Large reserves of basic minerals are distributed across countries as follows.
1. Oil - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq.
2. Natural gas - Russia, Iran, United Arab Emirates.
3. Stonecoal - China, USA, Russia.
4. Iron ore - Brazil. Russia. China.
5. Copper ores - Chile. USA, Zaire.
An analysis of the global provision of mankind with non-renewable mineral resources allows us to draw a number of conclusions.
1. Explored mineral resources on Earth are limited, especially in the upper layers of the lithosphere most convenient for industrial production, and require constant monitoring of their use .
2. The degree of provision of certain types of mineral resources is not the same, which can have profound environmental consequences. The category of highly scarce resources includes mineral resources, the supply period of which is calculated for 10-20 years. These include Au, Pb, Co, Zn, Sn, and diamonds. The next category covers the mineral resources, the provision of which is calculated for the next century. These are oil, Mo, asbestos, Cu, gas, Ti, tungsten and vanadium. The third category is conventionally limited mineral resources - they will last for several hundred years. This category includes rock and potassium salts, Mn, Fe, phosphates, Cr, U, coal, Al and other minerals.
Russia is provided with all types of mineral raw materials and, in terms of their explored reserves, takes a leading place among the largest countries in the world. More than half of the world's coal and peat reserves, half of the timber reserves, 1/3 of oil and gas, 2/5 of iron ores, 2/5 of potassium salts, 1/4 of phosphorites and apatites are concentrated in the country.
The cost of Russia's resources, according to experts, is 27 trillion. US dollars, and its national wealth is estimated at 3.3 trillion. dollars.
At the same time, most of the mineral deposits in the Russian Federation are of low quality, the content of useful climatic conditions). As a result, despite the presence of significant proven reserves, the degree of their industrial development is rather low.
Significant losses of minerals occur during their transportation to the places of processing and use. On the territory of Russia, 350 thousand km of field pipelines are in operation, on which more than 50 thousand breakthroughs occur annually. As a result, 2,650 tons of oil from main pipes and 1,438 tons of oil products are spilled per year.
17. Land resources
Soil cover- the most important natural education. The soil is a food source that provides 95-97% of food resources for the world's population.
A special property of the soil cover is its fertility, which is understood as the totality of soil properties that ensure the yield of agricultural crops.
The Earth's soil resources suitable for agriculture are currently 40% depleted.
Involvement of new land in agricultural turnover occurs due to felling rainforest, which is fraught with the threat of a global ecological catastrophe. The development of these lands cannot solve the problem of increasing food production. The soils of tropical forests are poorly fertile, contain a lot of iron and aluminum. After clear cutting, tropical showers wash away a thin layer of humus, and a very strong red solid rock - iron ore - forms on the surface. The land becomes barren and unfit for cultivation. Iron ore already cover more than 10% of the tropics.
The land area is 149 million square meters. km. 13% is cultivated, and 90% of the food is obtained from here. The small proportion of arable land in relation to the land area gives the impression that land resources are inexhaustible. But there are environmental barriers to farming. This is the climate and relief.
The distribution of agricultural land per capita in different countries varies widely. In Japan this figure is 0.07 hectares, in the USA - more than 2, in Canada - more than 3, Australia - more than 40 hectares.
Agriculture is not the only consumer of land resources. Growth in industrial production, mining, expansion of urban areas and transport networks, protected areas, etc. reduce land resources.
The territory of Russia is large, but 65% of it is located in the permafrost zone, i.e. in harsh climatic conditions. About 10% of the territory of the Russian Federation is a tundra zone with primitive soils. The humus layer has a thickness of 2-3 cm, its content is a fraction of%. The soils are waterlogged, there are many swamps. Most of all in the country are podzolic soils - 30% of the territory. The humus horizon is from 5 to 20 cm, the humus content is 2-4%. Podzols are acidic, they need liming. On large area they are waterlogged. The forest-steppe zone with gray forest soils occupies 1% of the territory. This is one of the most developed areas, the share of arable land reaches 80% of the area. The steppe zone occupies 9% of the territory. It is distinguished by chernozem soils and insufficient moisture. Chernozems have a thickness of a humus layer of 40 to 170 cm and a humus content in the upper part of 4 to 20%. The entire soil cover of the zone is plowed up and eroded.
