#renewable #non-renewable #resources #ngscience
All about Earth's resources and how their use by humans can impact the environment.

The Earth is full of natural resources. A natural resource is a part of the Earth that humans use. This includes things like sunlight, wind, water, plants and animals, as well as fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.

Some natural resources are renewable. This means they are replaced or replenished by nature when they are used…so they don't run out. They can be used today and by future generations. Sunlight, wind and water are examples of renewable natural resources.

Some of the natural resources people use are non-renewable. A non-renewable natural resource is one that cannot be replenished by nature at the rate at which it is used. Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, are not renewable. Fossil fuels form when organic matter deep beneath the Earth's surface is subjected to heat and pressure over millions of years. Fuels can be burned to produce heat which is used by people in a variety of ways. They are used in combustion engines to power cars, buses and other vehicles. They are also used to generate electricity.

Coal is a fossil fuel found beneath the Earth's surface. To obtain coal, you have to build a mine. This can lead to significant, large-scale changes in the environment. Trees and plants are removed to make way for the mine and the road network needed to transport people and coal out of the area. One of the major impacts of coal mining is habitat loss. This occurs when human changes to the environment result in insufficient resources for organisms to survive. Some animals may move to a new suitable habitat. However, most organisms will die.

To obtain natural gas and oil, people must drill deep into the Earth's surface. Sometimes chemicals are used to pump fuels from the Earth. These chemicals can pollute the earth. Land and water pollution can also occur when these fossil fuels leak into the natural environment.

Burning fossil fuels has another impact on the Earth: air pollution. Emissions released into the air when burning fossil fuels are harmful to organisms, including humans. Emissions also include greenhouse gases that trap solar radiation in the atmosphere and increase the rate at which the Earth warms – a process called human-induced climate change. Scientists have discovered strong evidence that human burning of fossil fuels is causing the Earth to warm much faster than it normally would. This is due to rising water levels in our oceans, the melting of Earth's polar ice caps, and the alteration of many terrestrial habitats, making them unsuitable for the organisms that depend on them.

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