Natural Resources Essay Research Paper A natural
Natural Resources Essay, Research Paper
A natural resource is defined as a natural stuff found on Earth that is utile
for worlds in some manner. It is frequently processed of manufactured in order for it to
run into the demands of a society. Resources so differ spatially, as different people
hold different demands and hence necessitate different resources, and temporally
as a society grows and progresss their demands will alter and so to their
resources. Natural resources range from minerals and metals to people ( their
labour and accomplishments ) . ( Kleeman 1997, Pashley 1996, Plant 1998 )
In this response 2 major sample surveies will be used, these are, H2O and
energy ( in the signifier of U ) on a assortment of graduated tables.
Reference List
Internet
The Uranium Information Centre.
hypertext transfer protocol: //www.uic.com.au/
Sydney H2O
hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sydneywater.com.au/
Sydney Catchment Authority
hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sca.nsw.gov.au/
hypertext transfer protocol: //www.urg.org.au/waste/pangea.htm
hypertext transfer protocol: //www.mirrar.net/
Book
KLEEMAN ( 1997 ) Global Interactions: A Senior Geography Rigby Heinemann,
Australia
Plant ( 1998 ) Get Smart Study Guide Science Press, Australia
PASHLEY ( 1996 ) Excel HSC Pascal Press, Australia
Natural resources are natural stuffs found on Earth that is utile for
worlds in some manner ( Kleeman 1997 ) They can be divided into classs.
Diagram 1 shows the 4 types of natural resources and an illustration of each.
From the above we can see that coal is an illustration of an exhaustible resource,
this means there exists a finite stocks. These resources are non renewable in the
discoverable hereafter. Renewable resources, have the possible to be renewed.
Forests will be replenished over clip after they have been harvested for homo
demands either of course if left entirely to make so, or with human aid in the signifier of
plantations in an alternate country. Renewability is so frequently dependent on proper
direction over clip. Reclaimable resources are besides renewable but can
recycled indefinitely through recycling. These resources will non ever come
back in the same signifier after undergoing recycling. Glass bottles can be recycled
into furniture, Windowss, decorations, etc. Continuous resources are continually
renewable. Solar energy will ever be and can be harnessed and used without
concern for recycling or replenishment clip. It can be said that it will ne’er be
finite and the supply will ever be greater than the demand.
Question 3
Natural Resource: Uranium
A assortment issues originate when U is found, extracted, processed, consumed,
and disposed of. Management schemes are in topographic point to battle these issues.
Environmental Issues
The usage of uranium green goodss waste has an impact on the environment. Waste
produced is radioactive and hence risky, depending on the waste & # 8217 ; s
degree of radiation and half life it will stay risky for a long period of
clip. The environmental issue set uping U is waste disposal. The position
below is from Pangia Resources, a US company that seeks to dispose of
atomic waste in outback Australia.
& # 8220 ; atomic waste is a job that won & # 8217 ; t travel off, that the best
known manner of covering with it is seting it someplace in stable
stones, that these stones must be off from population Centres & # 8221 ;
( Campaign for a Nuclear Free Future & # 8211 ; Update 17 Dec 98 )
Table 1 shows radioactive waste graduated tables and their single disposal method.
The entombment of waste, in the short term has been a suited method but in the
long term proves to be unsure. There are ever hazards of the radioactive
waste bleeding out into the dirt and impact on the biophysical environment.
Diagram 2 shows the spread of radioactive taint via abiotic
procedures to the biology.
Beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //www1.octa4.net.au/ecnt/Jabiluka.htm URANIUM ISSUES
Unless a proven long term method of waste disposal is developed, U will
loose resource value as demand lessenings due to environmental and
concerns.
Social Issues
The Mirrar of the Northern Territory are concerned about the Jabaluka U
development, and any development that impacts on their cultural sacred sites
and traditional manner of life.
They are traditional proprietors of land. They claimed much of & # 8216 ; their land & # 8217 ; back under
the Aboriginal Land Rights ( NT ) Act 1976.
They claim to hold sacred sites in the U mine country. These sites are straight
and badly impacted upon by the Jabiluka U mine.
The Mirrar believe that culturally important sites will be damaged by the
building of the Jabiluka U mine. Damage to these religious sites
destroys populating tradition.