Russia is in fifth place among countries with an effective territory (km 2 / person): Brazil - 8.05, USA - 8, Australia - 7.68, China - 5.95, Russia - 5.51, Canada - 3 , 64, India - 2.9, Kazakhstan - 2.62. Consequently, the area of effective territory in Russia is 1.5 times less than in the United States and only 2 times more than in Kazakhstan, and stretched out for many thousands of kilometers, which complicates the organization of transport
Almost all agricultural lands in Russia are located in areas of risky farming and large areas are located in the permafrost zone.
The growing season in Russia is 100 days shorter than in France, Italy and Austria. Russia is the coldest country on the planet, and in order to maintain the same standard of living as in the mentioned countries, different energy costs are needed. In Russia, they should be 2-3 times more than in Western Europe.
Soils lose their fertility due to degradation, which can be natural and man-made.
Natural soil degradation is the washing out of nutrients from fertile soils by rain moisture. The complete destruction of soils occurs under the influence of strong earthquakes, surges and tides.
Technogenic soil degradation occurs as a result of errors in agriculture economic activity human, is soil pollution, erosion of arable soils on slopes, destruction of soils by quarries, mines, degradation of pastures due to overloading during grazing.
Irrigated agriculture is the most efficient form of land use in agriculture. Each irrigated hectare gives 4-5 times more production than non-irrigated one. Therefore, more than 50% of the world harvest is harvested from irrigated lands, which make up only 13% of the arable land area. But even with low soil salinity, crop yields are sharply reduced (wheat - by 50-60%). Salinization affects up to 40% of all irrigated land in the world. Increased irrigation rates lead to a significant rise in the level of mineralized (slightly salted) groundwater, salts from which rise to the surface through soil capillaries.
The phenomenon of soil salinization is observed in many countries of irrigated agriculture in Asia, Africa, America. As a result of secondary salinization, tens of millions of hectares have turned into unproductive saline soils and salt deserts.
In large areas, soil productivity decreases due to a decrease in humus content. In the last 20 years alone, humus reserves have decreased by 25-30%, and the annual losses in the whole of the Russian Federation amount to 81.4 million tons. About 43% of the arable land of the Russian Federation is characterized by a low humus content.
D. Geogr., Prof. I. Mitrofanova, Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Associate Professor
Natural resources- these are components of the natural environment used in the production process to meet the material and cultural needs of society.
Natural resources are inherently physical in origin, but in the process of their use they become an economic resource.
Natural resources are divided into inexhaustible (agro-climatic, geothermal, hydropower) and exhaustible. In turn, exhaustible resources are divided into non-renewable (mineral) and renewable (land, water, biological, recreational). Based on this classification and developing it, this textbook identifies the following types of natural resources: mineral (minerals), energy, water, biological, land, agro-climatic, recreational.
When considering natural resources, it is important to assess resource availability, i.e. the ratio between the explored reserves of resources and the volumes of their use. The resource availability of exhaustible non-renewable resources is estimated by the number of years for which these resources will be sufficient at the current level of production. For renewable resources, the amount of these resources per capita is determined.
Mineral resources in the world
Mineral raw materials in their own way geological origin and the purpose can be divided into fuel, ore, chemical, construction and technical.
According to the degree of exploration, the reserves of mineral resources are divided into four categories - explored (commercial) - A, B and C1 and preliminary estimated C2.
Category A (reliable reserves) includes explored and studied reserves in detail with an accurate definition of the boundaries of mineral bodies, industrial development is already underway on the reserves of this category, and the permissible error in the assessment of reserves is up to 10% of their volume. Category B includes reserves that have been explored and studied in detail, ensuring the clarification of the main features of the occurrence conditions, but without accurately reflecting the spatial position of each type, and at the same time, reserves of this category are either not yet developed, or are in the initial stage of development, and the permissible error in the assessment does not exceed 15%. Category C1 includes reserves that are either in the exploration stage, or for which exploration has been carried out and their partial assessment has been carried out, and the permissible error in the assessment of these reserves should not exceed 25%. Reserves of category C2 (potential) refer to the preliminary estimated, when the boundaries of the deposits are not determined, carrying out exploration work only planned, and the error in estimates of the volume of reserves can reach 50%.
