Geography Resource Management

Biotic Factors - all living organisms 

Abiotic Factor - all non-living organisms

As the global population increases, the need for water also increases. Water can be used for washing, drinking and producing manufactured goods - these do not exploit water. An example of the misuse of water would be extraction of minerals. 

Changes:
Some water we use comes from ground water sources; these ground waters are being used faster than it can be replenished by rain. These causes problems for plants and habitation - biodiversity might also be lost. 

When minerals are extracted, toxic by-products can be washed into the rivers causing a decrease in the water quality of the water used for human comsumption in the area. 

In many countries, rivers are used for waste disposal (like sewage). In some cases, the sewage is left untreated before being put in the river. 

Farming - that land has been used to grow food for thousands of years but with the population growing in many countries, land is being overgrazed. Therefore, over the last 40 years in tropical countries, forests have been cleared to make space for farming such as cattle ranching in Amazon and palm oil production in Malaysia.

Fishing - people take fish for food from the ocean.This has led to overfishing in many areas because the demand is so great that water cannot replenish itself.

Impacts:

If overgrazed land is exposed to the weather, the soil might be eroded and either washed or blown away.

Many tropical countries have been impacted from deforestation: the trees are being felled to make room for farming but the soil only stays fertile for several years before being left, in the fall, to be exposed to weather and being eroded away.

Overfishing has led to reduction in biodiversity in the oceans. As the ocean is a balanced ecosystem, the reduction of some fish species will affect the whole ecosystem. 

Fossil fuels are being exploited for their energy.The reserves of oil and natural gas have been reduced largely because of extraction but there is still a large coal reserve.

Impacts:

The extraction and production of fossil fuels can cause a reduction in air quality becuase they produce gases like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Burning of coal to make energy in the UK has caused acid rain to fall in Sweden and Norway. This has killed trees and thus reduced biodiversity. 

Brown forest soil and chernozems are fertile. and correspond with areas with high crop production. Areas in Europe (Russia and the UK) have brown soil.

Where the soil is less fertile, there is less agriculture production. Areas in Africa have bad soil: chestnut steepe soil and desert soil. 

The countries that produce at least 5% of the world's world production include Canada, USA and Brazil. Most of the other countries have their own forestry industry but it is too small to be on the map.

The countries that have the most oil reserves are: Venezeula, Saudi Arabia and Canada. 

The countries that have the most natural gas reserves are: Russia, Iran and Qatar. 

The USA has the highest coal reserves left but Russia and China also have a lot of reserves. 

Rocks can be igenous, sedimentary and metamorphic - sedimentary is found on the surface of Earth whilst igneous and metamorphic is further down. 

Diamonds are found in Sub-Suharan Africa, Russia and Australia and haven't been discovered on any other continents. 

Other minerals, such as iron ore, are distributed in all continents except Africa. The spread and vunerability of the minerals have an impact on their prices - more rarer minerals, like diamonds, are much more expensive than iron ore which is much more abundant. 

The UK has varied soils which are all fertile. This means the farmers have a wide variety of which crops and animals they can farm (for example, many arable and pastoral farming is practiced). Some farmers have also grown vines and British wine is now being produced in Devon, Sussex and Kent. In Cornwall, some farmers have begun growing and making British tea. 

The soil in Britain: Gley and brown soil.

Some woods are privately owned and others are owned by the Forestry Comission - this was set up because there was lots of deforestation during WW1. The country has a forest industry that employs 800,000 people and makes up 2.5% of the British economy. Forestry is more concentrated in the west and north where the land and quite bad climate makes it difficult to farm. 

Major rock types in the UK is: clay and limestone.

Many rocks in the UK are used for construction, like building houses and roads, as well as in industry - agriculture and horticulture. 

In 2013, 195 million tonnes were extracted from Britain's landmass:

• 157 million tonnes of construction minerals
• 24.6 million tonnes of industrial minerals
• 13.6 million tonnes of fossil fuels

• Another 90.1 million tonnes of minerals were extracted from under the sea (oil, gas, sand and gravel).

Developed countries have highest levels of food consumption. For example, countries in Europe. People in the USA eat over 3,500 calories per day/per person.

Developing countries have lowest levels of food consumption. For example, countries in Sub-Saharan desert. People in Africa eat under 2000 calories per day/per person.

Energy Usage:

Energy used by a country depends on many factors: one of these is the level of the development of the country. Developed countries have a higher demand for energy than developing countries. Emerging countries use large amounts of energy to power their developing industries. The demand for energy around the world continues to increase. 

Global Water Supply:

People in developed countries (Britain, USA, Australia) have 100% safe drinking water. Places in Africa have 50-70% of access to safe drinking water and some are under 50%.