Minerals
graphite, diamond, quartz, feldspar
Metallic Minerals
Bauxite, Laterite, Hematite
Critical Minerals essential for the economy of
a nation e.g., iron, aluminum, copper, gold
Strategic Minerals required for the defence
of the country e.g., Manganese, Cobalt,
Platinum, Chromium

Impacts of Mining
Devegetation and Defacing of Landscape
Subsidence of Land
Ground water Contamination
Surface water Pollution
Air Pollution
Occupational Health Hazards

Indian Scenario
Jaduguda Uranium Mine, Jharkhand exposing
local people to radio active hazards.
Jharia Coal Mines, Jharkhand underlying fire
leading to land subsidence and forced displacement of
people.
Sukinda Chromite Mines, Orissa Seeping of Cr6++
into river posing serious health hazard, Cr6++ being
highly toxic and carcinogenic.
Kudremukh Iron Ore Mine, Karnataka causing
river pollution and threat to biodiversity.
East Coast Bauxite Mine, Orissa Land
encroachment and issue of rehabilitation unsettled.
North-Eastern Coal Fields, Assam very high sulfur
contamination of groundwater.

Remedial Measures
It is desirable to adopt eco-friendly mining
technology.
The low grade ores can be better utilized by
using microbial leaching technique.
Thiobacillus ferroxidans has been successfully
and economically used for extracting gold
embedded in iron sulfide ores
Restoration of mined areas by re-vegetating
them with appropriate plant species.

FOOD
RESOURCES

Food Resources
The main food resources wheat, rice, maize,
barley, oats, pulses, sugarcane, other fruits and
vegetables, meat milk
The FAO estimation minimum calorific intake
on a global scale is 2,500 calories/day.
Undernourished - < 90% of min requirement
seriously under nourished - < 80%
Deficiency or lack of nutrition malnutrition

World Food Problems

Last 50 years
world grain production increased three
times increase in per capita
production by
about 50%
population growth (mostly in less developed
countries)
Every year 40 million people die of under
nourishment and malnutrition
INDIAN SCENARIO
3rd largest producer of staple crops
300 million Indians are under nourished

Overgrazing
Livestock wealth plays a crucial role in the rural life of
our country
India leads in livestock population
The huge population of live stock needs to be fed and
the grazing land or the pastures areas are not
adequate
Livestock grazing on a particular piece of grass land
or pasture surpass the carry capacity
Carrying capacity of any system is the maximum
population that can be supported by it on a
sustainable basis
However, most often, the grazing pressure is so high
that its carrying capacity is crossed and the
sustainability of the grazing land fails

Impacts of Overgrazing
Land Degradation
Overgrazing removes the vegetal cover over the soil and
the exposed soil gets compacted due to which the operative
soil depth declines
Roots cannot go deep into the soil
Adequate soil moisture is not available

Organic recycling also declines in the ecosystem

Because not enough detritus or litter remains on the soil to be
decomposed

The humus content of the soil decreases and overgrazing

leads to organically poor, dry, compacted soil
Due trampling by cattle the soil loses infiltration capacity,
which reduces percolation of water into the soil and as a
result of this more water gets lost from the ecosystem along
with surface runoff

Thus overgrazing leads to multiple actions resulting in

loss of soil structure, hydraulic conductivity and soil
fertility

Impacts of Overgrazing
Soil Erosion
Due to overgrazing by cattle, the cover of
vegetation almost gets removed from the land
The soil becomes exposed and gets eroded by the
action of strong wind, rainfall etc
The grass roots are very good binders of soil
When the grasses are removed, the soil becomes
loose and susceptible to the action of wind and
water

Impacts of Overgrazing
Loss of useful species
Overgrazing adversely affects the composition of plant
population and their regeneration capacity
The original grassland consists of good quality grasses and
forbs with high nutritive value
Heavy grazing root stocks which carry the reserve food for
regeneration gets destroyed
Replacement by secondary species
The secondary species are hardier and are less nutritive in
nature
Ultimately the nutritious, juicy fodder giving species like
Cenchrus, Dicanthium, Pancium and Heteropogon etc are
replaced by unpalatable and sometimes thorny plants like
Parthenium, Lantana, Xanthium etcThese species do not
have a good capacity of binding the soil particles and,
therefore, the soil becomes more prone to soil erosion
Thus overgrazing makes the grazing land lose its regeneration
capacity and once good quality pasture land gets converted into

Agriculture
Slash and burn cultivation or shifting
cultivation
Modern agriculture

The types of agriculture are very different in their

process and their outputs in terms of yield as
well as their impacts on the environment