Fuel mineral resources
Fuel mineral raw materials are of sedimentary origin, therefore they are distributed unevenly and confined to sedimentary covers platform structures... Fuel resources primarily include the “big three” - oil, natural gas and coal, which produce more than 80% of the world's energy (see Table 11.5). The world's geological reserves of mineral fuels are estimated at about 13 trillion tons, i.e. the provision of mankind with mineral fuel is about 1000 years. Moreover, coal accounts for 60% of reserves (in terms of calorific value), and hydrocarbon fuels - 27%. At the same time, the structure of world consumption of primary energy sources is developing differently: in 2012, coal accounts for about 30%, oil - about 33%, gas - about 24%. The United States holds the first place in the world in terms of proven coal reserves, Venezuela in terms of oil reserves, and Iran, which recently surpassed Russia a little, in terms of natural gas reserves.
Table 1
The first eight countries in terms of proven reserves of fuel resources in 2012
Country |
Coal |
Oil |
Natural |
||
|
Venezuela |
|||||
|
Australia |
Turkmenistan |
||||
|
Germany |
Saudi Arabia |
||||
|
Venezuela |
|||||
|
Kazakhstan |
Source: US Energy International Administration. International Energy Outlook, 2013.
Reliable reserves of coal today are estimated at 860 billion tons, more than half of which is coal and the rest is less high-calorie brown coal, and the planet has been supplied with coal for 400 years. The richest coal is the United States (they account for 28% of the world's proven reserves), Australia (9%), Germany (5%), and from less developed countries - Russia (more than 18%), China (13%) and India (7 %). Thus, the United States, Russia, China and Australia account for about 70% of the world's proven coal reserves. If we evaluate the reserves of high-quality coking coal (they are needed for smelting metals), then Australia, Germany, China and the United States come out on top.
Today coal is mined in about 80 countries. Bituminous coal is mined about 3.5 billion tons, brown coal - 1.2 billion tons. oil and gas industry, and on the other hand - unfavorable physical, geographical and ecological conditions of production. In particular, the production of coal with increased sulfur content has decreased. As a result, many developed countries began to focus more on imported coal, which is also cheaper. So, coal mining in France and Belgium has practically ceased, and the oldest coal regions - the Ruhr and Saar in Germany, the Appalachian region in the United States are experiencing a crisis. A somewhat more stable situation has developed with lignite and those coal basins where mining is carried out in a cheaper open-cut method.
The structural crisis has not affected the less developed countries, where industry and energy are developing rapidly and at the same time, the cost is low. work force: here coal industry on the contrary, it is experiencing a rapid rise. At present, China has taken the 1st place in coal production. More recently, the country mined 1 billion tons of coal, and in 2012, 3.5 billion tons were already mined. The largest coal producers are also the United States (993 million tons, although production volumes are falling), India (590 million tons), Australia, Indonesia, Russia (354 million tons), Germany, South Africa, Colombia. Coal production is growing especially rapidly in Indonesia and Colombia. The world's largest coal exporters in last years steel Australia, Indonesia (2nd place in the world), Russia (exports 19% of mined coal.), USA, Colombia, South Africa.
table 2
V leading countries for the production, export and consumption of fuel resources
(the place of the country is indicated in brackets)
Oil (mln bbl / day) |
Gas (billion m3 / year) |
Coal (million tons / year) |
|||||||||
|
Extraction, |
Export, |
Consumption, |
Booty |
Export, |
Consumption, |
Extraction, |
Export, |
Consumption, |
|||
|
Saudi Arabia |
|||||||||||
|
Australia |
|||||||||||
|
Norway |
Indonesia |
||||||||||
|
Saudi Arabia |
Germany |
||||||||||
|
Venezuela |
Indonesia |
||||||||||
|
Netherlands |
Kazakhstan |
||||||||||
|
Colombia |
|||||||||||
|
Malaysia |
|||||||||||
|
Norway |
|||||||||||
|
Germany |
Germany |
||||||||||
|
The Republic of Korea |
|||||||||||
Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2013
The reliable reserves of oil in the world are estimated at 236 billion tons, and the resource supply with oil is estimated at 55 years. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the supply of oil and gas has increased by 60-65%, and the volume of production has increased by only 25%, which indicates the advanced development of geological exploration. However, exploration, like production, is increasingly moving to harsh environments with higher production costs. Thus, more than 30% of oil reserves are located in the shelf zones of the seas and oceans, therefore, in a number of countries, for example, Great Britain, Norway, Gabon, oil is extracted exclusively from the bottom of the sea. According to forecasts, huge reserves of hydrocarbons are concentrated in the shelf seas of the Arctic and the Far East.
