 The Earth provides almost everything we need to

survive through its atmosphere, oceans, and soil.

 We use Earth’s natural resources to help us survive

 A natural resource is any natural material that is

used by humans or living things
 Examples include water, petroleum, minerals,
forests, and animals.
 Most natural resources are made into products;
very few natural resources are used in their natural
state
 A renewable resource is a natural resource that can be

used and replaced over a relatively short time

 Although they can be replaced, we have often used them

more quickly than they can be replaced

 Examples:

 Water

 Trees
• Renewable energy is energy which is generated from natural
sources
i.e. sun, wind, rain, tides and can be
generated again and again as and when
required.
• They are available in plenty and by far most the cleanest
sources of energy available on this planet.
• Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Geothermal
Energy, Biomass Energy From Plants,
Tidal Energy are the examples of Renewable resources.
 Not all of Earth’s resources are renewable

 A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be

replaced or that can be replaced only over thousands or millions
of years
 The Earth only has a certain amount of nonrenewable resources
at any given time
 Examples:
 Oil
 Natural Gas
 Coal
• A non renewable resource is a
natural resource that cannot be
re-made or re-grown at a
scale comparable to consumption.

•Non-renewable sources exist in the

form of fossil fuels, natural gas, oil and
coal.
 We need to be careful on how we use our
natural resources and use them only when
necessary
 Conservation is the preservation and
careful management of the environment and
of natural resources
 Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!!!
 One way is to limit their uses
 Example: turn off the faucet, replant plants
 Recycling is the process by which used or
discarded materials are treated for reuse
 Land in general refers to any piece or entire of the terrestrial
earth but as a natural resource it means that component of the
earth which is of direct economic use for the human population
living on it.
 In fact land is one of the most important natural resources upon
which we depend for our
• food,
• fibre and
• fuel wood, the basic amenities of life.
 But this resource is not infinite. There are limited land resources
available for direct human use.
• It is the top soil or the uppermost portion of the earth crust
that actually forms useful land resource.
 Land is classified as a renewable natural resource because
it is continuously regenerated by natural process though at
a very slow rate.
 But, when rate of erosion is faster than rate of renewal, the
soil becomes a non-renewable resource.
 It is said that about 200-1000 years are needed for the
formation of one inch of soil.
 Thus, natural resources, in the context of “land”, are taken
to be those components of land units that are of direct
economic use for human population living in the area, or
expected to move into the area.
 Land degradation means reduction in the quality or value of
land.

 When land is put to extensive use or over exploitation its

quality degrades. Sometimes land is put to uses which are
not suitable for that piece of land. It also degrades the land.

