Environmental Impacts of Mineral Resource and Energy Use
Impacts of Mineral Resource and Energy Exploitation
The benefits of using mineral resources and energy include:
- Relatively inexpensive
- High calorific value
- Provides raw materials for the chemical industry
The disadvantages include health risks, resource depletion, and environmental degradation.
Depletion of Fossil Fuels
The depletion of fossil fuels is caused by:
- A slow formation process coupled with a high rate of consumption
- Non-renewable nature after use
- Exhaustibility on a human timescale
Mitigation measures
Read MoreNatural Resources: Exploitation, Types, Hazards, and Agriculture
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 recovery periods. Non-renewable resources are finite and will eventually run out as their consumption 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
Read MoreUnderstanding Solar Energy, Atmospheric Layers, and Geological Processes
Solar Energy and Radiation
Solar energy travels in the form of electromagnetic waves, collectively known as solar radiation. This includes:
- Infrared: Heat energy, largely absorbed by the atmosphere and Earth’s surface.
- Visible: Light energy, which passes through the atmosphere and reaches the surface.
- Ultraviolet: The most energetic and potentially harmful to living organisms, but mostly absorbed by the atmosphere.
Ozone Formation
Ozone (O3) is formed through a process involving oxygen molecules (O2)
Read MoreUnderstanding Basic Economic Concepts and Systems
Key Concepts in Economics
Economic Scarcity:
- Scarcity is the sensation of a lack of resources in relation to the needs of individuals.
Economics Definition:
- Economics is the science that studies how to allocate scarce resources to satisfy human needs.
Opportunity Cost:
- Opportunity cost is the value (whether measured in money or not) of what you renounce when making a decision.
Capital Goods:
- Capital goods are those used to produce other goods.
Economic Activities:
- Economic activities include consumption,
Earth’s Processes: Tectonics, Weathering, and Landforms
Earth’s Internal and External Processes
Folds are produced when a material undergoes plastic deformation due to compressive forces. They can be classified as antiform or synform. Geological processes can be external or internal.
External Geological Processes
External processes include weathering, erosion, transport, and sedimentation, caused directly or indirectly by solar energy. Diagenesis is also an external process.
- Weathering: The alteration of rocks by the action of air, water, or living things.
Spain’s Diverse Landscapes: Siliceous, Limestone, Clay
Siliceous Spain
Silicea consists of ancient rocks from the Precambrian and Primary eras. Therefore, they are in the western mainland and have branches to the western part of the Cantabrian Mountains, the Central System, the Montes de Toledo, and Sierra Morena. There are outcrops in the axial zone of the Pyrenees, the Sistema Ibérico-Catalan coastal mountain range, and the Penibaetic System. In this area, the rock is predominantly granite. The modeling is determined by the characteristics of this
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