The overwhelming majority of proven oil reserves are located in Asia, more than 48% of the world's oil reserves are concentrated in the Persian Gulf basin alone. For a long time, Saudi Arabia was the leader in oil reserves (16% of world reserves), but Venezuela has recently surpassed it (18%). This is followed by Canada, Iran and Iraq (9-10% each), Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Russia (5%). Canada previously did not have large oil reserves, but after finding unique "oil sands" in the province of Alberta, Canada became one of the leading countries in this indicator (10%).
Until the early 1970s. world production oil grew at a rapid pace, but after the then energy crisis, the price of oil rose sharply, and the geography of oil production changed - it began to move to hard-to-reach places. Accordingly, the level of world oil production began to grow more slowly and now stands at more than 3.6 billion tons per year. However, if in the OECD countries there is a fall or very slow growth in oil consumption, then in other countries there is an increase in oil consumption by 3.0-3.5%, which supports the growth of its production around the world as a whole in the region of 1%.
In 2012, Russia was in second place in oil production (10.600 million barrels per day) after Saudi Arabia (11.500 million barrels per day). The USA is in third place (8.900 million barrels per day). In 2013, according to Russian data, Russia produced 10.800 million barrels. per day. However, the United States (8.4 million barrels per day) has every chance to become the world leader in oil production in the foreseeable future, leaving behind both Saudi Arabia and Russia: oil production here is growing at the highest rate over the past 150 years. Such a sharp increase in production in the United States is made possible by the active production of shale oil in certain states. The largest oil producers are also Norway, Iran, China, Canada, Iraq, UAE, Mexico, Kuwait and a number of other countries. Of particular note is the role of the OPEC member countries, which concentrate 73% of proven oil reserves, although their share in production in 2012 decreased to 43%. Nevertheless, they remain the main world exporters of oil, primarily Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
The reliable reserves of natural gas in the world are growing rapidly and today they are estimated at 187 trillion. m 3, and more and more thanks to deposits in hard-to-reach areas. As a result, gas production, as well as oil production, is actively moving to the shelf zones of the seas and oceans, where 28% of all gas is now produced. Gas resource availability is estimated at 70 years.
In contrast to oil production, the dynamics of gas production in recent decades has been characterized by rapid growth and has now reached 3.6 trillion. m 3 per year, increasing in recent years by 2-3%. The first place in the world is occupied by the United States, which produced 680 billion cubic meters in 2012, increasing the production of shale gas more and more. Russia produces slightly less gas, which in 2012 slightly reduced its production to 653 billion cubic meters due to the slow growth of gas demand in the EU. Further, Canada, Qatar, Iran, Norway, the Netherlands, China and other countries go by a wide margin. The main world exporters of natural gas are Russia, Norway, Qatar, Canada, the Netherlands, and in the coming years, the United States.
Ore and other mineral resources
Ore mineral raw materials, in contrast to sedimentary fuel, have, with rare exceptions, magmatic or metamorphic origin, therefore they are confined to folded tectonic structures, to the shields, to the faults of the earth's crust.
Uranium ores are often referred to as fuel mineral resources, since the main purpose of uranium is fuel for nuclear reactors installed at nuclear power plants. Estimates of the geological reserves of uranium ores vary greatly, although the reliable reserves, according to the IAEA, have been determined quite accurately - 3.6 million tons and are concentrated in 44 countries of the world (2005). The first place belongs undividedly to Australia - about 30% of world reserves, followed by Kazakhstan - 17%, Canada - about 12%, South Africa - 10%, then Namibia, Brazil, Russia, etc. However, according to new Russian data, Russia came out on the 2nd place in the world, bypassing Kazakhstan - 18% of world reserves.
At the same time, the extraction of ores and the production of concentrate from it is characterized by a slightly different geography. Uranium ore is mined in 25 countries of the world: in Kazakhstan (33% of world production), Canada (18%), Australia (11%), as well as Namibia and Niger (8% each), Russia (7%), Uzbekistan, USA , South Africa, Gabon. At the same time, the volumes of uranium ore production are characterized by strong fluctuations: the maximum volumes were reached at the end of the 1970s. during the energy crisis, then there was a drop in production volumes, especially after the Chernobyl accident, and from 2005 to 2009, uranium production increased by more than 1.5 times, primarily due to Kazakhstan.
