Natural resources and what is their role in human life and activity?

Natural resources are the components of nature used by man in the process of his economic activity.

Natural resources play an extremely important role in human life, and changes in their state in the process of use directly or indirectly affect the interests of both the current and future generations of people. The main types of natural resources: water, atmosphere, forests, land, natural raw materials, fossil fuels.

According to their physical, chemical and biological properties, natural resources are divided into forest, water, mineral, land, fish, plant, etc. The same combination of natural conditions and resources had different meanings at different stages of human development. Some resources were not used because they were not needed; others were an insurmountable obstacle, such as the sea before the development of maritime navigation.

There are types of resources according to the type of exhaustibility:

1. Exhaustible: non-renewable (mineral, land resources); renewable (resources of flora and fauna); not entirely renewable - the recovery rate is below the degree of economic consumption (arable soils, mature forests, regional water resources).

2. Inexhaustible resources (water, climate).

A person uses natural resources as energy sources, commodities, methods and objects of labor, etc.

Natural resources are distributed unevenly across the planet. As a result, different continents, regions, countries have different resource availability - this is the ratio between the amount of natural resources and the amount of their use. Resource supply is expressed by the number of years for which a given resource should last, or by its reserves per capita. In other words, this indicator is affected by the wealth or poverty of the territory by one or another type of resource. However, the volume of consumption of this resource is also of no small importance. For example, explored oil reserves are estimated at 140-150 billion tons, while annual consumption is about 3 billion tons. It is easy to calculate that at the current level of production, the planet is provided with this type of resource for a period of about 50 years. But production volumes are subject to change, as is the estimate of explored reserves. For example, in the early 1980s developed coal reserves were estimated at 1.2 trillion tons, and already in the late 1990s. rose to 1.75 trillion tons. Per capita calculations are usually made for land, water and forest resources. For example, the land endowment in the United States is 3.4 hectares per capita.

Against the background of the growth in the scale of production, the question of the limited natural resources needed to meet the needs of civilization, and the methods of their appropriate use, comes to the fore. Mankind cannot exist without using natural resources, without affecting their volume and quality, and in connection with this, without making changes to its natural environment.

The process of exploitation of natural resources in order to meet the material and cultural needs of society is called nature management. It can be rational (reasonable) and irrational. The very concept of rationality implies reliance on reason and knowledge. Rational and integrated use of natural resources occupies a central place in the system of efficient nature management.

Nature management should be based on the laws of interaction between various natural systems. Rational nature management should include a system of practical measures for the study of natural resources, their careful exploitation, protection and reproduction, taking into account not only the present, but also the future interests of industrial development and the preservation of human health. Not only the state of the environment and the pace of economic development, but also the well-being and well-being of mankind as a whole depend on how carefully and economically water, air, minerals, etc. are spent.

Introduction 3
1. Natural resources and their role in economic activity 4
2. Types of natural resources 5
2. Economic evaluation of natural resources by an entrepreneur 10
Conclusion 25
References 26

Introduction

We live in a developmentally limited world. The earth has strictly defined dimensions. Its surface area is 10.2 million km2. Natural resources are also not unlimited. Some of them are non-renewable. The biosphere has a quantitative limit of the anthropogenic load, the excess of which in the process of economic development turns into a destructive force for nature and man. Due to population growth, the amount of natural resources per capita is declining every year (1).
Various types of natural resources play the main role in the economy and organization of nature management. All of them are components of the biosphere and nature management, determine the state and life of the biosphere. Thus, natural resources are the basis of the life of human civilization at all stages of development.
Natural resources are understood as any natural components and properties of the natural environment that have a use value. These include: lands, soils, waters, subsoil, flora and fauna resources, recreational natural resources, other components of the natural environment located on the territory, in the water area, in the thickness of the Earth and waters, on the continental shelf, as well as within the exclusive economic zone.
Natural resources serve not only to meet the society's needs for vital goods, but also to a large extent ensure the functioning of entrepreneurial activity.

1. Natural resources and their role in economic activity

From the point of view of commercial activities, natural (natural) resources are:
1) natural objects and phenomena used in the present, past and future for direct and indirect consumption, contributing to the creation of material wealth, the reproduction of labor resources, maintaining the living conditions of the population and improving the quality of life;
2) bodies and forces of nature (natural goods), social, the utility of which changes positively or negatively as a result of human labor activity; are used (or potentially suitable for use) as a means of labor (land, waterways, water for irrigation), energy sources (hydropower, nuclear fuel, reserves of fossil fuels, etc.), raw materials and materials (mineral raw materials, forests, technical water resources), directly as commodities (drinking water, wild plants, mushrooms, flowers, fishery products), recreation (places of recreation in nature, its health-improving value), genetic fund banks, etc.
The main feature of all types of natural resources is their limitation. Mankind will be able to survive if its needs for the resources of the biosphere, which are used to create the vital benefits of the population, do not exceed the limiting possibilities of the biosphere in the return of these benefits, under which its stability is maintained (5).
There are three aspects in the structure of commercial activity, relations between man and the environment: borrowing of natural resources; human use of so-called natural goods (territories, animals, landscapes, etc.), as well as the use of the atmosphere, land and water bodies as receivers of production and consumption waste. The wealth of nature, its ability to support the development of society and the possibility of self-healing were not unlimited. Obviously, the elimination of the existing contradictions is possible within the framework of a stable environmentally oriented socio-economic development that does not destroy its natural basis. In turn, the improvement of the quality of life of people should be ensured within the economic capacity of the biosphere, not leading to the destruction of the natural mechanism of environmental regulation and its global changes.
It should be taken into account that as a result of demographic and economic growth and the associated increase in the consumption of natural resources (including the assimilation resource of the biosphere), man as a species has approached the limit of the capacity of the Earth's ecological and economic system and thereby initiated the process of depletion of the production potential of the planet's ecosystem, which is necessary to maintain both the existing level of anthropogenic consumption and the life support systems on which life on the planet depends.

