All of humanity, the development of social relations, world economic activity depend on the influence of many factors. These include the use of natural resources. The distribution of natural resources throughout the world is uneven. This is one of the incentives for the development of economic relations between individual countries. The topic of this article is natural resources and their classification.
All objects of animate and inanimate nature that a person uses in the production system or to ensure his material or cultural needs are called natural resources. That is, they are a prerequisite for the normal functioning of people. This is a general concept of natural resources.
In almost any field, humanity uses this potential. Sometimes this is not entirely rational. Resources and their types are classified depending on various factors. Let us dwell on this in more detail.
Natural resources and their classification
They are divided according to the measure of consumption. There are often used and practically unused (unused) resources.
The scope of economic activity in which the use of natural resources, classifies them into agricultural, industrial, construction, fuel and energy and food.
Depending on the origin and climatic features, mineral, plant, land, water and wildlife resources are distinguished.
Natural resources and their classification depend on the limited use of them:
- Resources that are reduced as a result of use. They, in turn, are divided into those that can be restored, and those that are not restored. The first category includes resources that manage to be renewed at the speed of their use. These are water, land and air potentials. The second type includes minerals that are not able to recover at the same speed with which they are used. They also cannot be renewed artificially.
- A special type of resources, the reserves of which are not decreasing, are inexhaustible. These include climatic possibilities, solar energy, etc.
The use of natural potential was uneven. As a result of its development, human society has opened up for itself ever new possibilities of the surrounding world. The importance of certain resources became higher. For example, water open spaces were initially only an obstacle to the development of relations between individual nations, until people learned how to overcome them. From that moment they became an integral part of economic activity.
As already mentioned, the distribution of natural resources across the planet is uneven. It depends on some climate conditions, on the history of the development and formation of the earth's surface and other factors. In this regard, the concept of natural potential appeared. It means the availability of natural resources and climate features that are inherent in the area.
A person as a result of his activity can influence some resources. For example, an increase in forest stands and land reclamation work can lead to changes for the better in some natural factors.
Depending on the distribution of natural factors, one can characterize the availability of resources of each region of the Earth. This indicator depends on the ratio of the amount of natural resources in a given territory to the volume of their use.
The presence of a certain type of resources determines the direction of economic activity of a particular state. Therefore, natural resources and their classification are so necessary (for more complete accounting and control of use).