What are natural resources?
Big idea: Natural resources are everything we take from the environment to meet our needs — from the air we breathe to the metals in our phones.
Categories of natural resources
Renewable resources
- Can be replenished naturally
- Examples: solar energy, wind, timber, freshwater, fish
- Sustainable IF harvest rate ≤ regeneration rate
- Can become non-renewable if overexploited
Non-renewable resources
- Finite supply; formed over geological time
- Examples: fossil fuels, minerals, metals
- Cannot be replaced once depleted
- Must be conserved or substituted
Key natural resources
- Fossil fuels: Coal, oil, natural gas — energy for transport, electricity, heating
- Minerals and metals: Iron, copper, aluminium, rare earths — construction, electronics, manufacturing
- Timber: Construction, paper, fuel — can be renewable if sustainably managed
- Freshwater: Drinking, agriculture, industry — only 2.5% of Earths water is fresh
- Land/soil: Agriculture, housing, ecosystem services — finite and degradable
- Fish and wildlife: Food, materials — renewable but heavily overexploited
A resource is only renewable if we use it at or below its regeneration rate. Overfishing can make fish stocks effectively non-renewable!
Exam tip: Be ready to classify resources as renewable or non-renewable AND explain the conditions under which renewable resources can become depleted.
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Resource use and development
Big idea: Resource consumption is closely linked to economic development. As countries develop, their resource use typically increases — creating tensions between growth and sustainability.
Trends in resource use
- Global resource extraction has tripled since 1970
- Per capita consumption varies hugely — HICs use 10x more than LICs
- Demand is accelerating due to population growth and rising living standards
- Some resources are peaking — e.g., peak phosphorus, peak oil debates
The development-resource link
- Industrialisation requires massive inputs of metals, fuels, and materials
- Urbanisation increases demand for construction materials and energy
- Rising consumption drives demand for consumer goods and their inputs
- The environmental Kuznets curve suggests pollution may decrease after a certain income level — but this is debated
Ecological footprint measures resource demand; biocapacity measures supply. Currently, humanity uses ~1.7 Earths worth of resources annually.
Resource distribution and conflict
- Resources are unevenly distributed globally
- This creates resource dependence and trade relationships
- Can lead to resource conflicts (e.g., oil, water, minerals)
- Resource curse: Countries rich in resources often have poor governance and conflict
Exam tip: Questions often ask you to describe trends in resource use from data. Practice identifying patterns, rates of change, and differences between regions.
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IB-style question — Classifying natural resources [2]
A coastal town relies on its offshore wind farm, a granite quarry, the surrounding pine forest and the local groundwater aquifer. Identify which two of these are renewable resources and which two are non-renewable. [2]
How to answer it, step by step
- Renewable
• Wind farm — wind replenished continuously
• Pine forest — regrows if harvested sustainably - Non-renewable
• Granite quarry — rock forms over millions of years
• Aquifer — groundwater recharges far slower than it is pumped
Final answer
Examiner tip: 'renewable' means it replenishes on a human timescale — a forest only counts if regrowth keeps pace with harvesting.
IB-style question — Natural capital and natural income [2]
A managed bamboo plantation is described as natural capital that yields a natural income. Outline what is meant by natural capital and natural income, using bamboo as the example. [2]
How to answer it, step by step
- Natural capital
• The bamboo stock itself — a resource that holds value
• Like money in an account that can generate returns - Natural income
• The new bamboo grown each year that can be harvested
• Sustainable only if you cut no more than the yearly growth
Final answer
Examiner tip: capital is the stock, income is the yield — harvesting only the income keeps the capital intact.