{"id":1228,"date":"2014-08-28T14:35:28","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T21:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/?post_type=chapter&p=1228"},"modified":"2014-09-02T15:19:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-02T22:19:00","slug":"what-are-resources","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/chapter\/what-are-resources\/","title":{"raw":"What are Resources?","rendered":"What are Resources?"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n\r\nTraditionally a resource was defined as a product of biological, ecological or geological processes (natural resources) that\u00a0satisfies human wants. Resources are\u00a0part of an ecosystem and one where it is important to maintain biodiversity and the Earth\u2019s life-support systems (Costanzia et al., 1997). In more modern times the concept\u00a0resources has come to refer to\u00a0processes of capitalism and specifically to notions of development and state formation (Gregory et al., 2009).\r\n\r\nResources are now in the hands of governments or powerful corporations and the\u00a0manner in which these resources are managed affects all humans as well as\u00a0the physical environment.\r\n

Economic vs Ecological Views<\/h2>\r\nThere are three fundamental differences between economic and ecological views on resources:<\/span>\r\n
    \r\n\t
  1. An economic resource is human-centred <\/span>and the ecological resource definition is nature-centred.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. An economic view includes desire along with necessity, whereas the biological view is about basic biological needs.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Economic systems are based on markets of currency exchanged for goods and services, whereas biological systems are based on natural processes of growth, maintenance and reproduction.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nNatural resources therefore need be differentiated from human-made resources, such as money, factories, information, labour and computers. Many humans use natural resources without considering the broader consequences of their use. For example every time you get in a car and drive you are using oil that\u00a0pollutes the atmosphere through the exhaust gases released. When we turn on our gas central heating in the winter we are adding to the level of CO2 in the atmosphere.\u00a0Consider also how oil and gas have a role in international economic and political relations. What is the role of Saudi Arabia or Qatar given the world\u2019s wider dependence on their oil and gas?\r\n\r\nAny substance found in Earth\u2019s biosphere is simply another part of nature and is\u00a0of no importance or value economically \u2014 that is, until society has a use for it.\r\n

    When does a substance become a natural resource?<\/h2>\r\n
      \r\n\t
    1. When cultural value is given to the substance, as\u00a0people desire and accept the use of\u00a0the natural resource. Think of the cultural value and importance for people in BC to own and drive their own car. Do you own a car? Would you like to own a car?<\/li>\r\n\t
    2. When it benefits technology and\u00a0a society is able to process or extract the natural resource for use. Did you know that the original cars by Henry Ford were designed to run on batteries but when the technology to process petroleum was invented it quickly became a much cheaper alternative.<\/li>\r\n\t
    3. When it benefits the economic system and\u00a0a society can affect or define the price and availability of a natural resource. For example, corporations are now \u201cfracking\u201d (hydraulic fracturing) in\u00a0the tar sands of Alberta as they have the money to do so. In contrast, consider conditions in some Global South countries where power cuts are common occurrences because\u00a0<\/span>the government cannot afford to pay suppliers for the necessary\u00a0oil.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
      \n

      Traditionally a resource was defined as a product of biological, ecological or geological processes (natural resources) that\u00a0satisfies human wants. Resources are\u00a0part of an ecosystem and one where it is important to maintain biodiversity and the Earth\u2019s life-support systems (Costanzia et al., 1997). In more modern times the concept\u00a0resources has come to refer to\u00a0processes of capitalism and specifically to notions of development and state formation (Gregory et al., 2009).<\/p>\n

      Resources are now in the hands of governments or powerful corporations and the\u00a0manner in which these resources are managed affects all humans as well as\u00a0the physical environment.<\/p>\n

      Economic vs Ecological Views<\/h2>\n

      There are three fundamental differences between economic and ecological views on resources:<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. An economic resource is human-centred <\/span>and the ecological resource definition is nature-centred.<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. An economic view includes desire along with necessity, whereas the biological view is about basic biological needs.<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. Economic systems are based on markets of currency exchanged for goods and services, whereas biological systems are based on natural processes of growth, maintenance and reproduction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Natural resources therefore need be differentiated from human-made resources, such as money, factories, information, labour and computers. Many humans use natural resources without considering the broader consequences of their use. For example every time you get in a car and drive you are using oil that\u00a0pollutes the atmosphere through the exhaust gases released. When we turn on our gas central heating in the winter we are adding to the level of CO2 in the atmosphere.\u00a0Consider also how oil and gas have a role in international economic and political relations. What is the role of Saudi Arabia or Qatar given the world\u2019s wider dependence on their oil and gas?<\/p>\n

        Any substance found in Earth\u2019s biosphere is simply another part of nature and is\u00a0of no importance or value economically \u2014 that is, until society has a use for it.<\/p>\n

        When does a substance become a natural resource?<\/h2>\n
          \n
        1. When cultural value is given to the substance, as\u00a0people desire and accept the use of\u00a0the natural resource. Think of the cultural value and importance for people in BC to own and drive their own car. Do you own a car? Would you like to own a car?<\/li>\n
        2. When it benefits technology and\u00a0a society is able to process or extract the natural resource for use. Did you know that the original cars by Henry Ford were designed to run on batteries but when the technology to process petroleum was invented it quickly became a much cheaper alternative.<\/li>\n
        3. When it benefits the economic system and\u00a0a society can affect or define the price and availability of a natural resource. For example, corporations are now \u201cfracking\u201d (hydraulic fracturing) in\u00a0the tar sands of Alberta as they have the money to do so. In contrast, consider conditions in some Global South countries where power cuts are common occurrences because\u00a0<\/span>the government cannot afford to pay suppliers for the necessary\u00a0oil.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1228","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":241,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1293,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1228\/revisions\/1293"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/241"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1228\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1228"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1228"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}