 Farmland is under serious threat due to more and more

intense utilization. Every year, between 5 to 7 million hectares
of land worldwide is added to the existing degraded
farmland.
 Dumping of harmful wastes on land
 Over irrigation of farmland that leads to salinization
 Pollution of land due to use of fertilizers and pesticides
 Unsuitable land use
 Soil erosion and landslides
 Wrong agricultural practices
 Deforestation
 Physical processes: Decline in soil structure leading to
crusting, compaction, erosion, desertification, anaerobism,
environmental pollution, and unsustainable use of natural
resources.
 Chemical processes: Acidification, leaching, decrease in
cation retention capacity, and fertility depletion.
 Biological processes: Reduction in total and biomass
carbon, and decline in land biodiversity. Soil structure is an
important property that affects all three degradative
processes
 Soil erosion is the most common form of land degradation. It is
the removal of outer layer of soil. It is defined as the movement of
soil components, especially surface-litter and top soil from one
place to another.
 Besides causing pollution in water bodies, soil erosion badly
affects soil fertility. It is the top layer of soil that contains most
nutrients and if most fertile. When this layer gets eroded it results
in the loss of fertility.
 Almost one third of the world’s cropland is affected by soil
erosion.
 Soil erosion is a natural process but it gets accelerated due
various human activities.
 Deforestation, mining, overgrazing, cultivation, etc enhances the
rate of soil erosion.
 Various human activities like
• mining,
• deforestation,
• farming,
• overgrazing, etc are the major causes responsible for soil erosion.
 Due to these processes the top soil is disturbed or rendered
devoid of vegetation cover. So the land is directly exposed to the
action of various physical forces facilitating erosion.
 Overgrazing is responsible for 35% of the world’s soil erosion
while 30% of the serious soil erosion has been caused by
deforestation. Unsustainable methods of farming cause 28% of soil
erosion.
 Preventing soil erosion requires political, economic and technical changes.
 Political and economic changes need to address the possibility of incentives to
encourage farmers to manage their land sustainably.
✓ Aspects of technical changes in agriculture that could substantially contribute to the
prevention of soil erosion are:
• Use of contour ploughing and wind breaks
• Leaving unploughed grass strips between ploughed land
• Making sure that there are always plants growing on the soil, and that the soil is rich
in humus (decaying plant and animal remains). This organic matter is the “glue” that
binds the soil particles together and plays an important part in the prevention of
erosion
• Avoiding overgrazing and the over-use of crop lands.
• Allowing indigenous plants to grow along the river banks instead of ploughing
• Planting crops right up to the water’s edge
• Encouraging biological diversity by planting several different types of plants together
• Conservation of wetlands.
 Desertification is a form of land degradation occurring particularly,
but not exclusively, in semi-arid areas.
 While there is a clear distinction between ‘soil’ and ‘land’ (the term
land refers to an ecosystem comprising land, landscape, terrain,
vegetation, water, climate), there is no clear distinction between
the terms ‘land degradation’ and ‘desertification’.
 Desertification refers to land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and
sub humid areas due to anthropogenic activities.
Causes of Desertification:
• Natural causes of desertification:
✓ Decreased rainfall ✓ Increased temperature ✓ Lowering of water
table ✓ Soil erosion ✓ Soil compaction • Human-aided
desertification: ✓ Overgrazing ✓ Destruction of forest belts
(Deforestation) ✓ Salinization ✓ Exhaustion of the soil by
intensive cultivation without restoration of fertility
• Scientists estimate that India should ideally have 33% of its land
under forests. Today we have only about 12%. Thus we need
not only to protect existing forest but also to increase our forest
cover.
• They stop the rain-bearing winds and cause the rainfall.
• They increase the moisture content in the
atmosphere and thereby provide additional
precipitation(i.e., rainfall) in the locality
• They minimize the extreme variation in climatic condition and
make the climate more equable.
• They control floods during heavy rain by absorbing excess rain
water.
• They prevent soil erosion by checking the force of flowing of
water.
• The thick roots of the trees absorb large quantity of water thus,
forest
help in the flow of rivers and streams.
• They offer hunting grounds.
• They provide shelter to wild animals and
birds.
• They improve the sanitary condition of a
place. to human
• They are a source of revenue to the beings
government.
• They provide employmentlarge of people in different
• They facilitate
number human existence
capacities as wood
bycarriers
cutters, providing
etc. O2 and absorbing
CO2 by
• They human
also beings.
provide us herbal medicines.
• It has contributed to rise in temperature.
• It has contributed to lesser precipitation.
• It is responsible for increased rate of soil erosion.