Traditional Agriculture and its Impacts

It usually involves a small plot, simple tools, naturally
available water, organic fertilizers and a mix of crops
It is more near to natural conditions and usually it
results in low production
The main Impacts of this type of agriculture are
Deforestation
The slash and burn of trees in forests to clear the land for
cultivation and frequent shifting results in loss of forest cover
Soil Erosion
Clearing of forest cover exposes the soil to wind, rain and
storms, thereby resulting in loss of top fertile layer of soil
Depletion of Nutrients
During slash and burn the organic matter in the soil gets
destroyed and most of the nutrients are taken up by the
crops within the short period, thus making the soil nutrient
poor which makes the cultivator to shift to new area

Modern Agriculture and its Impacts

It makes use of hybrid seeds of selected single crop
variety, high-tech equipments and lots of energy
subsidies in the form of fertilizers, pesticides and
irrigation water
The food production has increased tremendously,
evidenced by the green revolution
The Impacts
Impacts related to high yielding varieties
Fertilizer related problems
Pesticide related problems
Water logging
Salinity problems

Impacts related to high yielding varieties

The use f high yielding varieties encourage
monoculture
In case of an attack by some pathogen, there is
total devastation of the crop by the disease due
to exactly uniform conditions, which help in
rapid spread of disease

Fertilizer related problems

Micronutrient Imbalance
Most of the chemical fertilizers used in modern agriculture have
nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are essential
macronutrients
Farmers use these indiscriminately to boost up crop growth.
Nitrate Pollution
Nitrogenous fertilizers applied in the fields often leach deep into
soil and ultimately contaminate the ground water
The nitrates get concentrated in the water and when their
concentration exceeds 25 mg/L, they become the cause of a
serious health hazard called Blue Baby syndrome
Eutrophication
Eutrophication means Over Nourishment
Due to eutrophication lakes get invaded by algal blooms; these
algae grows very fast by rapidly using up the nutrients, they
often are toxic and badly affect the food chain

Pesticide related problems

Creating resistance in pests and producing new pests
Some individuals of the pest species usually survive
even after pesticide spray
The survivors give rise to highly resistant generations
About 20 species of pests are now known which have
become immune to all types of pesticides an are
known as super pests
Death of non-target organisms
Many insecticides are broad spectrum poisons which not
only kill the target species but also several non-target
species which are useful to us
Biological magnification
Many of the pesticides are not biodegradable and keep
on accumulating in the food chain, this process is
called as biomagnification

Water logging
Over irrigation of croplands by farmers for good growth
of their crop usually leads to water logging
Inadequate drainage causes excess water to
accumulate underground and gradually forms a
continuous column with the water table
Under water logged conditions, pore spaces in the soil
get fully drenched with water and the soil-air gets
depleted
The water table rises while the roots of the plant do not
get adequate air for respiration
Mechanical strength of the soil declines, crop plants
get lodged and crop yield fails
Preventing excessive irrigation, sub-surface drainage
technology and bio-drainage with trees like Eucalyptus
are some of the remedial measures to prevent water
logging

Salinity Problems
At present rd of the total cultivable land area
of the world is affected by salts
In India about 7 million Hectares of land are
estimated to be salt affected
Saline soils are characterized by the
accumulation of soluble salts like sodium
chloride, sodium sulphate, calcium chloride,
magnesium chloride
The most common method for getting rid of salts
is to flush them out by applying more good
quality water to such soils. Another method is
laying under ground network of perforated
drainage pipes for flushing out the salts slowly

ENERGY
RESOURCES

Energy Resources
Energy consumption is considered as an index
of its development
The first form of energy known was FIRE
Wind and Hydropower have been in use for the
last 10,000 years
The invention of steam engines replaced the
burning of wood by coal and coal was later
replaced to a great extent by oil.
In 1970s due to Iranian revolution and Arab oil
embargo the prices of oil shoot up, leading to
exploration and use of several alternate sources
of energy

Growing Energy Needs

Per capita energy use and GNP

(Data from World Resources Institute, 1997)

Energy Sources
A source of energy is one that can provide adequate
amount of energy in a usable form over a long period
of time
These sources are of two types:
Renewable Resources which can be generated
continuously in nature and are inexhaustible
(also called as non-conventional energy sources)
e.g., wood, solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, hydro
power, bio-mass energy, bio-fuels, geo-thermal energy and
hydrogen

Non-renewable Resources which have

accumulated in nature over a long span of time and

cannot be quickly replenished when exhausted.