Iron ores are widespread in earth crust and their explored reserves are estimated at 160 billion tons. The iron content in them varies widely - from 20% to 68%. In terms of explored reserves of iron ores, Ukraine dominates (45% of world reserves), followed by Australia (20%), Brazil (17%), Russia (15%), China, India, and the USA. However, the iron content in the ores does not correspond to the indicated rank - the richest ores are provided by Liberia, India, Australia, Brazil, Venezuela - the ores in these countries contain more than 60% of the useful component.
The largest iron ore producers in 2012 were China (43% of world production), Australia (20%), Brazil (17%), India, Russia, Ukraine - in total, iron ore is mined in 43 countries, including for export. A number of countries that previously focused on their own iron ore, switch to its import, and this primarily applies to the EU.
The most widespread metal in the earth's crust is aluminum, and it is concentrated in sedimentary rocks. The explored reserves of bauxite in the world are estimated at 30 billion tons. Ores of light non-ferrous metals, including bauxite, are distinguished by a high content of the useful component - in bauxite its content is 30-60%. The largest bauxite reserves are in Guinea (27% of the world's proven reserves), Australia (25%), Brazil, Jamaica, China, India, Vietnam, although the latter, thanks to new explored reserves, may take the first line in the ranking. The largest producers of bauxite are Australia (33% of world production), China (19%), Brazil (15%), India, Guinea, Jamaica - about 30 countries in total. Some developed countries, such as the USA, France, Greece, Hungary, have either stopped mining bauxite altogether, or have significantly reduced it. Russia also focuses on the import of bauxite.
Heavy non-ferrous metal ores contain significantly less useful component. Thus, the copper content in ores is usually less than 5%. The largest countries that develop copper ores are Chile (36% of world production), the USA, Peru, China, Australia, Russia, Indonesia (about 50 countries in total).
In terms of reserves and production of other mineral resources, the leading positions are held by a small range of countries. Thus, more than 70% of the world production of manganese is concentrated in China, South Africa, Australia, Gabon, Kazakhstan and India; chromium - in South Africa, Kazakhstan, India, Zimbabwe, Finland; lead - in Australia, China, USA, Peru, Canada; zinc - in China, Australia, Peru, Canada, USA, Mexico; tin - in China, Peru, Indonesia, Brazil, Bolivia, Australia, Malaysia, Russia; nickel - in Russia (25% of world production), Canada, Australia, Indonesia, France (New Caledonia), Colombia; cobalt - in DRC (53% of world production), Canada, China, Russia, Zambia; tungsten - in China (85% of world production), Russia, Canada, Austria.
Among non-metallic raw materials, chemical raw materials should be distinguished: phosphorites, apatites, salts, sulfur. Phosphorites are mined in almost 30 countries of the world, among which the USA, China, Morocco, Tunisia are leading. For the extraction of sodium salt, the USA, China, Germany, India, Canada are distinguished; potassium salt - Canada, Belarus, Germany, Russia, Israel.
12.2. Land, water, forest and recreational resources of the world
For the period only after 1960, food production in the world increased 2.5 times, water consumption - 2 times, deforestation - 3 times. All this has sharpened attention to the provision of the world with land, water and forest resources.
Table 3
Security in a number of countries arable land, forest and water resources, per capita
Country |
Arable land, ha |
Fresh water, |
|||
|
Australia |
Democratic Republic Congo |
||||
|
Kazakhstan |
Norway |
||||
|
Finland |
Venezuela |
||||
|
Argentina |
Brazil |
Brazil |
|||
|
Australia |
|||||
|
Germany |
|||||
|
Germany |
Germany |
Land resources
Land resources are land areas. Part of it has no soil cover (for example, glaciers) and therefore cannot be the basis for the production of agricultural raw materials and food. The total land fund of the world (land area excluding the glaciers of the Arctic and Antarctic) is 13.4 billion hectares, or more than 26% of the entire area of our planet.
The structure of the land fund from the point of view of agricultural development does not look the best. So, arable land (arable land, orchards, plantations) accounts for 11%, meadows and pastures - another 26%, and the rest is occupied by forests and shrubs - 32%, land under settlements, industrial and transport facilities - 3%, unproductive and unproductive lands (swamps, deserts and territories with extreme climatic isotherms) - 28%.
Thus, agricultural land (arable land, orchards, plantations, meadows and pastures) make up only 36% of the land fund (4.8 billion hectares) and their increase in recent years, although continuing, is slow. The largest agricultural lands among the countries of the world are China, Australia, USA, Canada, Russia. In the structure of agricultural land, the area of arable land is 28% (1.3 billion hectares), pastures - 70% (3.3 billion hectares), perennial plantations - 2%.
