What resources are considered inexhaustible? Classification of natural resources: exhaustible, inexhaustible; renewable and non-renewable

Natural resources are a set of objects and systems of living and inanimate nature, components of the natural environment that surround humans and which are used in the process of social production to satisfy the material and cultural needs of man and society.

Natural resources are distinguished between exhaustible and inexhaustible depending on their ability to be naturally renewed. Inexhaustible natural resources include those that are not depleted at any volume of economic use, since as a result of natural processes they are constantly self-renewed (for example, agroclimatic resources, solar and wind energy, etc.). Exhaustible natural resources in the process of economic exploitation can become depleted, disappear, and change their quality and quantity. They are divided into:

· renewable;

· non-renewable.

Regardless of the volume of use, non-renewable natural resources will only decrease during exploitation. This group of resources includes most minerals. The state of renewable natural resources depends on the level of their consumption. If self-renewal limits are exceeded, they will deplete.

Exhaustible resources are formed in the earth's crust or landscape, but the volumes and rates of their formation are measured on a geological time scale. At the same time, the need for such resources from production or for organizing favorable living conditions for human society significantly exceeds the volumes and rates of natural replenishment. As a result, depletion of natural resources inevitably occurs. The group of exhaustible resources includes resources with unequal rates and volumes of formation. This allows for further differentiation. Based on the intensity and speed of natural formation, resources are divided into subgroups:

1. Non-renewable which includes: a) all types of mineral resources or minerals. As is known, they are constantly formed in the depths of the earth’s crust as a result of the continuously ongoing process of ore formation, but the scale of their accumulation is so insignificant, and the rate of formation is measured over many tens and hundreds of millions of years. The development of mineral raw materials occurs on a historical time scale and is characterized by ever-increasing volumes of withdrawal. In this regard, all mineral resources are considered not only exhaustible, but also non-renewable. b) Land resources in their natural form are the material basis on which the life of human society takes place. The morphological structure of the surface (that is, the relief) significantly affects economic activity and the possibility of developing the territory. Once disturbed lands during large-scale industrial or civil construction are no longer restored in their natural form.

2. Renewable resources include the resources of flora and fauna. Both are restored quite quickly, and the volumes of natural renewal are well and accurately calculated. Therefore, when organizing the economic use of accumulated reserves of wood in forests, grass in meadows or pastures, and hunting wild animals within limits not exceeding annual renewal, resource depletion can be completely avoided.

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Exhaustible natural resources

Exhaustible natural resources are in turn divided into renewable and non-renewable; renewable resources include flora and fauna, soil fertility, and non-renewable resources include minerals.

The use of minerals began in the Neolithic era. At first, man began to use gold and copper, later tin, silver and lead. Nowadays, man uses most of the known mineral resources in his activities, extracting from the bowels of the planet more and more various ores, coal, oil and gas. It was noted above that technological progress makes it possible to use low-grade ores, extract minerals from the bottom of the sea, and also find new areas of application for both metals and non-metallic raw materials. At the same time, it was pointed out that, in general, the situation on Earth with the supply of the chemical elements we need is fine. But the problem is that they are mainly concentrated in poor deposits, which are unprofitable to develop, or in compounds that we do not yet know how to use. Therefore, at the current rate of consumption, oil reserves will last until 2050, natural gas – for 80 years, and all modern industry and energy are built on them. Thus, our industrial civilization faces a serious problem that our children and grandchildren will have to solve.

The situation with renewable resources is not very good either. In modern conditions, a significant part of the Earth's surface is plowed or represents fully or partially cultivated pastures for domestic animals. The development of industry and agriculture required large areas for the construction of cities, industrial enterprises, the development of mineral resources, and the construction of communications. Thus, to date, about 20% of the land has been transformed by humans.

In one calendar year, more than 4,000 km 3 of soil and soil are moved during plowing of fields, construction and other work in the world, 120 billion tons of ores, fossil fuels, and building materials are extracted from the bowels of the earth, and 800 million tons of various metals are smelted. At the same time, the final product contains no more than 5–7% of the amount of raw materials put into production, and 93–95% goes to waste, polluting the atmosphere and natural bodies of water. Therefore, significant areas of land are excluded from economic circulation due to the accumulation of industrial waste on them. This is how dumps, quarries, waste heaps appear - earthen cones, sinkholes that appear in places where there are voids underground. The total area of ​​destroyed and degraded soils throughout human history is approximately 20 million km2, which is more than the total area used for agricultural purposes in the world today.

