October 30, 2018

Resources and Conservation

Programme: MSc in Geography

Course name: Geographical Epistemology
Prepared by Elena Hahn
 The Nature of Natural Resources
Stock, Resources, and Reserves

 Stock – all the material components of the environment, including both mass and energy,
both things biological and things inert.
Stock has a limit
to energy (solar radiation received by the earth per day is 𝟏𝟕 x 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟑 kW)
to material goods (the weight of earth is 𝟔. 𝟔 x 𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟏 tons)

 Resource is a stock which can be of some use to people in meeting their needs for food,
shelter, warmth, transportation and so on.
The transformation from s stock to a resource is reversible. Flint-axe mines near Brandon.

 Reserves are the subset of resources that people can presently use.
They form the most specific but the smallest of the three categories and are relevant to one
period of time only, THE PRESENT
 The Nature of Natural Resources
Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources

 Nonrenewable resources. It takes so long for them to form that from a human
viewpoint they can be considered as limited.
Some of them are not affected by the passage of time (coal or metal ores)
others deteriorate (the stock of natural gas is reduced by seepages)
 Renewable (flow) resources are resources that are recurrent but variable over time
(water power). For example, the upper limit of world tidal power is abt 𝟏. 𝟏 x 𝟏𝟎𝟗 kW
per annum.
a) unaffected by human action (tidal energy)
b) demonstrably affected (groundwater resources)
 The Nature of Natural Resources
Estimating the Size of Reserves

Example of oil field. The size of the reserves depends on four factors:
 The quality of the oil, its ch. characteristics, and its freedom from impurities like sulfur;
 The size of the field and whether it is large enough to justify the capital investment
needed to work it;
 The accessibility of the field, both in a spatial sense (i.e., its distance from refineries or
consumers) and in a vertical, geologic sense (its depth); and
 The relative demand for oil as indicated by the prevailing price level.

Alteration of any of these four factors can change the size of the reserve.
Limited Reserves? The Dilemma of Stock Resources
Optimistic View
1800 to 1930 – human population doubled
1930 to 1975 – human population doubled again
Each human being needs basic necessities + nonessential goods with higher per capita
demand (as the standard of living rises)
The effect of population and recourse consumption per capita resulted in
a fivefold increase in resource extraction btw 1880 and 1980
the amount of metals and ores used since 1930 is more than the amount used in all prev.
time
‘Resources in America’s Future’ in the 1960s projected that by 2000 A.D., the world would
need:
a tripling of aggregate food output 2 2.8
a fivefold increase in energy 2 1.4
a fivefold increase in iron alloys
a tripling of lumber output 2 1.66
 World Food Production Index by the World Bank

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.PRD.FOOD.XD?end=2010&start=1961&view=chart
 Energy Use per Capita by the World Bank

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE?end=2015&start=1960&view=chart
 Roundwood Production by FAOSTAT

http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FO/visualize
 Limited Reserves? The Dilemma of Stock Resources
Optimistic View
Now comes the question ‘How long will reserves of the earth's nonrenewable
resources last?’ Two kinds of answers:
 Optimistic view (based on economics)
scarcer the product - higher the price
Prices for all resource products varied a little over the period of 1870 and 1970.
Natural resources do not become scarcer.
 Reasons for price stability
1. When a rise in prices occurs it brings a chain of compensating movements (water)
2. Substitution of resources (increased demand in textiles).
Consequently, each resource has a convex consumption curve!
3. Switch in methods of extraction (copper mining, oil drilling)
Trends in Resource Prices
How the contribution of different world energy sources to the
total energy used changed from 1875 to 2000
 Limited Reserves? The Dilemma of Stock Resources
Pessimistic View
The pessimistic approach is driven by such factors as constant population expansion
along with the resource exploitation.
 The Problem of Dwindling Fossil Fuels
Calculations show that
80% of the petroleum family’s resos (crude oil, natural gas) will be exhausted in 100 y
80% of the coal reserves will be depleted in 300 to 400 y
 Alternative Energy Sources?
Solar radiation, water power, tidal power, geothermal energy problem is SCALE
atomic fission, atomic fusion promising future
but the environmental threats diminish the prospects
According to supporters of the pessimistic view, the ultimate depletion of the readily
available sources of fossil fuel energy stored up from geologic processes will bring us a
rather gloomy future.
 Sustained Yields: The Problem of Flow Resources
The Green Revolution
* Sustained Yield - a level of exploitation or crop production which is maintained by
restricting the quantity harvested to avoid long-term depletion
Renewable resources depend on physical (related directly to solar energy) and biological
(indirectly related to solar energy through photosynthesis) energy cycles
Recreational resources lie on the border btw renewable and nonrenewable resources
 The Green Revolution
Example of crop production
Mendel (1822-1884) laid the foundation of plant genetics
Thomas Malthus in 1789 predicted worldwide famines
Mexican dwarf wheat (1953) – double production
Rice – varieties of improved rice (IR), sixfold increase, better resistance to disease,
better taste, better appearance after cooking
Side problems: high dependency on fertilizer and insecticides, lavish irrigation (rice)
Increased yields from a renewable resources may indirectly depend on a nonr. res-ce
 Sustained Yields: The Problem of Flow Resources
Sustained-Yield Forest Resources
Two ecological principles
 Sustained-yield – the continuous production of forest products from an area
at some appropriate yield level.
It is achieved through planned rotational systems (some with cycles over 100
years), careful species selection, and protection of the timber crop from fire and
disease. Ex, Douglas fir in the Pacific Northwest region of the US is cropped by
patch cutting, after which timber from areas around each patch naturally re-
covers the cleared areas.
 Multiple use. Ex: timber is considered not only as the forest, but also as a
protection against erosion and pollution, as a wilderness or wildlife refuge, or
as a recreational areas. The first ‘foresty’ recreational area was established by
the US (Yellowstone National Park). The action led to similar establishments in
other countries across the world. Currently the UN List of National Parks
contains the names of 3,881 national parks (as of 2003).
 Sustained Yields: The Problem of Flow Resources
Sustained-Yield Recreational Resources
Increasing demand for recreational sites and facilities
 Questions of Resource Demand – ex. Demand for sailing in the lake
Recreational yield = number of boats x amount of sailing activity
How to obtain the maximum yield?
“first-come, first-served”, charging a fee, exclusive club membership etc.
The problems of the lake are applicable to other cases such as beaches,
historical sites, wilderness areas and so on.
 Questions of Supply - it is difficult to make assessments of the available supply
of recreational resources since they are cultural assessments. It means that the
same quality may be judged quite differently by different cultures.
Recreational planners use different methods (observations, interviewing) to
assess supplies suitable for recreational activities.
Growth in the demand for recreational resources
Crowding and resource use
 European Alps

19th cent assessment as a natural hazard Nowadays assessment as a recreational site

 Conservation of Natural Resources
 Definitions “Resource conservation is the scheduling of resource use so as to
provide the greatest yield for the greatest number over the longest time period.”
“Timing is of the essence; the optimal timing of the use of natural resources is right
now”
 The Conservation Movement
National Park Service (1916)
International Treaty on protecting migrating birds btw the US and Canada (1916)
Taylor Grazing Act (1934)
Soil Conservation Service (1935)
Clean Air Act (1970)
Interest in conservation:
global level – concern on wise use of resources and on environmental protection
local community level – Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, English Women’s Institutes
Thank You