Ocean Resources

The ocean is one of Earth's most valuable natural resources. It provides food in the form of fish and shellfishabout 200 billion pounds are caught each year. It's used for transportationboth travel and shipping. It provides a treasured source of recreation for humans. It is mined for minerals (salt, sand, gravel, and some manganese, copper, nickel, iron, and cobalt can be found in the deep sea) and drilled for crude oil. The ocean plays a critical role in removing carbon from the atmosphere and providing oxygen. It regulates Earth's climate. The ocean is an increasingly important source of biomedical organisms with enormous potential for fighting disease. These are just a few examples of the importance of the ocean to life on land. Explore them in greater detail to understand why we must keep the ocean healthy for future generations.

Fishing Facts
The oceans have been fished for thousands of years and are an integral part of human society. Fish have been important to the world economy for all of these years, starting with the Viking trade of cod and then continuing with fisheries like those found in Lofoten, Europe, Italy, Portugal, Spain and India. Fisheries of today provide about 16% of the total world's protein with higher percentages occurring in developing nations. Fisheries are still enormously important to the economy and wellbeing of communities. The word fisheries refers to all of the fishing activities in the ocean, whether they are to obtain fish for the commercial fishing industry, for recreation or to obtain ornamental fish or fish oil. Fishing activities resulting in fish not used for consumption are called industrial fisheries. Fisheries are usually designated to certain ecoregions like the salmon fishery in Alaska, the Eastern Pacific tuna fishery or the Lofoten island cod fishery. Due to the relative abundance of fish on the continental shelf, fisheries are usually marine and not freshwater. Fish are caught in a variety of ways, including one-man casting nets, huge trawlers, seining, driftnetting, handlining, longlining, gillnetting and diving. The most common species making up the global fisheries are herring, cod, anchovy, flounder, tuna, shrimp, mullet, squid, crab, salmon, lobster, scallops and oyster. Mollusks and crustaceans are also widely sought. The fish that are caught are not always used for food. In fact, about 40% of fish are used for other purposes such as fishmeal to feed fish grown in captivity. For example cod, is used for consumption, but is also frozen for later use. Atlantic herring is used for canning, fishmeal and fish oil. The Atlantic menhaden is used for fishmeal and fish oil and Alaska pollock is consumed, but also used for fish paste to simulate crab. The Pacific cod has recently been used as a substitute for Atlantic cod which has been overfished.

The amount of fish available in the oceans is an ever-changing number due to the effects of both natural causes and human developments. It will be necessary to manage ocean fisheries in the coming years to make sure the number of fish caught never makes it to zero. A lack of fish greatly impacts the economy of communities dependent on the resource, as can be seen in Japan, eastern Canada, New England, Indonesia and Alaska. The anchovy fisheries off the coast of western South America have already collapsed and with numbers dropping violently from 20 million tons to 4 million tonsthey may never fully recover. Other collapses include the California sardine industry, the Alaskan king crab industry and the Canadian northern cod industry. In Massachusetts alone, the cod, haddock and yellowtail flounder industries collapsed, causing an economic disaster for the area. Due to the importance of fishing to the worldwide economy and the need for humans to understand human impacts on the environment, the academic division of fisheries science was developed. Fisheries science includes all aspects of marine biology, in addition to economics and management skills and information. Marine conservation issues like overfishing, sustainable fisheries and management of fisheries are also examined through fisheries science.

Shipping
The word shipping refers to the activity of moving cargo with ships in between seaports. Wind-powered ships exist, but more often ships are powered by steam turbine plants or diesel engines. Naval ships are usually responsible for transporting most of trade from one country to another and are called merchant navies. The various types of ships include container ships, tankers, crude oil ships, product ships, chemical ships, bulk carriers, cable layers, general cargo ships, offshore supply vessels, dynamically-positioned ships, ferries, gas and car carriers, tugboats, barges and dredgers.

Tourism
Tourism is the fastest growing division of the world economy and is responsible for more than 200 million jobs all over the world. In the US alone, tourism resulted in an economic gain of 478 billion dollars. With 700 million people traveling to another country in the year 2000, tourism is in the top five economic contributors to 83% of all countries and the most important economy for 38% of countries. The tourism industry is based on natural

resources present in each country and usually negatively affect ecosystems because it is often left unmanaged. However, sustainable tourism can actually promote conservation of the environment.

