Earth’s Resources

Distributed Unevenly  Air  Water  Land  Organisms  Rocks  Minerals  Nutrients  Geochemical cycles

Water

 Liquid  Wide range of temperatures  High heat-storage capacity  Dissolves many substances  Expands when it freezes

Natural Resources

• • • • • • • Renewable: living things surface water  Groundwater fertile soil Air solar energy elements that cycle (carbon, nitrogen) Replaced through natural processes at same rate as being used • • Non-Renewable: Fossil fuels Elements (gold, copper, silver)  Fixed amounts – replaceable through process that takes hundreds of millions of years

Land Resources

    Topsoil Rocks Minerals Space for humans to use:  Housing   Agriculture Roadways – use aggregates to build first layer. A mixture of gravel, sand, crushed stone

How humans harm resources

 Poor farming practices  Air pollution by activities that disrupt the balance of geochemical cycles  Burning of fossil fuels (releases sulfur)  Mining – ore can be mined for a profit

Energy Resources

     Sun is the primary energy resource Biomass –wood and field crop burned to use as fuel Coal Natural gas petroleum

Air Resources

   The most important component of air is:  Oxygen 21% The oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere was supplied slowly over time by photosynthetic organisms Geochemical cycles:    Water cycle Carbon cycle Hydrogen cycle

Alternative Energy Resources

 Solar energy  Hydroelectric power – energy from falling water  Geothermal energy  Nuclear energy  Biomass energy

Word Equations

Decreased demand for resources =

reducing

+

reusing

+

recycling

Biogas =

methane

+

carbon dioxide

Peat =

remains of organisms

+

swamp

+

anaerobic conditions

Gasoho

l

=

alcohol

+

gasoline

Coal =

peat

+

high temperature and pressure

Topsoil =

nutrients

+

decaying organic matter

+

eroded rock

+

oxygen

+

water minerals

+

Conservation / Population

 Sustainable energy – will ensure current and future energy needs   Population will reach the carrying capacity and stop growing Human Global Impact    Acid precipitation Ozone depletion – ground level ozone is a major component of smog Global warming