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
Gasohol = alcohol + gasoline
Coal = peat + high temperature and pressure
Topsoil = decaying organic matter + eroded rock + minerals +
nutrients + oxygen + water
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