7 Natural Resources: Details, Availability, Category

What is Natural resources?

Natural resources are materials or minerals that exist without any actions of humankind. 

Natural resources are available in multiple forms and types, such as organic or inorganic. Or maybe a solid, liquid, or gaseous state. 

It may be renewable or Non-renewable

These mentioned above are organic and inorganic, and they exist in nature. They were not artificially created. We tap into the source to operate and to survive. Sources are linked in ways and limited in earth reserve and need a long time to be recreated. If utilized in an ineffectual sense by a person, it is going to impact the quality or the supply of others and the atmosphere in that region. 

Natural sources could be consumed or utilized directly or indirectly. For instance, We depend directly on forests for biomass, food, health, recreation, and dwelling comfort that is improved. Indirectly forests act as flood controlclimate control, heavy storm protection, and maintenance of the ecosystem.

Humans and other living creatures have be subject to upon things that happen to be lasted, ever since the earth was inhabited. These items include water, soil, soils, rocks, forest, fish, animals, fossil-fuels, and different mineral deposits. They’re termed as Natural Resources.

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Natural Resources: Renewable and Non-renewable Resources

Raw Materials:

Natural resources utilized as raw materials to make something useful or generate energy for us. We can use the forest to collect trees to produce sophisticated furniture or for paper and other products. In this example, the tree is used as a raw material.

The electricity at home, oil for cars, clothes, rare earth metals in solar panels, even our life saving pure water: each of them came from a natural resource.

Example of Raw materials:

All Natural Resources are categorized as Renewable and Non-renewable Resources.

Renewable Resources:

Renewable resources are those that are always available (for example, water, wind, and sunlight) or could be replaced or regained. Animals are renewable as they could be substituted by young animals, Though some sources can be substituted, which doesn’t make them sustainable.

Renewable resources categorized into two subcategories.

If renewable resources come from existing things (such as plants of forest), these are organic-renewable sources.

If renewable resources come from lifeless things (such as soil water, sunlight, and wind) known as inorganic-renewable sources.

What are non-renewable resources?

Non-renewable natural source is that can’t be substituted once that destroy. Mineral is one of the examples because even though they form in a process, it will require few thousands of years to generate naturally and artificially we are not able to produce it. These are extinct-nature, and one of the reasons why we must safeguard these natural resources that are endangered and utilize in proper cause for energy production with minimum pollutant. Therefore, the non-renewable resources are termed inorganic resources produced from non-living or dead things. Examples include fossil fuel, soil, and stones.

ONGC Oil and Gas Processing Platform.
ONGC Oil and Gas Processing Platform. Image Credit: Nandu Chitnis from Pune, India / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

What are Metallic and Non-metallic Resources?

Resources might be non-metallic or metallic. Minerals are. They are more hard, stiff, and shiny may be melted to form new products or mix metals.  Non-metallic minerals have no metals in it. They don’t glow and are comparatively softer. Cases include coal and clay.

Examples of the metallic resource are:

  • Copper
  • Aluminium
  • Iron
  • Tin
  • Gold
  • Silver

Examples of non-metallic resources are:

  • silica
  • boron
  • graphite or carbon.

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