Natural resources are those things provided by the environment that support life and satisfy people’s wants and needs. Minerals, land, and water are natural resources. So are biological resources, such as flowers, trees, birds, wild animals, and fish. Mineral resources include oil, coal, metals, stone, and sand. Other natural resources are air, sunshine, and water currents in rivers and oceans. Natural resources are combined with such resources as labor, factories, machines, and tools to make food, energy, and the goods we use.
This article discusses natural resources in general. For information on the natural resources of specific areas, see the Natural resources section in each state and province article, and in various country articles.
Uses and importance.
With the exception of water, biological resources are the most important natural resources for people. All the food we eat comes from plants or animals. Since early days, people have used wood from trees for fuel and shelter. Biological resources, in turn, are dependent on other natural resources. Most plants and animals could not live without air, sunshine, soil, and water.
Mineral resources are also extremely important to modern living. Mineral fuels—including coal, oil, and natural gas—provide people with heat, light, and power. Minerals also serve as raw materials for making finished goods, such as cars, plastics, and refrigerators.
Conservation and development.
Because human life depends on natural resources, people are concerned that we may eventually run out of them. Economists and scientists believe that people will probably never use up such abundant mineral raw materials as iron, aluminum, and sand. Minerals used as fertilizers, including potassium and phosphorus, are also rather abundant. In addition, some of these materials can be reused. For example, scrap iron can be melted down and used again in steelmaking.
As other minerals become scarcer, however, people may have to explore farther or dig deeper to get what they need. Or they may have to substitute one material for another one that has become too scarce. For example, aluminum may be used in place of copper for many purposes. Although copper is scarce, aluminum is widely available.
Other natural resources, such as oil, coal, and natural gas, are in fixed supply and are nonrenewable. They cannot be replaced by more of the same material. As these resources become scarcer, the cost of finding them and making them available for use increases. These cost increases make alternative sources of energy, such as ethanol (alcohol used as a fuel for cars), solar power, and wind and nuclear energies, more cost-effective alternatives.
Humans face the issue of balancing the use of natural resources to satisfy wants and needs against the preservation of the environment. To produce goods and services, people take nonrenewable natural resources from the environment. People then use the environment to dispose of the by-products of production, often resulting in such problems as air and water pollution. History is full of examples where the cost of production has included tremendous damage to the environment. Rivers and lakes have been polluted. Farmland has been overused and left unproductive. Certain animals and plants have been driven to either extinction or near extinction.
Wealthy nations tend to introduce government restrictions and regulations to protect their own environment. In the United States, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970 to protect the nation’s environment from pollution. Since then, U.S. air quality has improved. In addition, energy consumption per person in the United States is lower now than at its peak in the late 1970’s, even though more goods and services are produced per person.
Nations beginning their push toward industrialization usually rapidly increase their use of natural resources. These nations must often sacrifice environmental conservation in order to pursue economic growth. As a result, some scientists and economists worry about the environmental effects of industrialization in such places as China and India, where coal is the major resource used to provide energy. Others believe the concern over less-developed nations is misplaced. They emphasize the size of populations and the amount of pollution generated by the developed nations.
