The IEB Grade 11 Resources and Sustainability notes provide a detailed exploration of how various natural and manufactured resources are utilised, their impact on economic development, and the consequences of over-exploitation. These notes discuss the importance of sustainable resource management, ...
Resources - things that people can use.
Natural resources - come from nature:
• soil
• water
• forests
• rocks
• gas
Some resources will last forever & others will run out. Using resources wisely benefits the
quality of life of more people for a longer time.
Unwise use of resources can lead to hunger & poverty & threaten the survival of
communities now & in the future.
Resources refers to natural resources that support the economic development. They include:
• Minerals
• Soil
• Forests
• Fish
• Wildlife
What the effect of these resources running out is
Food: Water: Forests:
• starvation • dehydration • not enough oxygen
• malnutrition • farming • death
• death • death • natural habitats gone
• sanitation
Fossil fuels - fuels that contain carbon, deposited in the earth in the form of remains
decayed of plants & animals
,Types of resources
Natural resources: Human Resources:
• raw materials, provided by earth • people
• water • more skilled people
• soil • more useful / valuable
• rocks / minerals
• gas
Manufactured resources: Financial resources:
• made by people that are useful in • capital (money)
providing a good / service
• transport
• technology / machinery
• infrastructure
The relationship between resources & economic development
Towns, cities, factories & infrastructure develop where there are resources available,
especially where resources are bulky / heavy. Once industries established, they continued
when local resources were used up.
The exploitation of resources
Renewable
• will not run out if people use them wisely
• include water, soil, fish, air & forests
• replace themselves through natural processes.
Non-renewable
• have a limited supply
• run out if people continue to use them incorrectly
• coal, oil & gold
• once renewable resources are used they cannot be used again
• estimates of natural resources running out: oil - 2030, natural gas - 2050,
coal - 2200
Uses of natural resources
• animal resources
• crude oil
• forest resources
• precious ,metals, minerals & rocks
• water resources
• land resources
• wind power & solar energy
• natural gas
, No two resources are the same. Sunshine is plentiful in SA. We can use this energy in the
form of solar energy. Amount of almost all other resources we use & the rate at which we
use them, affect how much will be left for us to use the the future. E.g. rate at which we use
wood & coal, natural resources used for heating, affects how much will be left for us to use
in the future sustainability.
Mineral resources are non-renewable. People mine minerals (iron ore) to manufacture
other products (steel). Other minerals & fossil fuels such as coal, oil & platinum are less
common. Minerals will runout in our life time.
Basic calculation reviews that is would take 48 years (around 2067) to exhaust those
planet’s oil.
Renewable resources can be used over & over if they are used wisely. If we use them at a
rate which they can replace themselves, they will never runout.
However if we use them unwisely, using them too rapidly or wastefully even renewable
resources will not be able to be used over & over.
Reasons natural resources are being depleted & degraded
• businesses over-exploit resources to maximise profits in a short time.
• lack of understanding when it comes to the natural processes involved.
• population pressures on the resources, rapid growth of the population has seriously
depleted some resources.
Effects of unwise use of resources
• resources are damaged
• resources are used up more quickly
Exploiting resources
Exploitation means - over using something
E.g. chopping & burning wood
When exploiting leads to renewable resources being used up very quickly then it becomes
over-exploitation & unwise use.
Over-exploitation leads to DEPLETION
Depletion of resources
This happens when the reserve of resources are used up so rapidly that’s the amount of these
resources available is reduced or even finished, e.g. overfishing.
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