As the population grows, the availability of agricultural land decreases: if in 1980 there were 0.3 hectares of arable land per capita in the world, then in 2011 - 0.24 hectares. In North America, 0.65 hectares of arable land are per capita, Western Europe - 0.28 hectares, Foreign Asia - 0.15 hectares, South America - 0.49 hectares, Africa - 0.30 hectares. There are also great contrasts between countries (see table 12.3).
A decrease in land resources as a global trend occurs due to the rejection of productive land for enterprises, cities and others. settlements, development of the transport network. Huge areas of cultivated land are being lost as a result of erosion, salinization, waterlogging, desertification, physical and chemical degradation. According to FAO, the total area of potentially suitable land for agriculture in the world is about 3.2 billion hectares. However, to include this reserve in agricultural production, a colossal investment of labor and funds is required.
In developed countries, private land ownership prevails. Most of the land fund is in the hands of large landowners (farmers and companies) and is rented out. Developing countries are characterized by a variety of forms of land relations. These are large landowners' landholdings, private, foreign, communal lands, leased, there are landless and landless peasant farms. In general, the world is dominated by the private form of land tenure, but a significant share of peasant farms (28%) do not have their own land and have to rent it.
Water resources
Water is a prerequisite for the existence of all living organisms. Not only life is associated with the use of water resources, but also human economic activity.
Of the total amount of water on earth, fresh water so necessary for mankind makes up 2.5% of the total volume of the hydrosphere (the water shell of the earth, which is a combination of seas, oceans, surface waters land, groundwater, ice, snow of Antarctica and the Arctic, atmospheric waters), or about 35 million m3, which exceeds the current needs of mankind by more than 10 thousand times, and the remaining 97.5% of the volume of the hydrosphere is the water of the world ocean and salt water of surface and underground lakes.
The overwhelming majority of fresh water (70%) is in polar and mountain ice and permafrost, which are practically not used. Only 0.12% of the total volume of the hydrosphere is made up of surface waters of rivers, freshwater lakes, and swamps. Freshwater supplies suitable for all uses are called water resources. River waters are the main source of satisfaction of mankind's needs for fresh water. Their one-time volume is extremely small - 1.3 thousand km 3, but since this volume is renewed 23 times during the year, the actual volume of available fresh water is 42 thousand km 3 (this is about two Baikals). This is our "water ration", although in reality you can use only half of this amount.
The distribution of fresh water across the globe is extremely uneven. In Europe and Asia, where 70% of the world's population lives, only 39% of river waters are concentrated. Many countries are on the brink of a crisis in terms of water availability - for example, the Gulf countries, small island states... At the same time, countries with a high degree of security stand out, including Russia (see Table 12.3).
In terms of surface water resources, Russia occupies a leading place in the world. The average total flow of rivers is 4270 km 3 per year, mainly due to such rivers as the Yenisei, Angara, Ob, Pechora, Northern Dvina, etc. The exploitable resources of groundwater are 230 km 3 per year. On the whole, in Russia there are 31.9 thousand m 3 of fresh water per inhabitant per year. Nevertheless, in Russia, a number of regions are experiencing a shortage of fresh water (Volga region, Central Black Earth region, North Caucasus, Uralsky, Central regions), since its reserves are concentrated in the European North, Siberia and the Far East.
The volume of world water consumption is 25% of the planet's water resources and, according to UN estimates, is 3973 m 3. It can be stated that mankind as a whole is not threatened by the lack of clean drinking water. Nevertheless, if the "water ration" of mankind remains unchanged, then the world water consumption from 1960 to 2000 increased by 20% every ten years, although over the past decade - only by 10%. In addition, according to the UN at the end of the 2000s, more than 1.2 billion people on Earth are deprived of high-quality drinking water, since they either live in countries with a shortage of fresh water or near water sources contaminated with household and industrial waste. ...
The main consumer of water in the world remains agriculture (82%), then industry (8%), only 10% is consumed in everyday life. In Russia, the structure of water consumption is different. Water consumption for industrial needs is 40%, for agriculture - 24%, household expenses - 17%. This pattern of consumption has developed due to the high share of water-based industries and wasteful consumption of water in everyday life. Poor availability of water resources southern regions Russia, which is the main agricultural regions of the country, is increasing the level of water use in agriculture. Nevertheless, the total water consumption in Russia is only 3% of the average annual flow of the country's rivers.