• It is responsible for increase in the frequency and volume of
floods.
• It has lead to loss of soil productivity.
• It is responsible for loss of biodiversity.
• It has lead to extinction of several species of plants and
animals.
• It has caused imbalance in ecosystem.
• Deforestation refers to the loss of forest cover; land that is
permanently converted from forest to agricultural land, golf courses,
cattle pasture, homes, lakes, or desert.
• The depletion of forest tree crown cover less than 90% is considered
forest degradation.
• If the current rate of deforestation continues, the world’s forests will
vanish within the next 100 years—causing unknown effects on global
climate and eliminating the majority of plant and animal species on the
planet.
• Population explosion
• Poverty
• Agriculture: shifting cultivation, overgrazing, cash-crop economy, etc.
• Soil degradation and soil erosion, Reduction in soil moisture.
• Loss of vegetation cover.
• Destruction of natural habitat and loss of wildlife.
• Changes in climatic condition, Acid rain.
• Environmental pollution.
• Dams
• Mining
• Infrastructure creation for logging
• Commercial logging: cutting trees for sale as timber or pulp
• Development projects and housing projects
• Water resources are sources of water that are useful or
potentially useful to humans.
• Water is a prerequisite for the existence of life. Plants,
animals, and human beings cannot survive without water.
• Water is used in agricultural, household, industrial,
recreational and environmental activities.
• Water is essential for economic growth, environmental
stability, biodiversity conservation, food security and health
care.
• Risk to Ecosystem Functions: With the growth of human population
there is an increasing need for larger amounts of water to fulfil a variety
of basic needs. Today in many areas this requirement cannot be met.
• Depletion of Living Resources and Biodiversity: Overutilization of
water occurs at various levels. Overharvesting and exploitation causes
groundwater depletion, collapse of fisheries. Many agriculturists use
more water than necessary to grow crops. There are many ways in
which farmers can use less water without reducing the yields such as
the use of drip irrigation systems.
• Pollution of Water Bodies: Agriculture also pollutes surface water and
underground water stores by the excessive use of chemical fertilizers
and pesticides. Methods such as the use of biomass as fertilizers and
non toxic pesticides such as neem products reduces the agricultural
pollution of surface and ground water.
• Industry tends to maximise short-term economic gains by not bothering
about its liquid waste and releasing it into the streams, rivers, sea.
 Loss of Integrity of Freshwater Ecosystems: Human activities for
infrastructure development like creation of dams, land
conversion, etc., are responsible for this loss of integrity of
freshwater ecosystems.
 Excessive Withdrawal from Surface Waters: Size of the sea is
shrinking (e.g. the Aral sea in the former Soviet Union) primarily
by the diversion of the inflowing rivers to irrigate water-intensive
cotton and rice crops.
 Inefficient Use of Freshwater: Excessive consumption by
individuals, leakage in water delivery systems, inefficient use by
industry and poor irrigation practices can all contribute to
situations where there is not enough water for all uses.
 Excessive Withdrawal of Water from Underground Aquifers
Excessive freshwater abstraction along much of the west coast of
India has allowed sea water to enter aquifers. It resulted in making
the water saline and unfit for human use. The above problem has
worsened due to leaching of excess irrigation water containing
pesticides, fertilizers, etc., into these aquifers
Floods have been a serious environmental
hazards from centuries.
Flood can be defined as a temporary rise of
the water level, as in a river or lake or along a
seacoast, resulting in its spilling over and out of
its artificial or natural confines onto land that is
normally dry or flood is a temporary covering by
water of land not normally covered by water
•Deforestation causes flood that kills people,
damage crops and destroys homes.
•Rivers changes its course during floods and
tons of valuable soil is lost to the sea.
•As the forest are degraded, rain water no
longer percolates slowly into the the sub-soil
but runs off down the mountainside bearing
large amount of top soil.
• Drought may be defined as the
deficiency of rainfall (relative to the
statistical multi-year average for a
region ) over an extended period of
months or year.
• In most arid regions of the world the
rains are unpredictable. This leads to
a periods when there is a serious
scarcity of water to drink, use in farm,
or provide for urban or industrial use.
• One of the factor that worsens the
effect of droughts is deforestation.
• Drought is one of the major problem in
our country, due to unpredictable
climatic condition or due to the failure
of one and more monsoon.
 Water conflicts in India can be classified as per the
following themes:
Conflicts over
(a) equity, access and allocations,
(b) water quality,
(c) dams and displacement,
(d) privatization,
(e) contending water uses,
(f) sand excavation and mining,
(g) trans-boundary conflicts, and
(h) micro-level conflicts are also present.