In addition, the development of the lithosphere goes not only in breadth, but also in depth. Minerals are mined from ever greater depths. The number of deep mines and quarries is growing, and the depth of boreholes is increasing (up to 12 km). Due to the lack of space in cities, people are increasingly exploring and using underground space - subways, passages, tunnels, storage facilities, etc. This acts as a powerful geological factor. The result is such a phenomenon as induced seismicity - man-made earthquakes, most often occurring in connection with the creation of large and deep reservoirs.

Today we can talk about technogenic changes in the geophysical fields of the Earth - gravitational, magnetic, electrical, radiation, thermal. All of them are no longer pristine in their structure and properties. They are more or less technogenically distorted, and these changes cannot be considered favorable for humans.

Among the renewable natural resources, forests play a major role in human life. It prevents soil erosion, retains surface water and helps maintain groundwater levels. In addition, forests are home to animals - ungulates, fur-bearing animals, and game that are used by humans. Finally, forests produce oxygen. Therefore, an equally formidable warning is the reduction in the areas of tropical forests, which, along with the northern taiga, are the “lungs” of the planet - they produce the bulk of the oxygen necessary for the life of the entire animal world.

Over the past 50 thousand years, humans have destroyed 60% of the world's forests. Over the past 200 years, Australians have cut down 75% of their rainforests. Over the past 40 years alone, Africa has lost 23% of its forest area, Latin America - 38%. Today the United States breathes with someone else's “lungs.” Deforestation is one of the causes of desertification of vast areas. Desertification covers an area equal in size to North and South America.

Despite the long history of agriculture and cattle breeding, wildlife continues to serve humans as a source of food. First of all, we are talking about fishing, since fish makes up from 17 to 83% of the human protein diet. The main share of fish resources is concentrated in the seas. There is also fishing for marine mammals - whales, pinnipeds, which are a source of meat and fat, and their skins and fur are used to make clothing.

But, unfortunately, along with deforested forests, areas given over for development, industrial enterprises, etc., plants and animals disappear. And mass visits to the forests remaining in the reach zone (this zone increases every year thanks to the development of technology) leads to trampling, pollution and disruption of the circulation of substances in biocenoses. In addition, man directly exterminates those species of plants and animals that provide food or other material benefits to him.

It is believed that since 1600, more than 160 species and subspecies of birds and at least 100 species of mammals have been exterminated by humans. The aurochs (a wild bull that lived throughout Europe), the Steller's cow (sea cow), and the wild Tarpan horse have disappeared forever. Many species are on the verge of extinction or are preserved only in nature reserves. Among them are bison, tens of millions of which inhabited the prairies of North America, bison, sika deer, and some species of whales.

The disappearance of each species causes irreparable damage to the biosphere. And the point here is not the economic importance of these species - people will find a replacement for them. Each species occupies a certain place in the biocenosis, in the food chain. Therefore, its disappearance leads to a decrease in the stability of biocenoses, which, accordingly, can lead to their death. In addition, each species has unique properties inherent only to it, selected as a result of long evolution. Therefore, its disappearance deprives us of the opportunity in the future to use them for our practical purposes.

Biological, including food, resources of the planet determine the possibilities of human life on Earth, and mineral and energy resources serve as the basis for the material production of human society. Among the natural resources of the planet there are exhaustible And inexhaustible resources.

Inexhaustible resources.

Inexhaustible resources are divided into space, climate and water. This is the energy of solar radiation, sea waves, and wind. Taking into account the huge mass of air and water on the planet, atmospheric air and water are considered inexhaustible. Selection is relative. For example, fresh water can already be considered a finite resource. since many regions of the globe are experiencing acute water shortages. We can talk about the unevenness of its distribution and the impossibility of using it due to pollution. Atmospheric oxygen is also conventionally considered an inexhaustible resource.

Modern environmental scientists believe that with the current level of technology for using atmospheric air and water, these resources can be considered inexhaustible only when developing and implementing large-scale programs aimed at restoring their quality.

Exhaustible resources.

Exhaustible resources are divided into renewable and non-renewable.

Renewable resources include flora and fauna and soil fertility. Among the renewable natural resources, forests play a major role in human life. The forest is of no small importance as a geographical and environmental factor. Forests prevent soil erosion and retain surface water, i.e. serve as moisture accumulators and help maintain groundwater levels. Forests are home to animals of material and aesthetic value to humans: ungulates, fur-bearing animals and game. The biosphere includes everything that lives, breathes, grows and eats (except for humans, who separated from the animal world). Therefore, let us consider problems directly related to the world of wildlife.

