Resource use in society

Question 1

What is renewable natural capital?

Answer 1

can be generated as fast as it is being used

Question 2

What is non-renewable natural capital?

Answer 2

is either irreplaceable // only replaced over geological timescales eg fossil fuels, soil and minerals

Question 3

What is natural capital?

Answer 3

a resource which has some value to humans. resources are goods // services that we use

Question 4

what is natural income?

Answer 4

the rate of replacement of a particular resource or natural capital

Question 5

renewable natural capital includes:

Answer 5

• living species + ecosystems that use solar energy + photosynthesis
• non-living terms eg groundwater + ozone layer

Question 6

how can renewable natural capital run out?

Answer 6

renewable natural capital can run out if the standing stock (how much is there) is harvested unsustainably

Question 7

what is the silver lining to some non-renewable resources?

Answer 7

e.g. iron ore in non-renewable but iron extracted from ore becomes a renewable resource as it can be recycled

the same is true for aluminium

Question 8

the antarctic

Answer 8

• 98% covered in ice and snow
• no large mineral // oil reserves
• humans exploit antarctica through tourism, fishing, sealing + whaling

Question 9

the antarctic treaty

Answer 9

• 7 countries have staked territorial claims via ‘the antarctic treaty’
• signed in 1959 by 12 countries, inc. US, UK + russia who signed in middle of Cold War
• treaty strengthened in 1991

Question 10

according to the antarctic treaty, the area will be…

Answer 10

• free of nuclear tests + waste
• for peaceful purposes
• a preserved environment
• undisputed as a territory

Question 11

according to the antarctic treaty, there will be…

Answer 11

• prevention of marine pollution
• clean up sites
• no commercial mineral extraction
• sealing has annual limits
• commercial whaling tightly regulated

Question 12

why are the seal + penguin populations of antarctica starting to crash?

Answer 12

there has been overfishing of many fish species which is hard to regulate in the seas around antarctica

Question 13

changing value of natural capital // cork forests

Answer 13

• cork from cork oak tree has been essential for centuries to seal wine bottles
• but now other materials are replacing cork
• most of these aren’t biodegradable like cork + are made from fossil fuels
• cork forests are losing their value as natural capital to humans so they are cut down
• but cork oak forests in Mediterranean have high biodiversity, second only to Amazon
• by harvesting cork, the tree continues to live + only the bark is harvested by hand every 9 years