The autochthonal population, with support and backup from a really much diversified
planetary community struggled against hardship in the battle to halt the Jabaluka
U mine and were successful in making so. As of September 1999, all work at
Jabaluka ceased indefinitely which has effected resource by cut downing supply.
Question 4
Natural Resource: Water
Water is the most plentiful, critical, non-substitutional resource on the planet. Life
exists and is sustained because of and by H2O. Though there is abundant H2O
in the universe and available for usage, come-at-able drinkable H2O for homo
ingestion remains scarce. Map shows the planetary unjust distribution of
H2O on a planetary graduated table.
Water is needed by all but all do non hold equal entree to supplies. Due to the
scarce nature of H2O it is necessary for direction schemes to be practiced
to guarantee optimal utilizations of H2O are non hindered by harm to H2O quality and
limited H2O measure.
A instance survey of Sydney H2O will show H2O direction schemes
utilised, their consequences and suggest sweetening of these schemes to better
H2O issues on a local graduated table.
Sydney H2O provides about 1500 million liters of H2O per twenty-four hours to more
than 3.7 million people. Map shows the Catchment country and the substructure
that supplies Sydney ( 33 51 S, 151 12 Tocopherol ) with it & # 8217 ; s H2O.
The undermentioned flow diagram illustrates the way of Sydney H2O from Catchment to
where it is used in places and concerns
Catchment
H2O aggregation
Dams
H2O storage
Filtration Plants
remotion of contaminations
Uses
Residential Industry Businesss
Management schemes presently used in Sydney are aimed to procure equal
quality H2O for ingestion and usage by the population of the Sydney part.
These schemes are besides devised so that there will be entree to sufficient
sums of H2O for all.
These schemes include:
Water recycling
Therefore supplying another H2O beginning and cut downing anticipated increased hereafter
use. Besides cut downing discharge into rivers and oceans. Recycled H2O is used in
residential gardens and lavatories, in industry and irrigation so that fresh H2O can
travel straight to the people for ingestion. This so leaves the present
substructure able to defy present demands without the building of new
substructure.
Irrigation patterns & # 8211 ; increasing H2O efficiency
e.g. cardinal pivot sprinklers and trickle or drip systems
Design characteristics of Infrastructure
e.g. The Prospect works ( and others ) were designed to be & # 8216 ; easy upgraded & # 8217 ;
( SMH98 ) . So when new engineering evolved and new information accumulated the
workss could be ready to set them in pattern, put them to utilize.
Pay per usage
Consumers a
rhenium charged for H2O use as the undermentioned diagram illustrates.
There is so an inducement to utilize less, conserving the resource, because of
decreased costs of ingestion.
Public consciousness and instruction plans
National plans such as WaterWise which & # 8220 ; purposes to inform and educate the
community on how to utilize H2O sagely and advance the demand for H2O
preservation & # 8221 ; ( www.nsw.gov.au ) . Besides specifically Sydney H2O preservation
runs such as & # 8220 ; Sydney H2O: Good plenty to bottle, excessively good to blow & # 8221 ;
Monitoring of the system and H2O quality
Pull offing the degrees of contaminations and foreign atoms in the H2O to guarantee
the populace has entree to the optimal H2O possible.
These schemes and others used are effectual to a certain grade though are
non ever faultless as the 1998 Sydney H2O crisis pointed out.
Cryptosporidium and giardia parasites entered the supply system endangering
public wellness and safety which emphasized the demand for the rating and
betterment of the current direction schemes being employed.
Suggestions for betterments of direction schemes
H2O recycling
More H2O recycling for all utilizations so less H2O is deducted from storage
installations
Irrigation patterns
The spreading of the new efficient methods so the benefits can be felt
throughout.
Deduction of new engineering to bing substructure
As new engineering is made available it should be put to utilize.
Water costs
Put the & # 8216 ; user pays & # 8217 ; rule to farther usage. All costs of acquiring the H2O to the
consumers, constructing the substructure and the environmental costs are
factored into the costs to the user. Consumers would so be hesitant of the
inevitable new dike because they would hold to finance it themselves. They
would be forced to conserve.
Public consciousness
Strengthen campaigns to do the message loud and clear.
Monitoring quality
Develop and beef up regular thorough cheques on H2O composing. Set
rigorous tight controls on acceptable degrees of parasites and guarantee these are met
and non surpassed.