2. Types of natural resources

Natural resources are divided into renewable and non-renewable. Renewable resources are natural resources that are reproduced in natural form. To non-renewable - natural resources that are not self-regenerating in the process of circulation of substances in the biosphere in the foreseeable future. These include, for example, mineral resources. Renewable, except for water resources, include biological resources (living organisms). But at the same time biological resources are exhaustible. During operation, there is a danger of reduction and exhaustion of their reserves (6).
In this regard, for predicting the socio-economic development of society, the classification of natural resources according to the degree of their exhaustibility is of the greatest interest:
1) resources are practically unlimited (inexhaustible), i.e., continuously replenished from the outside and do not need to be reproduced by humans (solar energy, wind energy, tides, etc.);
2) exhaustible resources, including:
renewable (resources of the biosphere), but in need of protection and reproduction measures;
non-renewable and without substitutes (most types of mineral resources);
endangered resources of flora and fauna that require special protection.
Natural resources serve to meet the needs of society for food, heat, energy and structural materials. In addition, they are used for ecological, health-improving, spiritual and ethical, cultural and educational purposes. To describe and classify natural resources, we used the developments of the relevant groups at the UN. Natural resources are divided into material and environmental resources (2).
Material resources are sources of energy and products directly consumed by the population or used by enterprises as input factors of production. Material resources include mineral and biotic resources, as well as resources formed under the influence of solar energy and gravitational forces.
Mineral resources are an accumulation of mineral substances in the earth's crust, formed under the influence of certain geological processes, which are qualitatively and quantitatively suitable for use in social production. The economic use of all minerals of the earth's crust involves their extraction from the bowels and further processing. Mined and processed minerals lose their original form. Metal or metal compounds are extracted from ore minerals (for example, metals such as: iron, manganese, lead, copper, zinc, gold, uranium, etc.). Mineral resources are classified as non-renewable resources.
Non-metallic minerals are used in raw or processed form in various types of production as building materials (mica, asbestos, graphite, phosphorites, rock and potassium salts, etc.). Combustible minerals are used as energy fuel or as raw materials for certain industries. Among this group are solid minerals and oil shale, liquid - oil, gaseous minerals - combustible gases.
From the standpoint of socio-economic development, data on the reserves of the main minerals on individual continents are of interest.
Mineral reserves are distributed on the planet extremely unevenly. A significant part of them is concentrated in Russia. Previously, this was usually explained by the different degree of geological knowledge of different countries and continents. Although there are still countries whose geological knowledge is much weaker than many others, especially industrialized countries, nevertheless, the uneven distribution of mineral deposits is of an objective nature. To form an accumulation of mineral matter in the earth's crust, a favorable combination of a large number of natural factors, both in space and in time, is necessary. Deposits are concentrated in zones where the most favorable factors for their occurrence existed, forming metallogenic provinces and belts, coal, oil and gas, iron ore basins, etc. It is possible that geological exploration will make some adjustments to the picture of the distribution of mineral reserves, but the general nature of their distribution is unlikely to change significantly. The identified amount of mineral resources is not a fixed value. A constant change in their volumes and types is assumed due to scientific and technological progress and in connection with the emergence of new needs.
Biological resources include all living organisms, with the exception of humans. They are represented by millions of species, which are usually classified as follows:
microorganisms;
plants (wild and cultivated species);
animals (wild and domestic species).
Biotic resources are renewable resources, which is the main distinguishing feature of all living organisms. But at the same time, they are depleted. When using biotic resources, there is a danger of reduction and disappearance of their reserves. Therefore, the consumption of these resources must be carried out on a constantly renewable basis, with an appropriate balance between natural growth and the level of use of individual species.
It is currently estimated that almost 40% of the net productivity of all plants is used by humans for human consumption, either directly (for example, fruits, vegetables, woodfuel, and some medicines) or indirectly after they have been processed into manufactured goods (for example, textile fibers, timber, and biomass). As a result of the continuous increase in the involvement of land and other natural resources in economic circulation, as well as environmental pollution with harmful substances, there is a general trend towards the disappearance of various species of flora and fauna. For these reasons, biotic resources should be considered as conditionally renewable resources, the future of which largely depends on the state of ecological resources (10).
The resources formed under the influence of solar energy and gravitational forces, in addition to solar energy, include: hydropower, wave energy, ocean currents and wind. Currently, these resources are of limited use and are mainly used to generate electricity. Since the current exploitation of such resources has minimal impact on the availability of such resources in the future, they are considered renewable resources. Currently, about 6% of the total consumption of primary energy resources falls on hydropower. However, in the future, as technological problems are solved and cost barriers are overcome, new energy sources will be used much more widely. In this regard, it should be noted that the total potential of the energy coming to Earth is three thousand times higher than the volume of world energy consumption.
Ecological resources are understood as a set of environment-forming components that ensure the ecological balance in the biosphere, and, consequently, a normal living environment for a person. Ecological resources are included in physical systems that perform a number of basic vital functions. A characteristic feature of these resources is that they mainly provide services in the form of benefits to society as a whole (5).
Despite the significant difference in the physical characteristics and economic functions of various types of natural resources, most of them are united by the inalienability of complex physical and ecological mechanisms. Improper use of them can result in serious irreparable damage. Taking as a basis the difference between material and environmental resources, it is possible to carry out their further classification.
Ecological resources include those resources that can receive waste from human activities. These include resources such as air, water and land (soil). These resources act, along with the performance of other functions, as a reservoir of all waste generated as a result of human activity. Environmental resources, such as water and air, can also serve as specific inputs to production and consumption processes. So water is consumed by rural and urban utilities, industry and other sectors of the economy, and air is used in various industries.
Natural territories and water areas have the ability to decompose natural anthropogenic substances and wastes without self-destruction and eliminate their harmful effects on life processes. High and low self-purification potentials are noted, depending on the development of organic life in soils and water bodies. The low self-purification potential is characteristic of tundra zones.
Thus, the biosphere turns out to be a self-sustaining and self-restoring system due to its most developed highly organized component - the biota. The latter controls the environment, or rather, those of its components that are associated with the procedures for the synthesis and decay of biogenic elements. The stability of the biosphere can be maintained if the biochemical cycles are closed. Consequently, natural resources serve not only to meet the society's needs for vital goods, but also to a large extent ensure the stability of the biosphere.