Wildlife resources provide all kinds of economic benefits to humans, they serve as sources of food, fuel, paper, fabric, leather, medicines and everything else that people use in their activities. In addition, many wild species also have aesthetic value and create conditions for recreation. However, their greatest contribution is maintaining the “health” and integrity of the world’s ecosystems.

Many people believe that nature should be protected only because of its actual or potential benefits to people, an approach called an anthropocentric (human-centered) view of the world. Some people adhere to a biocentric worldview and are convinced that it is unworthy of man to hasten the extinction of any species, since man is no more important than other species on earth. “Man has no superiority over other species, for everything is vanity of vanities,” they believe. Others take an ecocentric (center-ecosystem) view and believe that only those actions that are aimed at maintaining the earth's life support systems are justified.

At least 94% of the approximately half a billion different species that lived on earth have disappeared or evolved into new species. Mass extinctions in the distant past occurred as a result of unknown natural causes. However, since the beginning of agriculture 10,000 years ago, as a result of human activity, the rate of extinction of species has increased millions of times and this trend is expected to continue in the coming decades. In our country, forests occupy about 30% of its total landmass and are one of the natural wealth

Non-renewable resources include minerals. Their use by humans began in the Neolithic era. The first metals to find use were native gold and copper. They were able to extract ores containing copper, tin, silver, and lead already 4000 BC. At present, man has brought into the sphere of his industrial activity the predominant part of known mineral resources. If at the dawn of civilization a person used only about 20 chemical elements for his needs, at the beginning of the 20th century - about 60, but now more than 100 - almost the entire periodic table. About 100 billion tons of ore, fuel, and mineral fertilizers are mined (extracted from the geosphere) annually, which leads to the depletion of these resources. More and more various ores, coal, oil and gas are being extracted from the bowels of the earth. In modern conditions, a significant part of the Earth's surface is plowed or represents fully or partially cultivated pastures for domestic animals. The development of industry and agriculture required large areas for the construction of cities, industrial enterprises, the development of mineral resources, and the construction of communications. Thus, to date, about 20% of the land has been transformed by humans.

Significant areas of the land surface are excluded from human economic activity due to the accumulation of industrial waste on it and the impossibility of using areas where mining and mineral resources are being mined.

Man has always used the environment mainly as a source of resources, however, for a very long time, his activities did not have a noticeable impact on the biosphere. Only at the end of the last century, changes in the biosphere under the influence of economic activity attracted the attention of scientists. These changes have been increasing and are currently affecting human civilization. In an effort to improve their living conditions, humanity is constantly increasing the pace of material production, without thinking about the consequences. With this approach, most of the resources taken from nature are returned to it in the form of waste, often toxic or not suitable for disposal. This poses a threat to both the existence of the biosphere and man himself.

Naturally, in connection with different historical stages in the development of human society, the problems of using natural resources and nature conservation also change. Man is a relatively young inhabitant of the Earth; he joined its ecological systems about 3.5 million years ago. At that time, the impact of people on the environment was insignificant due to their small numbers. About 1.5 million years ago, the number of people did not exceed 500 thousand individuals. People roamed in small groups, collecting edible plants, hunting animals, and catching fish. Traces of their influence were quickly smoothed out by nature as soon as gatherers, hunters and fishermen left their campsites. The first to be domesticated was the wolf, which helped people hunt animals; later, cattle was domesticated, then horses. Approximately 10–12 thousand years ago, under favorable conditions, people switched to a sedentary lifestyle and began to engage in agriculture. Initial transformation phase natural environment associated with the development of livestock and agriculture. The growth of transformative activities of human society associated with the development of industry continues to this day. So, in the first half of the 20th century. Of particular concern was the very rapid depletion of natural resources and the possible death of humanity due to the complete depletion of ore deposits and oil. Nowadays, threatening environmental pollution and violation of natural biocenoses, deforestation, soil erosion, extinction of rare species of animals and plants. Natural objects and phenomena that a person uses in the labor process are called natural resources . These include atmospheric air, water, soil, minerals, solar radiation, climate, vegetation, and fauna. According to the degree of their depletion, they are divided into exhaustible and inexhaustible (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Natural resource classification scheme

Exhaustible Resources, in turn, are divided into renewable and non-renewable. TO non-renewable include those resources that are not regenerated or are renewed hundreds of times slower than they are consumed. These include oil, coal, metal ores and most other minerals. The reserves of these resources are limited, their protection comes down to careful use.