Mining
Humans began to mine the ocean floor for diamonds, gold, silver, metal ores like manganese nodules and gravel mines in the 1950's when the company Tidal Diamonds was established by Sam Collins. Diamonds are found in greater number and quality in the ocean than on land, but are much harder to mine. When diamonds are mined, the ocean floor is dredged to bring it up to the boat and sift through the sediment for valuable gems. The process is difficult as sediment is not easy to bring up to the surface, but will probably become a huge industry once technology evolves to solve the logistical problem. Metal compounds, gravels, sands and gas hydrates are also mined in the ocean. Mining of manganese nodules containing nickel, copper and cobalt began in the 1960's and soon after it was discovered that Papua New Guinea was one of the few places where nodules were located in shallow waters rather than deep waters. Although manganese nodules could be found in shallow waters in significant quantities, the expense of bringing the ore up to the surface proved to be expensive. Sands and gravels are often mined for in the United States and are used to protect beaches and reduce the effects of erosion. Mining the ocean can be devastating to the natural ecosystems. Dredging of any kind pulls up the ocean floor resulting in widespread destruction of marine animal habitats, as well as wiping out vast numbers of fishes and invertebrates. When the ocean floor is mined, a cloud of sediment rises up in the water, interfering with photosynthetic processes of phytoplankton and other marine life, in addition to introducing previously benign heavy metals into the food chain. As minerals found on land are exploited and used up, mining of the ocean floor will increase.

Climate Buffer
The ocean is an integral component of the world's climate due to its capacity to collect, drive and mix water, heat, and carbon dioxide. The ocean can hold and circulate more water, heat and carbon dioxide than the atmosphere although the components of the Earth's climate are constantly exchanged. Because the ocean can store so much heat,

seasons occur later than they would and air above the ocean is warmed. Heat energy stored in the ocean in one season will affect the climate almost an entire season later. The ocean and the atmosphere work together to form complex weather phenomena like the North Atlantic Oscillation and El Nio. The many chemical cycles occurring between the ocean and the atmosphere also influence the climate by controlling the amount of radiation released into ecosystems and our environment. The atmosphere directly above the ocean does not absorb much heat by itself, so in order for it to warm up, the temperature of the ocean has to rise first. The two other ways for the atmosphere to warm near the ocean are by reflection of light off of the surface of the ocean or by the evaporation of water from the ocean surface. The temperature of the ocean controls the climate in the lower part of the atmosphere, so for most areas of the Earth the ocean temperature is responsible for the air temperature. The main forms of climate buffering by the ocean are by the transport of heat through ocean currents traveling across huge basins. Areas like the tropics end up being cooled and higher latitudes are warmed by this effect. Air temperatures worldwide are regulated by the circulation of heat by the oceans. The ocean stores heat in the upper two meters of the photic zone. This is possible because seawater has a very high density and specific heat and can store vast quantities of energy in the form of heat. The ocean can then buffer changes in temperature by storing heat and releasing heat. Evaporation cools ocean water which cools the atmosphere. It is most noticeable near the equator and the effect decreases closer to the poles.

Oxygen Production
Gases in the atmosphere like carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen are dissolved through the water cycle. The gases that are now crucial to all ecosystems and biological processes originally came from the inside layers of the earth during the period when the earth was first formed. The rate of flow for oxygen as well as other gases is controlled by biological processes, especially metabolism of organisms like prokaryotes and bacteria. Prokaryotes have been around since the beginning of the Earth, have evolved to be able to use chemical energy to create organic matter and are capable of both reducing and oxidizing inorganic compounds. Bacteria that can reduce inorganic compounds are anaerobic and those that oxidize inorganic compounds are aerobic. Aerobic bacteria release oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis.

Approximately two billion years ago, aerobic bacteria began producing oxygen which gradually filled up all of the oxygen reservoirs in the environment. Once these sinks were filled, molecular oxygen began to build in the atmosphere, creating an environment favorable for other life to inhabit the Earth. Sinks included reduced iron ions and hydrogen sulfide gas. Evidence of this process can be found in the banded iron formations created when iron minerals were precipitated. The oxygen started to fill the atmosphere up and new bacteria evolved that could use oxygen to oxidize both inorganic and organic compounds. Bacteria that were accustomed to an oxygen-poor atmosphere only survived in anaerobic environments like sewage, swamps, and in the sediments of both marine and freshwater areas. Phytoplankton account for possibly 90% of the world's oxygen production because water covers about 70% of the Earth and phytoplankton are abundant in the photic zone of the surface layers. Some of the oxygen produced by phytoplankton is absorbed by the ocean, but most flows into the atmosphere where it becomes available for oxygen dependent life forms.
Marine Resources