e.g., coal, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear fuels like

uranium thorium

Solar Energy
Sun is the ultimate source of energy.
The nuclear fusion reaction taking place inside the sun
release enormous quantities of energy in the form of
heat and light
The solar energy received by the near earth space is
approx. 1.4kJ/m2-s (solar constant)
Traditional uses drying clothes and food grains,
preservation eatables, for obtaining salt from seawater
Techniques for harnessing Solar energy
Solar Heat Collectors
Solar Cookers
Solar Furnaces

Solar Cells
Solar Water Heaters
Solar Power Plants

Solar Heat Collectors

These can be passive or active in nature
Passive heat collectors are natural
materials like stones, brickswhich
absorb heat during day time and release it
slowly at night
Active solar collectors pump a heat
absorbing medium (air or water) through a
small collector which is normally placed at
top of the building

They are also known as

photovoltaic cells

Solar Cell

Solar cells are made of

thin wafers of semiconducting materials like
silicon or gallium
When solar radiations fall on them, a potential
difference is produced which causes the flow of
electrons and produces electricity
The potential difference produced by a single
PV cell of 4 cm2 size is about 0.4-0.5 volts and a
current of 60 mA is produced

A solar pump run by electricity

produced by solar cells

Simple box type solar cooker

Solar cookers make use
of solar heat by reflecting
the solar radiations using a
mirror directly on to a glass
sheet which covers the
black insulated box within
which the raw food is kept.
The food cooked in a
solar cooker is more
nutritious due to slow
It has limitation that it
heating
cannot be used at night

Solar Water Heater

It consists of an insulated box painted black from inside
and having a glass lid to receive and store solar heat
Inside the box it has black painted copper coil through
which cold water is made to flow in, which gets heated
and flows out into storage tank.

Solar Furnace
Thousands of plane mirrors are arranged in concave
reflectors, all of which collect the solar heat and
produce a high temperature.

Solar Power Plants

Solar energy is harnessed on a large scale by using
concave reflectors which cause boiling of water to
produce steam; the steam turbine drives a generator to
produce electricity

Wind Energy
The high energy winds have lot
of energy in them as kinetic
energy due to their motion
The driving force of winds is sun
The wind energy is harnessed
by making use of wind mills
The blades of the wind mill keep
on rotating continuously due to
the force of the striking wind
the rotational motion of the
blades drives a number of
machines like water pumps, flour
mills and electricity generators

 A large number of wind

mills installed in clusters
are called wind farms, and
feed power to the utility
grid and produce a large
amount of electricity
The minimum wind speed
required for satisfactory
working of a wind
generator is 15km/hr
Wind energy is very useful
as it does not cause any air
pollution; after initial
installation cost, the wind
energy is very cheap

Hydro Power
Water enters the plant when an intake gate is opened,
and moves through the penstock. Gravity and a
narrowing scroll case increase the pressure of the
water as it enters the turbine. Water exits the turbine
and is returned to the river. The turbine spins a rotor
directly above it, and electricity produced by the
interaction of rotor and stator is transmitted through a
transformer at the station and thence to the grid.
Hydro power does not cause any pollution, it is
renewable and normally the hydro power projects are
multi purpose projects helping in controlling floods,
used for irrigation, navigation etc.

Tidal Energy
Ocean tides are produced by gravitational
forces of sun and moo, and contain enormous
amount of energy.
The tidal energy can be harnesses by
constructing tidal barrage
High Tide
Low Tide

Ocean Thermal Energy

The energy available due to the difference in
temperature of water at the surface of the
tropical oceans and at deeper levels is called
ocean thermal energy
A difference of 20C or more is required
between surface water and deeper water of
ocean for operating Ocean Thermal Energy
Conservation power plants
The warm surface water of ocean is used to
boil a liquid like ammonia, the high pressure
vapors of the liquid are then used to turn
turbine of a generator and produce electricity

Geothermal Energy
The energy harnessed from the hot rocks
present inside the earth is called geothermal
energy
High temperature, high pressure steam fields
exist below the earths surface in many places,
this heat comes from the fission of the
radioactive material naturally present in the
rocks
Holes are drilled artificially upto the hot rocks
and and pipes are put through which the steam
gushes out at high pressure which turns the
turbine of a generator to produce electricity

Bio-mass Energy
Bio-mass is the organic matter produced by the
plants or animals which include wood, crop
residues, cattle dung, manure, sewage
The bio-mass is directly used as a fuel but the
efficiency of such furnaces is very low and it
produces lot of smoke causing air pollution
It is therefore more useful to convert the biomass into bio-gas or bio-fuels

