Conservation OfNatural Resources

ABOUT - EARTH

1. Our earth is one of the nine planets in the solar system.

2. It is the only planet where the life exists due to the presence of soil, water and air.

3. Hence it is also termed as blue planet.

4. Our earth comprises of living and non living things.

NATURAL RESOURCES

Natural resources are basically classified on the basis of their origin. They are biotic(living) and abiotic(non-living).

Based on availability they are classified into renewable and non renewable resources.

Renewable are the one which can be used for ever. These are costly

example: water, soil.

Nonrenewable resources get depleted when over used. These are cheaper.

example: petroleum, coal

Forest resourcesWater resourceMineral resourcesFood resourcesLand resourcesEnergy resources

These are some of the natural resources commonly used which we will see in detail.

FOREST RESOURCES

Any land that is occupied by wide range of plants and trees is said to be forest.

Forests are very essential for our daily routine as they give us many useful products.

We get many items like teak, sandal, rose, bamboos and other non-timber products such as medicines, fruits, vegetables e.t.c.

Forests provide us many commercial products like paper, gum, perfumes, honey.

It provides us oxygen and takes in the carbon dioxide thereby cleans the atmosphere.

It controls the soil fertility by nourishing the soil with its nutrients and also acts as an aquifer(checks the water level under ground).

it maintains the rainfall by cooling the air around them.

Forest resources are classified into 3 types , they are:Tropical/evergreenforest

i. Here the climate is comparatively hot.

ii. The trees appear green through out the year.Temperate forests

i. They have a moderate climate where it is neither cold nor hot.

ii. They are divided into 2 types deciduous forests and boreals.

Coniferous forests

i. They have a very low temperature.

ii. Hence only pine trees grow there.

PROBLEMS FACED BY THE FORESTS

1. Many natural disasters such as forest fires,

Floods and Land slides etc ruins the Forest

region.

2. Due to the Increase of the population, demand for wood for uses like *fire wood, *Furniture wood etc., has increased hence the large number of trees are cut causing forests to suffer.

3. This leads to desertification, ecological imbalance, soil erosion and re-habitalisation of the tribals.

AIR POLLUTION

DIFFERENT SECTORS CAUSING AIR POLLUTION

Water is a basic essential component in our life.

Without water there is no existence of life.

Water is classified into 2 types. Surface and ground water.

Again surface water is divided into saline waters eg. Oceans and fresh waters eg. Lakes.

Fresh waters based on their movement are again divided into lentic(static) eg. ponds and lotic(moving) eg. Rivers.

WATER RESOURCES

Importance of water Water is very important for drinking and other domestic purposes.

It stabilizes the temperature.

It is said to be an universal solvent.

It is also used in agriculture.

It is one of the source to cause rainfall.

Water cleans up the land by immersing all the impurities in it and thereby driving them away.

Threats to water resources

Water is destroyed by nature and man.

NATURAL DISASTERS

I. Increasing of algae in water called eutrophication.

II. Tsunamis

MAN INDUCED PROBLEMS

1. Pollution-adding wastes in water.

2. Addition of toxic substances from industries.

3. Over exploitation which causes drought.

MINERAL RESOURCES

• A material which has definite chemical properties and indefinite physical properties is called as a mineral.

• Minerals based on their property are classified into metallic eg. Iron , copper and non-metallic eg. limestone , coal.

• Based on economy they are divided into critical(valuable for economy) eg. gold and strategic(used in case of defence). eg. sulphur.

• The process of extracting minerals from their ores is called mining.

MINING

Mining is done in different steps.Theyare:

1. Exploration or searching

2. Prospection-identifying the mineral in the ore.

3. Extraction

4. Purification

Classification in mining

mining

surface

Open pit

dredging

quarrying

Sub-surface

Extraction and purification

DIFFICULTIES WITH MINING

A. It disturbs the mantle layer of the earth.

B. It causes earth quakes and tsunamis.

C. Also leads to the drowning of the land.

D. Leads to acid mine drainage.

E. Deforestation is increasing rapidly due to mining.

FOOD RESOURCESFood is that which provides us energy . This food comes from the plants and animals. But today due to the population expansion , over killing of animals and insecure agricultural practices are being seen.

Modern agricultural systems are in use, such as the green revolution i.e, growing plants with many hybrid qualities.

DRAW BACKS OF GREEN REVOLUTION

1. This method uses lots of pesticides and insecticides.

2. It causes soil erosion as the soil nourishing micro organisms die due to the usage of fertilizers.

3. It increases the salinity content and creates water logging.

agricultural

pollution

LAND RESOURCESA land is the area which contains biotic and abiotic contents . Land is covered with soil throughout . There are different types of soils in India.

Alluvial soil- rich in all the nutrients.

Black soil-it gives support to the plants.

Red soil-appears red due to the presence of iron. Fruits or vegetables that grow underneath are grown in this soil.

Laterite soil-majorly seen in mountains and consists of potassium and sulphur.

Desert soil-hardly no plant is grown in this soil.

Desert soil black soil red soil

THREATS TO SOIL Natural calamities like wind , water and man made activities such as:

1. Storms causes loss of the top most layer.

2. Water in the form of rill , gully , riparian and sheet erosions is one of the cause for soil erosion.

3. Using pesticides in the agricultural land.

4. Growing monoculture

o It is the capacity to do work . Any resource which provides energy is called an energy resource.

o Based on their abundancy they are classified into renewable eg. Sun, wind, water. and non renewable eg. Fossil fuels , crude oil and natural gas.

o We can generate power from these resources.

o Eg. Hydro electricity, thermal electricity , geo thermal electricity.

o To store and generate these resources we use solar panels, wind mills, turbines, dams etc.

THREATS:

1. Due to the industries , mining , transportation pollution is increasing along with which global

warming is also increasing.

2. Deforestation is also a major cause as it cuts all the plants which are of good nutritive value.

ENERGY RESOURCES

1991

2001

2011

0 400 800 1200 1600

1981

year

Population Explosion

Population in millions

STEPS TO PRESERVE1) The first and foremost step to be taken is

afforestation i.e, planting as many trees as possible by each person.

2) Water harvesting should be done. Letting of industrial wastes into the water should be banned instead recycling all the e-wastes is better.

3) In the present days there is no particular restriction to the mining activities which must be minimized to a maximum in order to control pollution and also save the mountains. Following bio mining methods is better.

Terrace farming Drip irrigation

A. Organic farming methods should be taught to all the farmers.

B. It includes

• Mulching-a procedure to create natural manure by sprinkling sand ,water over the dry leaves instead of

burning which again creates global warming.

• Composting is also one such method to produce natural manure.

• Green manure that is obtained from cow dung is rich nutrients.

a) agriculture practices like

i. crop rotation-changing the crop for every season to make the soil rich with nutrients.

ii. Terrace/contourbunding-digging holes around the soil in order to make the water stay for long time.

iii. Step farming in hilly areas .

iv. Farmers should follow bio organic method.

Usage of motor vehicles should be reduced to a great extent.

Saving animals from pollution and over hunting should be considered as a primary need.