Marine resources is a broad, encompassing phrase that incorporates marine life; flora and fauna, from algae to eelgrass, from microscopic organisms to Orcas, and marine habitats; from the deep waters to the intertidal regions to the upland shore and estuarine areas. A broad range of people utilize and interact with the marine environment: boaters, kayakers, sports fishermen, commercial fishermen, shellfish harvesters, both recreational and commercial, scientists, builders, industry, recreational users and numerous others. Marine systems and their resources are a vital and integral part of our existence in Whatcom County. Because marine resources have been identified as a valuable asset to the Whatcom County community, Public Works - Natural Resources has taken on the task of providing a technical resource to groups involved in restoration and protection efforts for marine environments throughout Whatcom County. Natural Resources' role is to provide technical/scientific expertise and administrative support to various committees in Whatcom County that are associated with marine resources: the Marine Resources Committee,

theDrayton Harbor Shellfish Protection District and the Portage Bay Shellfish Protection District. Stormwater staff also provides technical and scientific expertise to other county departments and to local and regional groups dealing with marine efforts and issues. Coordination of efforts between all of these various groups is a key role for the Natural Resources staff. Public education and outreach are vital tools Natural Resources uses to raise awareness about marine issues throughout the Whatcom County community.
Water and Marine Resources Introduction Water is one of the most important inorganic compounds in the world, playing vital physical, biological and chemical roles. For many governments the main challenge for the twenty-first century is how to ensure a reliable supply of good- quality, fresh water. This chapter is divided into two sections. The first concentrates on fresh water, whilst the second deals with salt water. Such a division is convenient from a human viewpoint but is of no relevance from an environmental viewpoint because the different states in which water exists are not restricted by salt and fresh water definitions. Water location and water disputes Vast areas of the world are already deficient in a supply of freshwater. These water deficiencies are often the result of poor management of the water resource, rather than an overall lack of precipitation. Disputes over water extraction from rivers have grown in number and severity in recent years. As the shortfall between demand and supply of water increases so international disputes over water availability are also set to grow. The World Resources Institute in 1996 estimated that 40% of the world's population gets its water from just 214 major river catchment zones. Of these, 148 are shared between two countries and a further 50 are shared between three or more countries. The Nile basin illustrates some of the problems. The river Nile rises in Ethiopia and flows 6196 km through Sudan and Egyptto the Mediterranean Sea. The building of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt in the 1960s eliminated the flood hazard from most of the rest of the country .However there are plans to dam the Nile in Ethiopia from which comes

80% of the water entering the river. The water would be used to irrigate areas of Ethiopia and Sudan which have been plagued by drought. This could feed some 57 million people in Ethiopia and 29 million in Sudan, but it would leave calculate how effective precipitation may be in Egypt with a mere trickle of water. So Egypt may be faced with some very hard choices, such as reducing its population from the predicted 90 million of 2025 to 80 or even 75 million. Alternatively it could go to war with Sudan and Ethiopia to guarantee its own water supplies. There are two further important aspects of the distribution of freshwater supplies. Firstly, the world's supply of freshwater is unevenly distributed. The main water source is precipitation, and this varies from 250 mm or less in hot deserts to over 2000mm in Nigeria close to the equator. Secondly, the availability of water for human use is also dependent on the seasonal variation of precipitation. For example if precipitation falls in the cold season much water passes into the groundwater table and streams. However some of the precipitation that falls in spring and summer will be lost by evaporation from the soil surface and from areas of open water. So hydrologists need to calculate how effective precipitation may be in different places. For example in temperate areas like parts of France, two-thirds of the gross precipitation is lost through evapotranspiration (the combined loss of evaporation from open water and soil, together with transpiration losses from plants). So water may be one of the most abundant resources in the world, but 97% of it is salt t water in the oceans, and so of 1ittle direct value to j people. A further 2% is frozen in the polar ice caps and the remaining 1 per cent is the fresh water we can use. The amount of water in and around the world is constant and the hydrological cycle simply recycles it over and over again. ! Water availability Water is vital for life. Plants normally comprise 90 per cent by weight of water, whilst animals, including humans have 65-70 per cent of their body weight as water. The overall global supply of water at 36 million cubic kilometres is enough to sustain all forms of life. However, as we have seen, water is not evenly distributed on the planet. Some areas have a water surplus, others a water shortage. So increasingly the supply of water at different places in the world is

