Natural Resources of the Earth

Whatever is in nature is useful to humans in some form or the other. These are called natural resources.

Some of these objects or animals are currently useful to humans, such as soil, cow dung, wood, water, trees, etc. But there are some things that are not currently useful to humans, such as flies, mosquitoes, etc. Resources that are not currently useful to humans in nature are called non-resources.

The non-resources that are in nature today can be converted into resources in the future. For example, elements were non-resources for the early men, while they were still available in nature. Early men did not know how to obtain and use them, but elements are very important resources for today's humans.

Renewable and Non-Renewable Natural Resources

Such resources, which can occur frequently and in short duration in nature, are called renewable natural resources, such as plants, wood, air, water, etc. 

The resources on our earth, which once exhausted, take a very long time to regenerate in nature, from millions to millions of
years, are called non-renewable natural resources, such as petrol, coal, kerosene, etc.

Some renewable resources are available in such large quantities that we may never lack them. Oxygen is a renewable resource, as plants add fresh oxygen to the atmosphere every day through photosynthesis. Similarly, we get wood from trees. A new tree can grow up fully in a few years. Hence, wood is a renewable resource. But many resources can be exhausted if used in large quantities. For example - coal. In the process of making coal, wood remains buried in the depths of the earth for millions of years. So once it ends, it may not be available to humans in the near future. Hence wood is a renewable natural resource whereas coal is a non-renewable resource.

Bio and Abiotic natural resources

The natural resources of the earth, which contain life, are called bio natural resources, such as trees, plants, humans, animals etc. And those natural resources which do not have life, are called abiotic natural resources such as wood, soil, air etc.