Natural resources (natural resources) are elements of nature, part of the totality of natural conditions and the most important components of the natural environment that are used (or can be used) at a given level of development of productive forces to meet the various needs of society and social production.

Natural resources are the main object of nature management, during which they are subjected to exploitation and subsequent processing. The main types of natural resources - solar energy, internal heat, water, land and mineral resources - are the means of labor. Plant resources, wildlife, drinking water, wild plants are commodities.

Due to the huge volume of natural substances and energy used, the problem of providing mankind with natural resources is global. To prevent the depletion of natural resources, it is necessary to rationally and comprehensively use natural resources, search for new sources of raw materials, fuel and energy.

The classification of natural resources is understood as the division of a set of objects, objects and phenomena of the natural environment into groups according to functionally significant features.

On this basis, there are many classifications of natural resources. Let's consider some of them.

The classification of natural resources on the basis of genesis consists in the allocation of resources:

a) lithosphere (minerals, land and soil resources);

b) hydrospheres (glaciers, waters of land and the World Ocean, energy of flowing waters, sea tides);

c) atmosphere (climatic, recreational, wind energy);

d) biosphere (biological resources).

Classification according to the principle of exhaustibility divides natural resources into exhaustible and inexhaustible. The latter include, for example, climatic resources, the energy of the Sun, wind, flowing waters, as well as sea tides. Almost all other natural resources are exhaustible.

Exhaustible resources are formed in the earth's crust or landscape sphere, but the volumes and rates of their formation are measured on a geological time scale. At the same time, the need for such resources on the part of production or for the organization of favorable living conditions for human society significantly exceeds the volumes and rates of natural replenishment. As a result, depletion of natural resource reserves inevitably occurs.

The group of exhaustible resources includes resources with different rates and volumes of formation. Based on the intensity and speed of natural formation, resources are divided into subgroups:

a) exhaustible non-renewable - the continuous use of which can reduce them to a level at which further exploitation becomes economically unfeasible, while they are incapable of self-recovery for a period commensurate with the period of consumption (for example, mineral resources);

b) exhaustible, but renewable (naturally or with human participation) - resources that are characterized by the ability to recover (through reproduction or other natural cycles), for example, flora, fauna, water resources. In this subgroup, resources with extremely slow renewal rates are allocated (fertile lands, forest resources with high quality wood).

Inexhaustible natural resources, the use of which by man does not lead to the apparent depletion of their reserves now or in the foreseeable future (solar energy, internal heat, water, air energy); Classification according to the method of restoration divides natural resources into:

• naturally renewable, i.e. those that can be restored after their use to their original state using natural processes: these are food and non-food biomass, water, air, the restoration of which (including purification) is provided by biological, climatic and hydrological processes. At the same time, it should be remembered that the productivity of these processes has a limit, and a person can, by investing certain funds, increase their activity;
• non-renewable, which, in principle, cannot be restored for reuse (this is, first of all, such energy resources as coal, oil, natural gas).

The most common classification of natural resources is the classification according to their origin. With the help of it allocate: resources of natural components and resources of natural-territorial complexes. The resources of natural components include:

• mineral resources (a set of specific forms of mineral substances in the earth's crust, which are a source of energy, various materials, chemical compounds and elements);
• climatic resources (inexhaustible natural resources, including solar energy, moisture and wind energy);
• water resources (resources of the hydrosphere - the World Ocean and land waters);
• plant resources (forests, agricultural crops, etc.);
• land and soil resources (lands systematically used or suitable for use for economic purposes and differing in natural and historical characteristics);
• animal resources.

The resources of natural-territorial complexes are forestry, recreational, mining and other resources.

According to the nature of trade, all natural resources can be divided into such groups as:

• resources of strategic importance, trade in which should be limited, since it leads to undermining the defense power of the state (uranium ore and other radioactive substances);
• resources that have a wide export value and provide the main inflow of foreign exchange earnings (oil, diamonds, gold, etc.);
• resources of the domestic market, which, as a rule, are ubiquitous, for example, mineral raw materials, etc.

In terms of economic importance, minerals are divided into balance, the exploitation of which is expedient at the moment, and off-balance, the exploitation of which is inexpedient due to the low content of useful substances, great depth of occurrence, peculiarities of working conditions, etc., but which can be developed in the future.

The last classification that needs to be distinguished among many others is the classification of natural resources depending on economic use. It divides natural resources into the following groups:

• energy, which include various types of resources used at the present stage of development of science and technology for energy production, for example, combustible minerals;
• non-energy, including a subgroup of natural resources that supply raw materials for various industries or are involved in the production of technological necessity, such as forest resources; agricultural production resources (land and soil, plant and other resources)

Distribution of natural world resources between countries. The role of natural resources in the global economy.

Natural resources in their totality constitute an important factor of social production, which in economic theory is defined by the general concept of land. Without natural resources, the production process is unthinkable.

Thus, for example, mineral resources form the basis for the production of industrial products in the world economy. It is worth noting here that changes in the production and consumption of raw materials in international trade affect not only the economic situation in individual countries and regions, but also have a global character.

