Natural Resources

Tue, August 5, 2008 AM220 Lecture 12

 Mineral Resources—Mining
• Mining: extraction of ores, coal etc. from
the earth
• Relatively less environmental impacts
during exploration
• Major impacts during operation, and
after decommissioning.
• Open pit or closed pit
 Minerals of India
• 1/4th of world’s mineral resources
• Iron: Orissa-Bihar border, haematite: MP, Karnataka,
Maharashtra
• Coal: world’s largest. Bituminous coal—Jharia, Bokaro,
Midnapur. Lignite—Neyvile
• Manganese: World #2. MP, Maharashtra, Bihar-Orissa.
• Chromite: Bihar, Orissa, Karnataks, AP.
• Bauxite:
• Mica:
• Gypsum:
• Gold:
• Diamond
• Petroleum:
• Uranium, Thorium:
 Impacts of Mining
• Enormous amounts of waste
• Water-waste interaction: fluids may be highly
acidic or alkaline, or containing hazardous
metals, cyanides and toxic substances; Acid
mine drainage
• Contaminate land, water and groundwater for
centuries even after mine is closed.
• Wastes erosion and sedimentation
• Damage to forest cover for access, fuel,
settlements and actual mining.
• Dust air pollution. Serious health effects for
humans, plants and animals
• Noise pollution
 Social Damages of Mining
• Appropriation of land belonging to
communities
• Health impacts among workers, families
and communities; often no
compensation
• Alteration of social relationships
• Destruction of community subsistence
and life
• Social disintegration
• Displacement of communities
 Case study

• Bougainville Copper Mine

• Located 10,000 km from Solomon islands

• PANGUNA MNC copper mine is there

• Now mine is closed due to interference by

Bougainville Revolutionary Army
 Dams
Benefits
• For irrigation
• To generate electricity
• Flood control
• Recreation
• Inland navigation
• Fish farming
 Problems
• Submerge forest
• Displace local people
• Silting
• Salting and water logging
• Risk of seismic movements
 Food Resources
• Starvation and malnutrition are rampant in
Africa, Asia, Latin America
• Regions of dense population and poor
economies most affected
• Surplus food in developed world; used for
livestock. In the US Midwest, farmers are paid
to leave land fallow!
• Land use for cash crop production
• Presently, proper land management and
equitable distribution may be required
• Unless we take drastic steps to reduce
possible, more starvation is inevitable in the
future.
 Forced to eat dirt!

Brittle, gritty and revolting, “mud cakes” have been

consumed by impoverished pregnant women seeking
calcium, for years. But now the cakes have become a staple
for entire families in Haiti. . The Hindu, Wed, Jul 30,2008
 Water Resources
Source Harnessing Technique End-Use
Rain Rainwater harvesting Drinking, domestic,
groundwater recharge
Rivers & direct drawing, pumping, Drinking, domestic, industrial
streams infiltration galleries, and irrigation and effluent
dams discharge
Ground- Wells and tubewells Drinking, irrigation, industry
water
Reservoirs Pumping Drinking, domestic, industrial
and lakes and irrigation and effluent
discharge
Brackish Desalination Drinking, domestic, industrial
Water, use, effluent discharge.
Oceans
Synopsis of Water Data in India
 Water Sector at a Glance
Average Annual Precipitation (including snowfall) 4000 BCM

