Natural Resources

Video Transcription

Hi, I'm Jensen Morgan. We're going to talk about some great concepts in environmental science. Today's topic is natural resources. So let's get started. We're going to talk about the two main categories of natural resources-- renewable resources and nonrenewable resources.

All biomes on Earth contain useful materials to humans. These things are called natural resources. Examples of such would be air, water, soil, forests, plants, animals, and minerals. They fall into one of two categories-- renewable or nonrenewable natural resources. Renewable natural resources are resources that can be replaced in a reasonable human time span or are unlimited in supply. Nonrenewable natural resources are resources that cannot be replaced in a reasonable human time span.

Let's focus on renewable resources first. So if renewable resources are those that can be replaced in a reasonable human time span, we need to dictate what that is. A reasonable human time span is months, years, or decades. Examples of reasonable resources include-- water, plant resources, wood, oils, sugars, starch, medicines, rubbers, ethanol, biomass, animal resources, fur, oils, meat, and some energy resources such as sunlight, wind, and geothermal.

Nonrenewable resources cannot be replaced in a reasonable human time span, usually taking thousands or millions of years to form. From a human perspective, these resources are finite and once used will be gone. Examples of nonrenewable resources include some energy resources such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas, and mined resources such as metals, minerals, and gems.

If not properly managed and maintained, renewable resources, like animal resources, water, wood, and biomass, like these log trees here, can become nonrenewable if degraded or destroyed. They must be managed and used wisely, using sustainable practices in order to continue being renewable resources. Natural resource management is a form of stewardship.

Now let's have a recap. We talked about natural resources that are both renewable and nonrenewable, as well as the importance of natural resource management. Our key terms were renewable resources, which are resources that can be replaced in a reasonable human time span or are unlimited in supply. And nonrenewable resources, which are resources that cannot be replaced in a reasonable human time span.

Well, that's all for this tutorial. I hope these concepts have been helpful, and I look forward to next time. Bye.