World Resources

• Capital Resources: the money and machines used to produce goods and services

World Resources

• Human Resources:

the people who perform various tasks

World Resources

• Natural Resources:

materials that people take from the natural environment to survive and satisfy needs

3 Types of Natural Resources

• Renewable – the environment continues to supply or replace them– Soil is always being

replaced by weathering rocks and decomposition of living material

– Water cycle (hydrologic cycle) returns water in the form of rain or snow

Natural Resources

• Non-renewable: cannot be replaced once they have been used– Fossil fuels – coal,

oil, natural gas– Other minerals include

iron, copper, aluminum, uranium, gold

Inexhaustible Resources

• Solar or planetary processes that are unlimited in quantity

• Sunlight, geothermal heat, winds, tides

Resources

• Main energy source today: non-renewable fossil fuels

• At present rate of consumption, oil reserves will be tapped in less than a century

• There is enough coal left for 200 years, but:– Causes air pollution, like acid rain

Nuclear Energy

• Produced by fission (splitting uranium atoms)

• Possible Drawbacks: leaks, explosions, radioactive waste

Geothermal Energy

• Energy from the earth’s internal heat in volcanic areas; magma heats underground, which produces steam that can be used as heat or electricity

• Iceland, New Zealand, Japan, Italy

Solar Energy

• Energy produced by the sun. Although difficult, solar radiation is potentially the greatest source of inexhaustible energy

Other energy sources

• Wind Power

• Tides

• Vegetable Oil

• Sugarcane

• Resources are not distributed evenly throughout the world; therefore, countries have to interact with each other.

• Imports – resources brought into a nation

• Exports – resources shipped out of a nation

World Economic Activity

• Economic Activities: the way people make their living

• Primary Activities – activities that use natural resources directly

Secondary Activities

• Activities that process raw materials

• Manufacturing: turning raw materials into finished products

Tertiary Activities

• Activities that provide a professional service• Transportation, law, journalism, health care,

sales, banking, etc.

Quaternary Activities

• Activities that provide information, management, or research by highly trained people