Renewable natural resources - soil, vegetation, fauna, as well as mineral salts such as Glauber's salt and table salt, deposited in lakes and sea lagoons. These resources are constantly restored if the conditions necessary for this are maintained, and the rate of use does not exceed the rate of natural regeneration. Resources are restored at different speeds: animals - in a few years, forests - 60 - 80 years, and soils that have lost fertility - over several millennia. Exceeding the rate of consumption over the rate of reproduction leads to depletion and complete disappearance of the resource.

Inexhaustible resources include water, climate and space. The total reserves of water on the planet are inexhaustible. They are based on the salty waters of the World Ocean, but they are still little used. In some areas, the waters of the seas and oceans are polluted with oil, waste from household and industrial enterprises, and the removal of fertilizers and pesticides from fields, which worsens the living conditions of marine plants and animals. Fresh water, necessary for humans, is an exhaustible natural resource. The problem of fresh water is becoming more acute every year due to the shallowing of rivers and lakes, increasing water consumption for irrigation and industrial needs, and water pollution from industrial and household waste.

Careful use and strict protection of water resources is necessary.

Climate Resources – atmospheric air and wind energy are inexhaustible, but with the development of industry and transport, the air began to become heavily polluted with smoke, dust, and exhaust gases. In large cities and industrial centers, air pollution becomes dangerous to human health. The fight for purity atmosphere(Fig. 2) has become an important environmental issue.

Rice. 2. Atmospheric pollution from solid and gaseous fuel combustion products

TO space resources include solar radiation and the energy of sea tides. They are inexhaustible. However, in cities and industrial centers, solar radiation is greatly reduced due to smoke and dust in the air. This has a negative impact on people's health.

All natural resources are divided into two groups according to their exhaustibility: exhaustible and inexhaustible.

Exhaustible resources.

They form in the earth's crust or landscape, but the volumes and rates of their formation are measured on a geological time scale. At the same time, the need for such resources from production or for organizing favorable living conditions for human society significantly exceeds the volumes and rates of natural replenishment. As a result, depletion of natural resources inevitably occurs. The group of exhaustible resources includes resources with unequal rates and volumes of formation. This allows for further differentiation. Based on the intensity and speed of natural formation, resources are divided into subgroups:

1. Non-renewable, which include: a) all types of mineral resources or minerals. As is known, they are constantly formed in the depths of the earth’s crust as a result of the continuously ongoing process of ore formation, but the scale of their accumulation is so insignificant, and the rates of formation are measured in many tens and hundreds of millions of years (for example, the age of coal is more than 350 million years), which is practically they cannot be taken into account in business calculations. The development of mineral raw materials occurs on a historical time scale and is characterized by ever-increasing volumes of withdrawal. In this regard, all mineral resources are considered not only exhaustible, but also non-renewable. b) Land resources in their natural form are the material basis on which the life of human society takes place. The morphological structure of the surface (i.e., relief) significantly influences economic activity and the possibility of developing the territory. Once disturbed lands (for example, by quarries) during large-scale industrial or civil construction are no longer restored in their natural form.

2. Renewable resources, which include: a) resources of flora and b) fauna. Both are restored quite quickly, and the volumes of natural renewal are well and accurately calculated. Therefore, when organizing the economic use of accumulated reserves of wood in forests, grass in meadows or pastures, and hunting wild animals within limits not exceeding annual renewal, resource depletion can be completely avoided.

3. Relatively (not completely) renewable. Although some resources are restored over historical periods of time, their renewable volumes are significantly less than the volumes of economic consumption. That is why these types of resources turn out to be very vulnerable and require especially careful control by humans. Relatively renewable resources also include very scarce natural resources: a) productive arable soils; b) forests with mature tree stands; c) water resources from a regional perspective. There are relatively few productive arable soils (according to various estimates, their area does not exceed 1.5-2.5 billion hectares). The most productive soils, belonging to the first fertility class, occupy, according to FAO estimates, only 400 million hectares. Productive soils form extremely slowly - it takes more than 100 years to form a 1 mm layer, for example, chernozem soils. At the same time, processes of accelerated erosion, stimulated by irrational land use, can destroy several centimeters of the upper, most valuable arable layer in one year. Anthropogenic soil destruction has been occurring so intensely in recent decades that it gives grounds to classify soil resources as “relatively renewable.”