In most countries with developed market economies, natural resources (especially minerals) are consumed more than they have. The missing resources are imported mainly from developing countries. Because of this, huge flows of raw materials move to the three main centers of their processing: North America, Western Europe, East and Southeast Asia. This state of affairs gives rise to two problems: the dependence of developed countries on the supply of raw materials and the raw orientation of exports of many developing countries. Thus, the uneven distribution of mineral resources in the bowels of the Earth, as well as the different provision of countries with land and forest resources, contribute to the development of the international division of labor and, on this basis, international economic relations.

The use of all natural resources is closely intertwined. Thus, land resources (agricultural lands) usually produce a larger volume of production if they are cultivated with machinery driven by fuel (mineral resources), as well as with the use of artificial fertilizers (made on the basis of also mineral resources).

The value of the resource factor in the economic development of territories is constantly changing. This indicator depends on the quality, quantity, location and a number of other different indicators of the natural resources available.

One of these indicators is the economic assessment of natural resources - i.e. establishing the possibility and expediency of their involvement in production at the current level of development of science and technology. In this case, it is necessary to determine and evaluate:

1. The size of reserves (volumes of resources) in general and their concentration per unit area.
2. Their qualitative composition (composition of forest species, wood quality, soil composition and fertility, for oil, for example, - qualitative composition, degree of viscosity, etc.).
3. Operating conditions (for minerals: the size of the layers, the depth of their occurrence, the difficulties of exploration, development of deposits and development, as well as the possibility and expediency of exploiting any natural resources: land, water, forests).
4. The degree of development and population of the territory on which there is a deposit of minerals or other resources (including the level of population and provision of the region with labor resources in these natural and climatic conditions).
5. Conditions of transportation, including to the points of sale and use (availability of the necessary transport and other infrastructure).
6. Production costs per unit of output (cost).
7. The combination of natural resources and minerals in a given territory, the possibility of their integrated use.
8. Requirements for environmental protection and reclamation of the territory.

Another equally important characteristic of natural resources is the indicator of the resource availability of a particular territory, i.e. the ratio between the value of explored reserves of resources and the scale of their use.

The size of explored reserves can increase in the process of geological development, and the volume of annual production can change, so the resource availability has an approximate value.

The availability of mineral resources is expressed by the number of years that proven reserves will last with their modern use. And the availability of forest, land, water resources is determined by the volume of their reserves per capita.

Not all countries in the world have the same amount of natural resources. Only a few states possess practically all known natural resources - territorial, mineral, forest, water, land, etc. Among such countries are Russia, the USA, China. Some states are inferior to them, but also highly resourced. These include Brazil, India, Australia.

Many states of the world have reserves of world significance of one or more types of resources. For example, the countries of the Near and Middle East stand out for their significant reserves of oil and gas; Chile, Zaire, Zambia - copper reserves, Morocco and Nauru are famous for phosphorites, etc.

In fact, no country does not have stocks of all types of mineral raw materials necessary for the modern economy and cannot do without its import. Russia, with all the variety of mineral resources and their significant volume, is forced to import bauxite, tin, and manganese. The United States fully meets its needs with its own mineral raw materials for only 22 types, namely, uranium, tungsten, chromium, manganese, dependent on imports.

In the modern world, there are significant differences between the natural resources available in individual countries and the volumes of their consumption in different countries. For example, the United States, which has 4.5% of the world's population and approximately 20% of the planet's mineral resources, consumes up to 40% of the world's natural resources. First of all, fuel and raw materials. At the same time, developing countries, including China and Vietnam), where about 60% of the world's population lives and up to 35% of mineral resources are concentrated, consume about 16% of these resources.

In all countries with a developed mining industry, including Russia, the largest and most cost-effective deposits are being depleted. In modern conditions, the problem of providing raw materials should be solved not on the basis of an accelerated increase in the volume of geological exploration, but on the basis of material and energy conservation.

Among the ways to counteract the depletion of natural resources is the recycling of many types of raw materials, such as metals, as well as the possibility of replacing them with other materials.

Provision of Russia with natural resources.

Russia has four winning positions - natural gas, timber, coal (despite the fact that the demand in the world for it is small) and fresh water. Russia accounts for more than 25% of the world's reserves of these resources. For the rest - no more than a few percent.

Russia is not a monopolist in the market of mineral raw materials. Russia is currently the main supplier of oil and gas to European countries.

At present, Russia has already taken its place in the system of world economic integration as a dwindling raw material appendage of the West. Russia's reliance on traditional industrial sectors (primarily raw materials) as an object of attracting investment, combined with complete openness to the world market, only aggravates the situation. The collapse of traditional industries and the “brain drain” and technical achievements to the West will very quickly eliminate our last advantage over the countries of the Third World - intelligence and technology, which simply cannot be obtained in Russia in the conditions of a capital drain of proper material support.

Recklessly "pump out" non-renewable mineral raw materials - oil, gas, metals - simply means to rob their own children and grandchildren. At the same time, we have resources that can be restored, and in terms of their number, we occupy an almost monopoly position on the Eurasian continent - these are forests, hydro and hydropower resources.

With the vast forest areas of Russia, it is not difficult to maintain and develop a powerful forestry and timber processing industry, with a product that is in good demand on the foreign market. At the same time, we can ensure the restoration of forest areas in parallel. At the same time, it is possible to significantly rationalize forestry by producing on an industrial scale not only wood, but, in parallel, also “gifts of the forest” - mushrooms, berries, honey, meat of forest animals. This requires the creation of special farms. It should not be forgotten that the latter is a unique product that can be sold at a high price.

Of course, we should not forget about the forests of Russia in the aspect of creating reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks as a means of attracting both tourists and research organizations.

