Natural Resources

Natural resources on the earth are limited because they are being used at a much faster rate than they are being replenished.

Overpopulation, industrialisation, and excessive exploitation of resources have led to their rapid depletion.

Natural resources are materials or components found in nature that are useful to human beings.

Examples include air, water, soil, minerals, forests, and wildlife.

The atmosphere protects living organisms by:

• Providing oxygen for respiration and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis
• Regulating the earth’s temperature
• Shielding the earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation of the sun

Biotic components include living organisms such as plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Abiotic components include non-living factors like air, water, soil, sunlight, and temperature.

The atmosphere helps in climate control by trapping heat and maintaining a suitable temperature range on the earth.

This prevents extreme temperature variations between day and night.

The two forms of oxygen found in the atmosphere are:

• Molecular oxygen (O₂), essential for respiration
• Ozone (O₃), which protects living organisms from harmful UV radiation

Water is considered a vital natural resource because it is essential for all life processes such as digestion, circulation, photosynthesis, and temperature regulation.

It also plays a crucial role in agriculture, industry, and daily human activities.

Soil erosion is caused by wind, water, deforestation, and overgrazing.

Two preventive measures are:
• Plantation of trees
• Practising terrace farming

A food chain is a sequence of organisms in which energy is transferred from one organism to another through the process of eating and being eaten.

Decomposers break down dead plants and animals into simpler substances.

They help in recycling nutrients back into the soil, maintaining soil fertility and ecological balance.