Natural Resources: Exploitation, Types, and Hazards
Natural Resources and Their Exploitation
Natural resources and their exploitation are elements of nature used by society, with its technology, for their benefit. Resources can be renewable or non-renewable. Renewable resources have short periods of time needed for recovery. Non-renewable resources will run out as consumed, and renewal cycles are long. Human activity is producing the overexploitation of certain natural resources.
Types of Natural Resources
Water Resources: Water is a basic resource for human life. Freshwater needs are covered by surface water (rivers, lakes) and groundwater.
Soils: Natural vegetation and crops grow on soils that have formed over thousands of years.
Vegetation: Man uses plants for their food and their economic activities.
Fauna: This includes animal species, both domesticated and wild, used for hunting, livestock, and fishing.
Atmosphere: The atmosphere is essential for life, providing oxygen and supporting photosynthesis in plants.
Mineral Resources: These are found in the basement of the continents and in the seabed, and are used for energy or are energetic themselves.
Natural Hazards and the Population
Earthquakes: These are movements of the earth’s crust.
Tsunamis: These are huge tidal waves, usually caused by undersea earthquakes.
Volcanic Eruptions: Gas, ash, and lava ejected from volcanoes may endanger the lives of people living around them.
Landslides: On steep slopes with clay materials and low vegetation, landslides can occur, which can damage roads.
Hurricanes: Some regions of the world are periodically affected by tropical cyclones.
Floods: These are caused by the overflow of rivers and are usually associated with heavy rainfall.
Agricultural Practices
Shifting Agriculture
This type of agriculture survives in some humid forest regions in Africa. Every year, a section of forest is logged and burned, then a variety of plants are planted on the ashes. Soil fertility decreases, and the land is left fallow for a long period of time.
Rainfed Sedentary Agriculture
In tropical savannas, the land is cultivated for a few years with diverse plants in rotation, but must be left fallow after a long period of time to regain its fertility.
Intensive Irrigated Agriculture
Located in densely populated southern and eastern Asia, the limited available land is used intensively.
Plantation Agriculture
This is agriculture against the consumption of large traditional European-owned farms, specialized in one product designed entirely for export to other countries.
Mediterranean Polyculture
Polyculture has been common throughout the world until recently. In regions located around the Mediterranean, the trilogy consisting of cereal, vineyard, and olive grove is still dominant in dryland areas. In predominantly irrigated areas, fruit and vegetables are common.
Intensive Greenhouse Farming
The maximum degree of agricultural intensity is achieved today in those areas where greenhouse crops are grown under glass or plastic. This type of agriculture requires high capital investment for the construction of facilities, irrigation and heating systems, fertilization, and seed selection. Their location is concentrated in very dense regions with little available land, but near large consumer markets.