The same can be said about hydro resources. At present, there is a shortage of fresh water, incl. drinking water in the world is becoming an increasingly acute problem. In particular, this applies to the huge regions of Western China, Central Asia, and the Middle East adjacent to Russia from the south.

As for hydropower resources, at the moment they will not be in great demand on the external market due to the oil wealth of regions south of Russia, but with the inevitable depletion of oil reserves, the situation may change dramatically. In addition, the management of water resources can also be rationalized if, for example, fish farming and the creation of a network of fish processing enterprises are carried out in parallel. With our huge expanses of water, this industry has truly brilliant prospects.

The vast lands of Russia are a good base for the development of agriculture. It should not be forgotten that before 1917 Russia exported agricultural products. The low natural productivity of most of Russia's agricultural lands is offset by their size, and with the right level of technical equipment, Russia can regain its lost position as a food exporter. In addition, Russia's vast land holdings will allow it to produce "organic" agricultural products in large quantities, the production of which does not involve pesticides, chemical fertilizers, etc.

Conclusion

The development of the world economy naturally led to the formulation of the global problem of environmental protection of the world, the rational use of natural raw materials, as a result, it is necessary to find ways to solve these problems. The aggravation of the problems associated with the modern consumption of natural resources can lead to the disappearance of flora and fauna, climate change. The search for ways to solve these problems is becoming one of the most important tasks for the further development of the world economy. Everything that is happening today in the world in the field of nature management testifies to the deep crisis of modern civilization. It faces an alternative: either the technological model of production in most countries will change, or irreversible negative changes will occur in the biosphere.

Scientific and technological development has a powerful impact on all aspects of modern production, on the entire system of social relations, on man himself and his environment. The world economy has become a single organism, outside of which no state can develop normally, no matter what social system it belongs to and no matter what economic level it is.

Beginning in the 1970s, the trend towards a deep restructuring of economic proportions in the world economy and the structure of the world economy sharply intensified.

The development of the world economy takes place not so much through quantitative increases in the product or the number of employees, but due to the quality of products and the increase in production efficiency.

Natural resources(natural resources) - elements of nature, part of the totality of natural conditions and the most important components of the natural environment, which are used (or can be used) at a given level of development of productive forces to meet the various needs of society and social production.

Natural resources - spatio-temporal category; their volume varies in different regions of the globe and at different stages of the socio-economic development of society. Bodies and phenomena of nature act as a certain resource in the event that a need arises for them. But the needs, in turn, appear and expand as the technical possibilities for the development of natural resources develop. For example, oil was known as a combustible substance as early as 600 BC, but as a fuel raw material on an industrial scale, it began to be developed only from the 60s of the 19th century. It was from that time that oil turned into a really accessible energy resource for use, the importance of which has steadily increased. However, until the second half of the XX century. oil deposited in the bottom sediments of the World Ocean shelf was not considered as a resource, since the state of the art of extracting oil made it impossible to extract it on the shelf. Only in the 1940s, for the first time in water areas (Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, the Caspian Sea in the USSR), oil began to be developed on an industrial scale, and oil deposits in the shallow zones of the seas and oceans acquired a resource value.

In a primitive communal society, the needs of man and his ability to develop natural resources were very modest and were limited to hunting wild animals, fishing, and gathering. Then agriculture and cattle breeding arose, and, accordingly, soil cover and vegetation were included in the composition of natural resources, which served as a fodder base for grazing livestock. Wood was mined in the forests for the construction of dwellings and for firewood, the development of minerals (coal, ores, building materials) gradually began, a person learned to master the energy of wind and falling water. With the development of production, not only the volume of developed natural resources expanded, but new areas of virgin nature were also involved in the economic turnover.

The territorial expansion of the sphere of economic activity of human society and the involvement in material production of new types of natural resources caused various changes in nature, a kind of response in the form of various natural and anthropogenic processes. In pre-capitalist social formations, these processes and changes were not universal and concentrated in certain regions - the centers of world civilization (the Mediterranean, Mesopotamia and the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia). And although at all times the development of natural resources by man was purely consumer, and sometimes openly predatory, it rarely led to serious large-scale environmental disasters. The intensity of the development of natural resources and the volume of natural resources involved in economic activity began to increase sharply in the era of the emergence and development of the capitalist social order.

The use of machinery was accompanied by a significant increase in the volume of extracted raw materials (wood, minerals, agricultural products, etc.). At the same time, new types of natural resources were being developed. Lands that were previously considered unsuitable for plowing (waterlogged, saline or suffering from moisture deficiency) are being reclaimed, new types of minerals (oil, natural gas, uranium, rare metals, etc.) are being developed. Natural resources in the process of development are subjected to deeper and more complex processing (production of petroleum products, synthetic materials, etc.). However, the method of production based on expanded material reproduction, on obtaining the maximum momentary profit, does not take into account the peculiarities of the formation of natural resources, the volume of their natural renewal, and uses, first of all, the highest quality and conveniently located reserves.

In the second half of the XX century. resource consumption has increased immeasurably, covering almost the entire land and all currently known natural bodies and components. Scientific and technological progress has directly affected the practice of resource use. Technologies have been developed for the development of such types of natural resources that until recently were not included in the concept of "natural resources" (for example, desalination of salty sea waters on an industrial scale, the development of solar or tidal wave energy, the production of nuclear energy, oil and gas production in water areas, and much more). There was an idea of ​​potential resources or resources of the future.

Of great importance in the development of natural resources are economic factors that determine the profitability of their economic use. So, until now, oil, ferromanganese nodules, occurring at great depths of the ocean floor, are not considered as real, accessible resources, since their extraction turns out to be too expensive and not economically justified.