Other suggested schemes
Quotas and bounds
If these are preceded, heavy mulcts should be demanded
Weather calculating
If the conditions is accurately predicted it can be known when demand will be at
a high ( when it & # 8217 ; s hot ) and when supply will be abundant ( when it rains to a great extent
for a drawn-out period of clip )
Population decrease
Migration limitations and inducements to travel elsewhere to cut down the
population hence cut downing demand ( provided demand per caput does non
addition besides )
Water direction in Sydney is a long term procedure but the schemes used
must be evaluated in the short term for the schemes to be effectual. Water
proviso is a map of a metropolis and the people of the metropolis have a right to
assessable clean H2O. This can be granted and sustained provided the
proper direction schemes are set in topographic point and new 1s are continuously
developed and implemented.
Question 2
The spacial distribution of the universe & # 8217 ; s resources is unjust. Worlds have
no say or no manus in where the bulk of natural resources are located. It is
the physical procedures that brought about the visual aspect and the brand up of
the Earth as we know it today that is the force behind the scattered
non-uniform distribution of world-wide natural resources. The maps below
exemplify the distribution of some illustrations of natural resources throughout the
universe.
The ground behind the differences between production and ingestion of
natural resources lies in the fact that the so called & # 8216 ; North & # 8217 ; states or the
developed states industrialized early on and first. They so depleted their
local resource stocks temporally and were compelled to seek elsewhere for
the resources to fulfill their demands. To make this they turned to the development
universe and exploited foreign resources. A rhythm of supply and demand was shortly
subsequently created, where the demand originated from the developed states
who saw the supply of inexpensive natural stuffs and inexpensive labour, and the supply
emanated from those the underdeveloped counties who sought to the capital
develop.
Distribution and ingestion evolved to be based on wealth. Access to and
supply of resources is granted to the state, corporation or company that
makes the most moneymaking offer. Typically the developed states of the universe are
in a place to make this, but as discussed above, non locally. They have the
agencies to devour what is produced elsewhere. In per centum figures this
translated to 90 % of the universe & # 8217 ; s resources being consumed by 30 % of the
universe & # 8217 ; s population.
Technology has played a portion in making disparities between production and
ingestion. Transportation carries resources all over the universe, no thirster is
there a demand to turn up near the resource you need to hold entree to it.
Examples:
The map below indicates uranium production and ingestion on a planetary
graduated table.
The tendencies, as can be seen from the map, U is produced in countries where
it isn & # 8217 ; T consumed. The wealthier states with the money for atomic electricity
coevals import their needful U. The producer/supplier states do non
have the same needs for U so they export it.
Political Issues
In today & # 8217 ; s unstable province of the universe international and national struggle and
aggression is a prevailing concern. So excessively is the universe armament and defensive
steps that exacerbate these concerns. Nuclear arms is a concern on a
planetary graduated table because of it & # 8217 ; s possible cataclysmal harm it could bring down on the
universe. Measures have been taken to forestall this.
The International Atomic Energy Agency was set up by the United Nations in
1957 to assist states develop atomic energy for peaceable intents.
Precautions are in topographic point to deter the alteration of class of atomic stuff
from peaceable usage by increasing the hazard of early sensing & # 8230 ; i.e. the rule of
bar by halting it at the beginning as opposed to the remedy after a payload
has been fired.
When Australian U export was approved it was under the status of
precautions which meant that states importing Australian U did so
under the rigorous status that is was used specifically for peaceable intents,
viz. electricity coevals and non for military intents. The pie chart below
shows Australia & # 8217 ; s uranium exports
Other signifiers of Political issues include authorities policy such as the & # 8220 ; three
mines & # 8221 ; policy by the 1983 Hawke Labor authorities. By merely runing 3
mines this limits supply.
Decision
Natural resources are present in different classs: exhaustible, renewable,
reclaimable and uninterrupted. On a planetary graduated table spacial and temporal fluctuations on
the distribution and production and ingestion rates and degrees exist.
Differences in production and ingestion of natural resources arise because of
environmental, societal, economic, and political factors. In the determination, processing,
consuming, bring forthing, and development of natural resources issues emanate.
These issues include that of a societal, political, economic, environmental, and
technological nature, But direction schemes are formed and utilized to
confront these issues. Management schemes are based on the preservation of
natural resources and maximising their efficiency in run intoing the demands of society
without damaging people or the environment..