Bio-gas
Bio-gas is mixture of methane, carbon dioxide,
hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide, the major constituent
being methane
Bio-gas is produced by anaerobic degradation of
animal wastes in presence of water
Bio-gas is non-polluting, clean and low cost fuel
No storage problems (direct supply from plant)
The sludge left over is a rich fertilizer containing
bacterial biomass with most of the nutrients preserved
as such
Bio-gas plants in our country are basically two types:
1. Floating gas holder type
2. Fixed dome type

Floating gas holder type bio-gas plant

Fixed gas holder type bio-gas plant

Bio-Fuels
Bio-mass can be fermented to alcohols like
ethanol and methanol which can be used as
fuels.
Ethanol can be easily produced from
carbohydrate rich substances like sugarcane, it
burns clean and is non-polluting.
Gasohol is a mixture of ethanol and gasoline
Methanol is very useful as it burns at a lower
temperature than gasoline or diesel

Hydrogen as a Fuel
As hydrogen burns in air it forms water
liberates a large amount of energy(150 kJ/gm)
Due to its high calorific value, hydrogen can
serve as an excellent fuel; moreover, its nonpolluting and can be easily produced
Production of hydrogen is possible by thermal
dissociation (at 3000 K or above), photolysis
dissociation (breakdown of water in presence of
sunlight) or electrolysis of water (passing
electric current)
Hydrogen is highly inflammable and explosive
in nature

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear Fusion

LAND
RESOURCES

Land as a resource
Land is a finite and valuable resource
upon which we depend for the basic
amenities of life
Soil is classified as a renewable resource
The rate of regeneration of soil is very
slow, about 200-1000 years are needed
for the formation of 1 of soil, depending
on the climate and soil type.

Land degradation
With increasing population growth the demand
for arable land for producing food, fiber and fuel
wood are also increasing
more and more pressure on the limited land
resource; degraded due to over exploitation
Soil degradation is a real cause of alarm
because soil formation is an extremely slow
process
Soil erosion, water-logging, salinization and
contamination of the soil with the various
industrial wastes cause land degradation

Soil Erosion
Soil erosion means wearing away of the soil; defined
as movement of soil components, especially surface
litter and top soil from one place to another
Soil erosion results in loss of fertility because it is the
top soil layer that is fertile
Types
Normal erosion or geologic erosion
gradual removal of top soil by natural processes which
bring an equilibrium between physical, biological and
hydrological activities and maintain a natural balance
between erosion and renewal

Accelerated erosion
caused by anthropogenic activities; the rate of erosion is
much faster than the rate of formation of soil; Overgrazing,
deforestation, mining accelerated erosion

Agents causing soil erosion

Climatic Agents
Water and wind are the climatic agents of the soil erosion. Water
effects soil erosion in the form of torrential rains, rapid flow of
water along slopes, run-off, wave action and melting and
movement of snow
Wind affects soil erosion in the form of saltation (vertical
movement of soil under the influence of direct pressure of
stormy winds), suspension and surface creep

Biotic Agents
Excessive grazing, mining and deforestation are the major biotic
agents responsible for soil erosion
Due to these processes the top soil is disturbed or rendered
devoid of vegetal cover

Soil Conservation Practices

1. Conservational till farming
2. Contour farming
3. Terracing
4. Strip Cropping
5. Alley Cropping

Conservation till farming

Special tillers are used to break up and
loosen the subsurface soil without turning
up the top soil
The tilling machine make slits in the unploughed soil and injects seeds,
fertilizers, herbicides and a little water in
the slit, so that the seed germinates and
the crop grows.

Contour Farming
Growing of crops in rows across, rather
than up and down is called as contour
farming
Each row planted horizontally along the
slope of the land acts as a small dam to
help hold soil and slow down loss of soil
through run-off water

Terracing

Strip cropping

Shelter Belt

Land Slides
Various anthropogenic activities like hydro-electric
projects, large dams, reservoirs, construction of
roads and railway lines, construction of buildings,
mining are responsible for clearance of large
forested areas.
During the construction of roads, mining activities
etc., huge portions of fragile mountainous areas are
cut or destroyed by dynamite and thrown into
adjacent valleys and streams. These activities
weaken the already fragile mountain slopes and lead
to land slides
They also increase the turbidity of various nearby
streams thereby reducing their productivity

Desertification

Desertification is a process whereby the

productive potential of a rid and semi-arid land
falls by 10% or more
Moderate desertification 10-25% drop
Severe desertification 25-50% drop
Very Severe desertification >50% drop
Desertification is characterized by devegetation
and loss of vegetal cover, depletion of ground,
salinization ans severe soil erosion
Causes
Deforestation, Overgrazing, Mining

Conservation of Natural Resources

- Role of an individual

Equitable use of Resources for

Sustainable Lifestyle