Not all natural resources "lie on the surface" and can be easily calculated and taken into account. Thus, the volumes of groundwater, many types of minerals, raw materials for various chemical industries are determined and refined as a result of complex, often expensive scientific or technical research. As scientific and technological progress develops, our knowledge and ideas about them become more accurate. In a number of cases, the technology for extracting or processing natural raw materials is already known, but only at the stage of experimental rather than industrial development. This is the case with the extraction of oil from tar sands and shales, with large-scale desalination of salty sea waters. The resulting raw materials are too expensive and uncompetitive, so it is impossible to build economic calculations based on their use.

Often the need for a natural resource is completely blocked by the technological impossibility of their development; for example, energy production based on controlled thermonuclear fusion, regulation of climatic processes or phenomena, etc. The technical and technological imperfection of many processes for the extraction and processing of natural resources, considerations of economic profitability and lack of knowledge about the volumes and quantities of natural raw materials make it necessary to single out several categories of natural resource reserves according to the degree of technical and economic accessibility and study.

Available, or proven, or real reserves (available reserves) are the volumes of a natural resource identified by modern methods of exploration or survey, technically accessible and economically viable for development.

Potential, or general, resources (eng.-potential resources) are resources established on the basis of theoretical calculations, reconnaissance surveys and including, in addition to precisely established technically recoverable reserves of natural raw materials or reserves, also that part of them that cannot currently be developed for technical or economic reasons (for example, brown coal deposits at great depths or fresh water preserved in glaciers or deep layers of the earth's crust). Potential resources are called resources of the future, since their economic development will become possible only in the conditions of a qualitatively new scientific and technological development of society.

Natural resources are the main object of the economy of environmental management; in the process of environmental management, they are exploited and subsequently processed. The economic use of natural resources is associated with activities aimed at preserving the quality of the natural environment (solving problems of nature protection).

Among the classifications of natural resources that reflect their economic importance and economic role, especially often used classification by direction and types of economic use. The main criterion for the division of resources in it is their assignment to various sectors of material production or non-productive sphere. On this basis, natural resources are divided into industrial and agricultural production resources.

resource group industrial production includes all types of natural raw materials used by industry. In connection with the diversified nature of industrial production, the types of natural resources are differentiated as follows.

1. Energy, to which include various types of resources used at the present stage for energy production:

Combustible minerals (oil, gas, coal, bituminous shale, etc.);

Hydropower resources (energy of river waters, tidal energy, etc.);

Sources of bioenergy (fuelwood, biogas from agricultural waste);

Nuclear energy sources (uranium and radioactive elements).

2. Non-energy resources representing raw materials for various industries or participating in production according to its technical features:

Minerals that do not belong to the group of caustobioliths (ore and non-ore);

Water used for industrial production;

Lands occupied by industrial facilities and infrastructure facilities;

Forest resources of industrial importance;

Biological resources of industrial importance.

Agricultural production resources combine those types of resources that are involved in the creation of agricultural products:

1) agro-climatic - heat and moisture resources necessary for the production of cultivated plants and grazing;

2) soil and land - land and its top layer - soil, which has a unique property to produce biomass;

3) plant biological resources - feed resources;

4) water resources - waters used for irrigation, etc.

TO non-production resources(non-productive consumption - direct or indirect) include resources withdrawn from the natural environment (wild animals representing objects of commercial hunting, medicinal raw materials of natural origin), as well as resources of the recreational economy, protected areas, etc.

In the market conditions of the economy, the classification of natural resources acquires practical interest, taking into account, in particular, the nature of trade in natural raw materials. For example, you can highlight:

Resources of strategic importance, trade in which should be limited, since it leads to undermining the defense power of the state (uranium ore and other radioactive substances);

Resources that have a wide export value and provide the main inflow of foreign exchange earnings (oil, diamonds, gold, etc.);

Resources of the domestic market, which, as a rule, are ubiquitous, for example, mineral, building materials, etc.

The use of various classifications makes it possible to identify patterns in the formation of groups of resources and their genetic characteristics, the possibilities of economic use, to draw conclusions about the degree of their study, as well as directions for rational use and protection.

So, for example, when non-renewable resources are involved in the production sphere, their more complete extraction and complex processing become priority tasks. For renewable resources, the tasks of preventing various kinds of pollution and ensuring the conditions for their restoration come to the fore.

The combination of natural and economic classifications makes it possible to identify the possibility of multidirectional use of various natural resource groups, as well as their substitutability, to draw conclusions about the tasks of rational use and protection of their individual species.

Natural resources - objects, processes and conditions of nature used by society to meet the material and spiritual needs of people. Natural resources are divided into:

• - refundable and non-refundable;
• - renewable and non-renewable;
• - interchangeable and irreplaceable;
• - recoverable and non-recoverable.

Natural resources include: minerals, energy sources, soil, waterways and reservoirs, minerals, forests, wild plants, land and water wildlife, the gene pool of cultivated plants and domestic animals, scenic landscapes, recreational areas, etc.

Man has learned to use natural resources for his own benefit, but discoveries of new possibilities for using natural resources are endless. Nature plays an important role in human health.

Hydrotherapy, herbal treatment and other options for using natural resources today, in the age of chemistry, are becoming more and more relevant.

1) MINERAL RESOURCES(а. mineral resources; n. Mineralressourcen, mineralische Ressourcen; f. ressources minerales; and. recursos minerales) - a set of minerals found in the bowels of certain regions, countries, continents, the bottom of the oceans or the Earth as a whole, accessible and suitable for industrial use and, as a rule, quantified by geological research and geological exploration. Mineral resources are non-renewable natural resources. The part of the mineral resources prepared for development is called the mineral resource base.