2. Geographical Area 328.7 Million Hectare

3. i) Census Population – 2001 1028.74 Million

ii) Census Population – 2011 1210.19 Million

4. Estimated Annual Rainfall 2011 3669.35 BCM

5. Average Annual Water Resources Potential 1869 BCM

6. i) Per Capita Water Availability (2001) 1816 Cubic Meter

ii) Per Capita Water Availability (2011) 1544 Cubic Meter

7. Estimated Utilisable Water

i) Surface 690 BCM

ii)Ground 431 BCM
iii)Total 1121 BCM

8.a) Live Storage Capacity 253.388 BCM

ii) Projects Under Construction 50.959 BCM

Annual Replenish able Ground Water Resources 433 bcm

Net Annual Ground Water Availability 398 bcm

Annual Ground Water Draft for Irrigation Domestic & Industrial uses:245 bcm

Source: Water and related statistics: CWC

 Threats to Water Resources
• Extensive pollution
• Overuse, leading to drying up of lakes and
reservoirs; eg. Dead Sea due to dying up of
feeding river for irrigation
• Deforestation leading to reduced recharge
• Depleting ground water
• Global Warming—melting glaciers
• Perrenial rivers becoming seasonal;
– Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Indus: 75% of
summer flow is from meltwater
– Increased flooding as ice melts
– Later, water scarcity will hit 500 million people and
37% of India’s irrigated land
 Remedial Measures
• Strict legislation and enforcement of
pollution norms preventing discharge into
water bodies
• Prevent deforestation especially in the
catchment area
• Exercise strict measure to reduce
wastage and minimize water use
• Promote rainwater harvesting
• Effective steps to counter global warming
 Land Resources
• Land supports forests, ecosystems,
animal and human life
• It enables recharge of ground water
• Loss of land amounts to loss of these
resources
• Land is a very scarce resource:
 Land degradation can exacerbate climate
change and threaten agricultural productivity,
water quality, biodiversity, sustainable
development, and the living conditions of
humans and wildlife, among other effects.

 Globally, a third of our land is degraded,

affecting 3 billion people, and it is expected to
worsen with rising demand for food.
 It is estimated that out of 329 M ha total
geographical area (TGA) of India

 the area under agriculture is 179.9 M ha

(60.47% of TGA)

 120.4 M ha area is degraded through one or

more degradation types, which in turn, is
affecting the country’s productive resource base.
 Soil degradation in India
147 million hectares (Mha) of land,

 94 Mha from water erosion

16 Mha from acidification
14 Mha from flooding
9 Mha from wind erosion
6 Mha from salinity
 7 Mha from a combination of factors.
 Dry land regions of India

Original source: National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning,
Bangalore. Map extracted from
Chart shows the changes in the processes leading to desertification/land degradation between 2003-
2005 and 2011-2013.
Chart from ISRO’s Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India
Major Threats and Management Options

 Soil Erosion
 Salinization and Alkalization
 Acidity
 Soil Organic Carbon Losses
 Nutrient Imbalance
 Pollution/Contamination by Toxic
Substances
 Threats to Land Resources
• Land use for agriculture, industry,
urbanization
• Land degradation, desertification
• Topsoil loss and loss of soil fertility
• Destruction by mining, landfilling
• Submergence due to dam projects, river
flooding, rising sea levels
• Pollution: toxic chemicals and heavy metals,
radioactive pollution
 Remedial Measures
• Reduce population and urban sprawl
• Reduce industrialization or mining of
environmentally sensitive areas.
• Develop and strictly enforce pollution
control standards
• Active steps to combat global warming
• Implement watershed development
strategies as alternatives to mega dams
• Waste: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Energy Resources and Potential
For transportation, heating/cooking/combustion, electricity

• Fossil Fuels • Solar

– coal, • Wind
– Petroleum • Tidal, Wave
– natural gas
• Geothermal
• Hydel
• Biomass
• Nuclear
 What are we doing?
• G8 Summit on
Global Food Crisis
and Poverty
Alleviation
• Leading
industrialized
nations on the
island of Hokkaido,
Japan
Summit that's hard to swallow

World leaders enjoy 18-course banquet as they discuss how to solve

Global Food Crisis
Just what the starving millions
need!
The end of living and beginning of survival

“How can you buy or sell the sky, the

warmth of the land? The idea is strange to
us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air
and sparkle of the water, how can you buy
them?.... We are part of the Earth and the
Earth is apart of us”
……….Reply of the Red Indian Chief in
1854 to the Great White Chief of Washington………..