Natural Resources
Define nonexhaustible natural resources. Give examples.
Nonexhaustible natural resources are natural resources that can last forever regardless of human activities. Some examples are surface water and air. The hydrologic cycle keeps our warmer supply nonexhaustible, despite pollution. The air is able to be damaged by pollution, but we cannot use it up.
Nature's resources once seemed limitless. Why is this no longer true?
People believed that natural resources were endless, which was somewhat true at the time because there's wasn't things like machines that can do that job of a whole factory of workers in one easy step.
What is a food chain? Give an example
A food chain is a sequence of organisms, each of which provides a source of nutrients for the next organism in the change. An example: oak-acorn-mouse-fox
Define renewable resources. Give examples.
Renewable resources are natural resources that reproduce themselves or that can be reproduced by human efforts. These resources can be used up. The forest and our fish and wildlife population are some examples.
How many species of wild animals, birds, and fish have become extinct in this country since colonial times?
Since colonial times, 121 vertebrate species have become extinct in our nation. Since late 2006, 408 species of animals have been labeled as threatened/endangered
Describe the difference between conservation and preservation.
Conservation is the use/management of natural resources, such as wildlife, water, and air. Preservation is the attempts to maintain conditions of the earth untouched by humans, such as buildings, objects, and landscapes
Define exhaustible natural resources. Give examples.
Exhaustible natural resources are limited resources that cannot be replaced or reproduced. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. Some examples are oil, mineral resources such as lead, cobalt, and zinc, and lastly soil-for the most part because it can only be replaced in 500,000 years.
What is humankind's ecosystem? Why has it expanded?
Humans, trees, water, animals, fish, grasses, and sunlight. It has expanded because our population has grown drastically and our technology has advanced.
What are two very good arguments for carefully maintaining our natural resources for recreation?
We need to protect the quality of our ecosystem because we are not alone on this planet, and we do not own rights to live here. Another one is that we need the relaxing/inspirational values we obtain for unsoiled nature, like swimming water and unlittered trails
What are some of our key mineral resources and what are known reserves?
Some of our key mineral resources are the metals, such as iron, copper, aluminum, magnesium, lead, zinc, tin and several others. Our known reserves are (in years): Aluminum; 222, Copper; 35, Iron; 161, Lead; 18, Mercury; 43, Nickel; 51, Tin; 168, Zinc; 23
What is carrying capacity?
the ability of an ecosystem to provide food and shelter for a given population level
What was the forested area in this county 300 years again? What is it today? How can it be that our smaller forest area produces more wood today?
300 years ago, over a billion acres of our land was forested, at least half of our land area. Only 70 percent of that area is still in forest and out of the 738 million acres in the United Stayed today, one third is not usable for crop production. Our smaller forest area produces more wood today because we have less "mature" forests. We cut down trees more nowadays and this helps with forest management to ensure that more will be able to take their place, since trees are renewable.
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is any partially self-contained environmental living system. It's where stuff lives and interacts.
What are some ways that nature is balanced?
An ecosystem matures/remains balanced as species of plants/animals replace each other, causing ecological succession
What is a natural resource?
Natural resources are objects, materials (things like soil, water, and air), creators or energy found in nature that can be of use to humans
What is the land area of the United States? How much of that is suitable for farming? How much is suitable for crop production?
The land area of the United States is 3,675,545 square miles or 2.26 billion acres. 60 percent is suitable for farming. One-third of our land area is not suitable. 17 percent or about 385 million acres is usable for crop production.
What is the direct or indirect source of most of our energy resources? Give some examples of indirect energy from this source.
The sun is where most of our energy comes from, both directly and indirectly. Some indirect examples are wind and plant energy. Indirect: solar panels
How does the usefulness of a natural resource change over time? What factors affect usefulness most?
The usefulness of things changes as our technology improves. In example, natural resources used to provide light has changed over the years. It also has to do with the availability of the resource.
If there is so much water in the world, why is there a shortage problem in the United States?
There is a shortage problem in the United States because of control, quality, and distribution. The hydrologic cycle contains a lot of water that people do not get to use.
Is there an accurate balance in nature? What would an accurate balance in nature mean?
There isn't such thing as a true balance of nature. The forces in nature constantly counteract each other. An accurate balance would mean that there is a constant change in nature, since balance implies no change.