The concept of mineral resources has several aspects. In the mining and geological aspect, mineral resources are a set of accumulations (deposits) of various minerals discovered in the depths, in which chemical elements and the minerals formed by them are in a sharply increased concentration compared to the clarke contents in the earth's crust, which ensures the possibility of their industrial use. In the economic aspect, mineral resources serve as a raw material basis for the development of the most important branches of industrial production (energy, fuel industry, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical industry, construction), as well as a possible object of international cooperation. In the conditions of a capitalist society, mineral resources can be one of the causes of international conflicts caused by the struggle of capitalist states to seize the richest sources of mineral raw materials. natural resource land forest

According to the areas of use, mineral resources are divided into fuel and energy (oil, natural gas, coal, oil shale, peat, uranium ores); ores of ferrous metals (iron, manganese, chromium, etc.); ores of non-ferrous and alloying metals (aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, molybdenum, tin, antimony, mercury, etc.); ores of rare and precious metals; mining and chemical (phosphorites, apatites, rock, potassium and magnesium salts, sulfur and its compounds, boron ores, bromine and iodine-containing solutions, barite, fluorite, etc.); precious and ornamental stones; non-metallic industrial raw materials (mica, graphite, asbestos, talc, quartz, etc.); non-metallic building materials (cement and glass raw materials, marbles, slates, clays, tuffs, basalt, granite); hydromineral (underground fresh and mineralized waters, including balneological, thermal, etc.). The above classification is conditional, because. The areas of industrial application of some minerals can be diverse, for example, oil and gas are also raw materials for the chemical industry, limestone and other carbonate rocks are raw materials for metallurgical production, the chemical industry and the building materials industry.

The concept of mineral resources changes over time and depends on the level of development of society, on the needs of production, as well as on the level of technology and the possibilities of the economy. Natural minerals become mineral resources only after they are needed and ways of their practical use appear. The higher the technical equipment, the wider the range of minerals and the greater the number of new types of mineral raw materials involved in industrial production. For example, coal became a mineral of industrial importance only from the end of the 17th century, oil - from the middle of the 19th century; ores of aluminium, magnesium, chromium and rare elements, potassium salts and others - from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th centuries; uranium ores - from the middle of the 20th century. For the history of the development of mineral resources, see Art. Mining engineering.

The spatial distribution of mineral resources in the bowels of the Earth as a whole, as well as individual continents and countries, is characterized by unevenness (see map).

Over 80% of the explored coal reserves of industrialized and developing countries are concentrated in the bowels of five capitalist countries - the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Australia and South Africa, 87% of manganese ores - in South Africa and Australia, 86% of potassium salts - in Canada. A significant part of the mineral resources of many of the most important types of minerals is concentrated in the bowels of developing countries (Fig. 1).

Typically, Mineral Resources are quantified as Mineral Reserves and Inferred Resources. In the mineral resource balance of the world, as well as in the balance of individual countries, over 70-80% of the reserves of each type of minerals fall on a relatively small number of large deposits and giant deposits, the rest are concentrated in medium and numerous small deposits. According to the industrial value and the size of mineral reserves, they are conditionally distinguished: unique deposits that are of great importance in the world reserves of the planet as a whole; large - in the reserves of countries large in territory and endowed with mineral resources; medium - in the stocks of medium and small countries or individual regions of large countries; small and small - in the stocks of small countries or individual regions and enterprises. Data on the reserves of certain types of minerals by continent are given in the table, and their distribution by country is given in articles on certain types of minerals and states.

The long-standing mining regions, the territories of the socialist and industrially developed capitalist countries, and to a lesser extent, the territories of the developing countries of Africa and Asia, some regions of Latin America, as well as the bowels of the World Ocean, have been studied the most. Despite the depletion of long-exploited individual deposits and the reduction of proven mineral reserves in some countries, the levels of production achieved in the world in the early 1980s are ensured for a long time.

2) WATER RESOURCES, woods in liquid, solid and gaseous states and their distribution on Earth. They are found in natural water bodies on the surface (oceans, rivers, lakes and swamps); in the bowels (groundwater); in all plants and animals; as well as in artificial reservoirs (reservoirs, canals, etc.).

Water is the only substance that exists in nature in liquid, solid and gaseous states. The value of liquid water varies significantly depending on location and application. Fresh water is more widely used than salt water. Over 97% of all water is concentrated in the oceans and inland seas. Still ok. 2% falls on the share of fresh waters enclosed in cover and mountain glaciers, and only less than 1% - on the share of fresh waters of lakes and rivers, underground and groundwater.

Water, the most common compound on Earth, has unique chemical and physical properties. Since it easily dissolves mineral salts, living organisms absorb nutrients with it without any significant changes in their own chemical composition. Thus, water is necessary for the normal functioning of all living organisms. The water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Its molecular weight is only 18, and the boiling point reaches 100 ° C at an atmospheric pressure of 760 mm Hg. Art. At higher altitudes, where the pressure is lower than at sea level, water boils at lower temperatures. When water freezes, its volume increases by more than 11%, and expanding ice can rupture water pipes and pavements and erode rock, turning it into loose soil. In terms of density, ice is inferior to liquid water, which explains its buoyancy.

Water also has unique thermal properties. When its temperature drops to 0°C and it freezes, 79 calories are released from each gram of water. During nighttime frosts, farmers sometimes spray their gardens with water to protect buds from frost damage. When water vapor condenses, each gram of it gives off 540 calories. This heat can be used in heating systems. Due to its high heat capacity, water absorbs a large amount of heat without changing the temperature.

Use of water resources. In recent years, due to economic destabilization, which led to a drop in industrial output, a decrease in agricultural productivity and a reduction in irrigated areas, there has been a decrease in water consumption in Russia (during 1991-1995, fresh water - by 20.6%, marine - by 13.4%). The structure of fresh water use has also changed: water consumption for industrial needs decreased by 4% (from 53% in 1991 to 49% in 1995), for irrigation and watering - by 3% (from 19 to 16%), at the same time, the share of domestic and drinking water supply increased by 4% (from 16 to 20%).