being changed by water management schemes, which, for example, may involve digging wells and boreholes to extract underground water. Much of this underground water is very ancient, and built up in porous rocks thousands of years in the past when the climate was wetter. This 'fossil' water is being increasingly used in places such as the mid-west of the USAand the island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean. Underground water in Mallorca The island of Mallorca receives about 480 mm of precipitation in the lowlands and 750 mm in the mountains. There is only one permanent stream on the island, and the hot dry summers evaporate the other moisture from the limestone rocks. Two reservoirs in the mountains lose water by evaporation during the summer. So the Mallorcan people have used underground water to irrigate land near the capital Palma. Windmills were originally used to pump up underground water. The boom in tourism which began in the 1960s led to a big increase in the demand for vegetables. So farmers turned to more powerful diesel or electric pumps that could run all day. Unfortunately by the early 1980s the water table had dropped alarmingly because more underground water was being extracted than was being replaced by precipitation. Salt water began to seep into the underground storage areas. One solution to this problem would have been to restrict pumping to allow the water resources to recharge; instead, the agricultural land was converted to new tourist complexes. Unfortunately this has not solved the problem because water demand from the tourist developments is even greater than that from agriculture. The demand for freshwater Many people assume water to be freely available at little or no cost for the foreseeable future. The fact is that very few countries can allow their people to adopt this attitude towards freshwater water resources. As recently as 25 years ago water shortages were seen as largely local problems, confined to dry parts of the year. However, now water shortages are a major concern for virtually every country in the world. In the last 300 years water consumption has increased 35 fold and worldwide shortages have become increasingly serious. However these overall changes mask significant differences in levels of freshwater consumption between different countries. In general the more affluent a country, the higher its quality of life and the

greater its industrialisation the more water its people consume. Domestic use of water People need a minimum of 5 litres of water per day to survive. Over half of this figure is for drinking purposes and the rest is for preparing food. Water for personal hygiene is not one of the most basic needs for water. Until recently desert tribes could survive on just 5litres of water with none used for washing. However the worldwide improvements in water supply through the use of village wells and pumps as well as plastic piping and storage containers mean that water is now collected, stored and transported. Even in relatively poor countries people may consume up to 200 litres of water each day. More affluent urban dwellers in the USA or Europemay well consume 350 litres per day. The growth of appliances such as washing machines, dish washers, showers, toilets, air conditioning and garden sprinklers have dramatically increased water use. Australians use an average 160 litres per person per day. Canadians use 200 litres and for US citizens it is 307 litres, 80 per cent of which is for washing, bathing or flushing toilets. Figure 4.6 shows how water is used in UKhouseholds and what savings could be made. Countries with rapid population growth will face enormous demands for high quality water. Probably more and more water will have to be recycled. Currently experts calculate that 60% of water from UK households could be re-used, for example bath water could be re-used in toilets or to water gardens. Agricultural use of water Farmers create a great demand for water, mainly for irrigation. This demand unfortunately coincides with the very season when water supply is at its lowest. The hotter the weather the more water is demanded by farmers. In many cases farmers have to install winter-fill storage tanks, in the form of underground storage or water tanks, in order to store water for the summer. Technological improvements in agricultural efficiency will also help, for example, by replacing spray irrigation systems with small-bore trickle-feed pipes. However such changes are expensive and governments will need to provide subsidies and enforce policies on water conservation in order for this to happen. Water use by industry

Water used by industry is often second in amount to that consumed by agriculture. The type of water used by industry is different to that used by agriculture and domestic consumers. In general manufacturing industry uses water for: * cooling machinery, and ingots of metal; * reducing dust; * dilution of pollutants; * the transport of waste products from factories. These uses are often called 'withdrawal of water' in that given the right technology the waste water can be cleaned and re-used. The degree of cleaning does however vary. For example water used in cooling power station machinery may need to be cooled from 70C back to the temperature of the river from which it was extracted. Similarly water used in high pressure jets to extract minerals contains much suspended sediment, so large lagoons are necessary where this sediment can settle out. Cleaning waste water which contains heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium or complex organic compounds is both technically very difficult and very expensive. In the past industrialists often made little attempt to clean water, but relied on the abundance of the water cycle to wash away the waste. Legislation has, however, forced industrialists to clean up and re-use their water, so now industrialists in Japan, Israel and the Netherlands recycle 90% of their water. Access to water resources has become an important factor in the location of many industries. Now the price of water and the cost of its cleansing have to be included in forecast production costs. Countries like Norway, with access to unrestricted supplies of water may, find themselves at an advantage in attracting industries. Water conservation strategies The privatisation of water supply in many EMDCs such as the UKhas provided a motivation, through the search for profits, to re-assess strategies for water conservation. Private water companies often face