By 1997, the volume of fresh water use in Russia amounted to 75780.4 million m3/year, sea water - 4975.9 million m3/year.

3) FOREST RESOURCES

About 4 billion hectares of land (about 30% of the land) are occupied by forests on our planet. Two forest belts are clearly traced: the northern one (forests dominated by coniferous trees) and the southern one (97% consisting of deciduous forests - mainly humid equatorial and tropical forests of developing countries).

In the last 200 years alone, the area of ​​forests in the world has halved. The destruction of forests at such a pace will have catastrophic consequences for the whole world, as the supply of oxygen to the atmosphere is reduced, the “greenhouse effect” is intensifying, and the climate on the planet is changing.

The largest area of ​​forests has been preserved in Asia and South America, the smallest - in Australia. However, the sizes of the continents are not the same, so it is important to take into account the forest cover index (the ratio of the forested area and the total area of ​​the region), as well as the size of the timber reserves and the area of ​​the forested surface per 1 inhabitant.

In terms of timber reserves, the leading positions are occupied by Russia (75 billion m3), Brazil, Canada, and the USA; and in terms of forested areas - Russia, Brazil, Canada, USA, China, Indonesia, Colombia, India. In terms of forest cover, French Guiana, Suriname (forests are distributed over more than 90% of the country), Guyana, Gabon (over 80%), Malaysia, Japan, Myanmar, Indonesia, Ecuador, Laos (over 60%), as well as Finland, Sweden. Forest cover in Russia is 45%, in Brazil - about 60%.

Countries with extensive forest areas are located in the natural zone of tropical forests and temperate forests. The states located between the northern and southern forest belts, as well as countries characterized by arid climate and desert landscapes, have the least forests. Almost treeless are Bahrain, Qatar, Libya, Chad, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, etc.

The problem of deforestation is becoming a very serious global problem. The forests of the northern forest belt in the economically developed countries were subjected to intensive destruction in the past, but then the forest cover was restored to a greater extent (forestation). In some countries where government programs for the conservation of the biosphere are being carried out, the growth of wood has begun to exceed the volume of its felling. And the main reason for the loss of forests and the decline in its quality in developed countries in recent decades has been acid rain (from air pollution). According to experts, the total area of ​​affected forests is about 30 million hectares.

In developing countries, forests are cut down for arable land and pastures, and the most valuable wood species are exported to developed countries. Wood also remains the main source of energy - 70% of the entire population of developing countries uses wood as fuel for cooking and heating homes. At the same time, the availability of forest resources in these countries is different and often low.

Among the main reasons for the reduction of the world's forest resources are the following:

• -- Forests are cut down in order to expand agricultural land, as well as areas for the construction of industrial facilities, cities, transport communications, etc.;
• -- wood is a high-quality building material;
• - furniture, toys, paper, pencils, matches, etc. are made from various tree species;
• - wood is used as fuel;
• -- Forests are shrinking and degrading from air and soil pollution.

For many centuries, the reduction in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bforests on the planet practically did not hinder the progress of mankind. However, recently this process has begun to have a negative impact on the economic and ecological state of many countries. And although about 30% of the land of the planet Earth is still covered with woody vegetation, forest protection and reforestation are necessary for the continued existence of mankind.

4) LAND RESOURCES OF THE WORLD- these are agricultural lands and other land lands (or otherwise plots of land) that are used or can be used at a given level of development of the productive forces of society in many branches of human activity (agriculture, forestry, water management, construction of settlements, roads, etc.).

Due to the rapid growth of the population and its irrational economic activity, which is reflected in the annual loss of 6-7 million hectares of productive soils, the provision of mankind with land resources is rapidly decreasing. The area of ​​land resources per capita is annually reduced by 2%, and the area of ​​productive land - by 6--7% due to the growing anthropogenic pressure on land resources and degradation of the soil cover.

Three large groups can be distinguished among land resources: 1) productive lands; 2) unproductive lands; 3) unproductive. Productive land resources include arable land, orchards and plantations, meadows and pastures, forests and shrubs; to the unproductive - the lands of the tundra and forest-tundra, swamps, deserts; The group of unproductive lands includes built-up and disturbed lands, sands, ravines, glaciers and snowfields.

Each continent and each country has its own specifics of land resources and their geography. In our time, land use is very dynamic and the overall picture of the distribution of anthropogenic landscapes is constantly changing. Each landscape-geographical belt of the Earth also has a peculiar land use.

The share of cultivated land in foreign Europe accounts for 30% of land resources, and in the European part of Russia about 10%. Soils of broad-leaved forests of the temperate zone and evergreen forests of the subtropics, gray forest soils and chernozems of the steppes were involved in agricultural use.

In Africa, the main type of land use is pastures (27% of the territory). In many parts of Africa, plow farming and crop farming are non-existent due to historical reasons and the colonial past. The slash-and-burn system of agriculture dominates in the humid-forest belt, with hoeing of small plots. Field agrolandscapes are common in the northern and southern outskirts of Africa and in Ethiopia. Due to the presence of the tsetse fly in equatorial Africa, the watersheds were primarily developed, and the valleys, the refuge of the tsetse fly, are almost deserted and occupied by gallery forests. Huge territories in Africa belong to the category of other lands (44%), which are represented by deserts.

At present, there is a clear trend in the change in the land resources of the world, expressed in the onset of urban and rural areas and mining, industrial and transport complexes on arable land, which in turn is expanding due to pastures, and the areas of the latter are growing due to forests and deserts. In the USA, for example, 350,000 hectares of arable land are lost annually from the expansion of cities. Hence the constant reduction in the area of ​​forests on Earth: over the past 300 years, a decrease of more than half. Hence the growth of deserts.