a situation with a great increase in the demand for freshwater during the summer months. The traditional response to this scenario was to impose restrictions on the use of hosepipes and car washing. However to a profit-orientated company limiting water use can result in lower profits. So private water companies have a range of options which include: * allocating water to priority users, such as hospitals, old people's homes, food processing industries; * adjusting bills, so that non-metered homes pay more for their water than those with water meters; * encouraging conservation measures, such as relining reservoirs with impervious materials to prevent loss by percolation. In other cases light- weight covers can be extended over small reservoirs to reduce losses through evaporation. Leakage from old cast iron water pipes which distribute the water in much of the UK can account for up to 45% of the water leaving a reservoir. These old pipes canbe replaced to reduce leakage, however even in modern systems losses of 20 per cent are considered normal; * large consumers can be encouraged to re-use water; * more reservoirs and other storage areas can be constructed. However this is difficult in EMDCs due to high * land values, competing land uses and conservation concerns. Deeper boreholes bring their own problems; * water can be transferred from neighbouring companies if they have a surplus; * new technologies such as the desalinisation of sea water can be used. Marine Resources Oceans covering 70% of the Earth's surface represent a resource with enormous potential, for both use and abuse. Until 100 years ago the oceans were largely used for two main activities namely fishing and shipping. Since then, however, human interest in marine resources has

extended from these two initial activities into energy production, underwater mining, waste disposal, research, tourism and conservation. The sheer size, diversity and flexibility of marine resources have proved a fatal attraction for the human species. Great wealth has been extracted from marine resources but the environmental costs have been high. Only recently have ideas of sustainable development been applied to the oceans and their resources and for some resources and some oceans this process is already too late. There are three major oceans on the Earth -the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian -of which the Pacific is the largest covering 170 million sq. km. This makes the Pacific as big as the other two oceans combined. The Pacific alone covers one-third of the Earth's surface and stretches nearly half way round it from east to west. It is so big that all the Earth's dry land could fit inside it. The Arctic Ocean is smaller than the other three and is mostly covered by ice. Other, smaller water-covered areas of the Earth are called seas, such as the Caribbean or the Mediterranean. These seas may be part of an ocean, as for example the Caribbean is part of the Atlantic, or they may be separated as in the case of the Mediterranean. The use and abuse of these oceans and their resource will be considered in relation to four main themes: a) fisheries b) mineral extraction c) international conflicts over marine resources d) pollution. Fisheries The sheer size of the world's oceans has led people to believe that they will serve as an inexhaustible supply of food. However from the 1960s onwards the fallacy of this belief became apparent as species after species declined in numbers, and overfishing became chronic in many of the world's oceans. As a result by 1994 the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) reported that nine of the

world's 17 major fishing grounds were suffering catastrophic declines in some species.
Mineral resource Extraction The discovery of oil and natural gas in the North Sea after 1965led to massive drilling activity in different parts of the North Sea. However sea water itself contains dissolved minerals, especially salt. For centuries people have been obtaining salt by evaporating sea water. There are in total over 80 different mineral elements in sea water but only two are so far extracted on a large scale. Half the world's magnesium comes from sea water, as does two-thirds of the world's total bromide production. However sand and gravel are probably the two most valuable marine minerals currently dredged from ocean floors. In Britain 10 per cent of the total sand and gravel production used in the construction industry is dredged from the sea bed. In other countries like Iceland shells dredged from the sea bed are used for cement production. Placer deposits Some minerals have been carried to the ocean by rivers and deposited on the sea bed as placer deposits. Off the coast of Indonesia for example tin is mined from such placer deposits where reserves over 650 000 metric tonnes are known to exist. Other metals mined in this way around the world are silver, iron, tungsten, platinum, titanium, sulphur phosphates and diamonds. The largest mineral resources lie in the deepest parts of the sea bed. The Red Sea is one important area where mineral rich sediments lie 2000 metres beneath the surface. Atlantis II Deep is the largest of these deposits and lies halfway between the Sudan and Saudi Arabia. Silver, zinc, copper and gold are all to be found in the sediments which range from 2 to 23 metres in thickness. The minerals could be extracted by pumping to the surface but large-scale extraction will depend on the world price for these minerals. Once the costs of land-based mining start to rise ocean mining will become a reality. But in addition to accidents for hundreds of years people have systematically used oceans as the main depository for humanity's waste products. Areas such as the Mediterranean in the zone close to the Niledelta or the lagoons of Venice have been hazards to human health for centuries. However in recent years the scale of pollution has grown, and now the once localised examples have spread to include the open ocean. Oceans like the Black Sea, Baltic and Mediterranean are particularly vulnerable to pollution because they are partially enclosed. In these cases the water circulates only slowly and so pollutants are not diluted or swept away. Similarly areas with weak ocean currents, such as the German Bight in the North Sea have more serious pollution than those places where Currents flow more strongly. River estuaries and harbours are concentration points for pollution, and in general terms coastal waters are more heavily polluted than the open oceans. Despite this pollutants such as DDT or PCBs have been found all over the world including in the tissues of penguins and

seals from the Pacific to the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. None of the world's oceans are free from pollution. Only ~he degree varies. Polluting the oceans- The Guardian The tanker finally grounded on the rocks of Garth Ness, on the west coast of Shetland, at 11.19 that morning. All 85,000 tonnes of the crude oil loaded in Norway was spilt as she broke up in gales. According to the Marine Pollution Control Unit re- port, also published yesterday, environmental disaster was only avoided because of the violent weather conditions and the low viscosity of the oil. T he Braer's troubles began, according to the Department of Transport's maritime accident investigation branch, when spare steel pipes broke loose on the after deck on the severe southerly gale.

Natural resources are what occurs in nature in their original, untouched form - unless of course man disturbs this. They consist of all things that do not come under man-made creations, where what we see around us that takes its course without the intervention of humans, is what would account as a natural resource. From rivers to mountains, to precious stones and minerals, the earth is abundant with resources that develop on the planet using its surrounding environment to help it thrive or take form. There are natural resources that we are all familiar with, where we're taught in school about these in much detail. To help one understand just how vast the reserve of natural resources are on the earth, you'll find below a complete list of natural resources. List of Natural Resources Forest resources (pertaining to plant and tree life) Aquatic / Marine resources Hydro geological resources (water bodies of all kinds) Animal resources (domesticated animals, or those that can be easily approached by humans) Microbial resources (organisms that aren't visible to the naked eye) Human resources (the population at large) Atmospheric resources (anything that humans cannot control - rainfall, sunlight, temperature, and the like) Crop resources (agricultural growth) Geological resources (naturally occurring formations - rocks, valleys, minerals, precious metals, and the like) Edaphic resources (anything related to the soil and its properties) Wildlife resources Natural Resources and Their Uses Soil Used for growing crops (only 10% of the earth's surface). Soil can be used for shelter. Many tribal people around the world create shelters with the help of soil. Water Used for drinking (only 0.0007% of earth's water is suitable for drinking. The rest is salt water, water trapped in glaciers, or polluted. Freshwater is used for irrigation of crops. Water bodies such as oceans, lakes, and rivers of the world can be used for transportation. Fishing is a valuable source of food within certain water bodies. The water from rivers is used to generate hydro-electricity. Minerals Minerals can be defined as naturally occurring substances obtained from the ground. Some examples are coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron, copper, gold, etc. They are also absorbed by plants from the earth's surface, and are transferred to humans through food. They (coal, natural gas, and fossil fuels) are a source of energy. Used as ingredients to make other materials like iron ore, steel, and petroleum. Petroleum is used to make a variety of byproducts like gasoline, plastic, etc. Can be used in its natural form like salt. Vegetation Land is used for farming from which vegetables, grains, and fruits are grown. Wood from trees is cut and processed to make furniture for homes and to provide for construction materials. It's used for cooking and also as fuel to produce heat for warmth. Clothing - clothes are made from cotton. Plants are used as an ingredient in medicines. Animals Animals are used as food, and their waste is used as fertilizer for crops. We get fur and hide from animals which are both used for making clothes. Used for transportation. These can further be defined as renewable and non-renewable resources. Renewable resources are those that can be produced again, for example, plants and animals, whereas, nonrenewable resources are those which cannot be produced again, for example, fossil fuels. The latter is exhaustible and needs to be carefully utilized to leave enough for future generations.

We need to make serious attempts to use natural resources in an efficient manner because in recent years, these resources have depleted as a result of their careless use. The seriousness of the problem can be understood from the words of former American president Theodore Roosevelt, "The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others."