Water resources play an important role in the development of the world energy economy. The global hydropower potential is estimated at 10 trillion. kW. including the possible generation of electricity. About ½ of this potential falls on 6 countries of the world: Russia, China, USA, DRC, Canada, Brazil.
Forest resources
Forest is one of the most important types of biological resources. Like all other biological resources, they are considered to be exhaustible but renewable natural resources. Forest resources are assessed by the size of the forest area, standing timber reserves, and forest cover.
The world's average forest resources per capita are 0.6 hectares, and this figure is also constantly decreasing, mainly due to anthropogenic deforestation. The highest availability of forest resources (as well as water resources) is in equatorial countries and northern countries temperate zone: in Suriname - 36 hectares per capita, in Venezuela - 11 hectares, in Brazil - 2.5 hectares, in Australia - 7 hectares, in Russia - 5.5 hectares, in Finland - 5 hectares, in Canada - 16 hectares per per capita. Conversely in tropical countries and southern countries In the temperate zone, forest provision is much lower and amounts to less than 0.1 ha per person (see Table 12.3).
The total forest area in the world is 4.1 billion hectares, i.e. about 30% of the earth's land mass. However, in the last 200 years alone, forest areas have halved and continue to decline at a rate of 25 million hectares, or 0.6% per year, with the most intensive reduction. rainforests southern forest belt. So, Latin America and Asia has already lost 40% of evergreen rainforests and Africa 5%. At the same time, despite the intensive exploitation of forests northern belt in the USA, Canada, the Scandinavian countries, thanks to work on reforestation and afforestation, the total forest area in them has not decreased over the past decades.
Standing timber reserves in the world are approximately 350 billion m 3. Russia ranks first in terms of timber reserves in the world - 25% of the world, or 83 billion cubic meters, including it has almost half of the world's reserves of coniferous species. The annual increase in timber, which determines the exploitation of forests without undermining their reproduction, is, according to estimates, 5.5 billion m 3. At the beginning of our decade, the volume of timber harvesting amounted to 5.5 billion m3 per year (including illegal logging), i.e. the volume of harvesting was equal to the annual increase in timber. In Russia, about a third of the forests cut down annually are restored naturally, the rest require special measures to restore them.
The indicator of the forest cover of the territory is the ratio of the forest area to the total territory of the country. According to this indicator, Russia only ranks 21st in the world due to the large area of tundra and steppes.
Recreational resources
Recreational resources are understood as natural components and anthropogenic objects with uniqueness, historical, artistic and aesthetic value, healing and health-improving significance, intended for the organization of various types of recreation, tourism and treatment. They are subdivided into natural and anthropogenic recreational resources. Among the natural recreational resources are geological and geomorphological, hydrological, climatic, energy, biological, landscape resources.
The former include the East African Rift, Vesuvius Volcano, the Himalayas, the Tibet Plateau, the Great Barrier Reef off the northeastern coast of Australia, the red Uluru-Kata Tjuta monoliths in central Australia, the Norwegian fiords, the Grand Canyon in the USA, the Pillars "In the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Hydrological recreational resources include all types of surface and groundwater with recreational properties: Lake Baikal, Angel Falls in Venezuela, Iguazu in Argentina and Brazil, Niagara in the USA and Canada, the Dead Sea in Israel and Jordan, a cascade of hot mountain lakes Pamuk-Kale in Turkey, Fedchenko and Bear glaciers in the Pamirs, geyser valleys in Kamchatka, in Chile, in Iceland, temporarily flowing rivers in the Pamirs.
Climatic recreational resources include all resorts in the world (seaside, mountain, steppe, forest, desert, cave) and even some places with extreme climate and weather properties (coldest place on Earth, windiest, wettest, hottest).
Biological and landscape recreational resources combine elements of living and inanimate nature: soil, floristic and faunistic resources of scientific, cognitive, medico-biological and aesthetic value. Among the unique biological resources and landscapes of the world, the following stand out: the island of Madagascar with its ecosystem numbering 10 thousand species of endemic plants and animals, the Amazon basin, the Ngoro-Ngoro caldera and national park Serengeti in Tanzania, Mountain Altai, volcanoes of Kamchatka, virgin Komi forests, chernozems and juniper groves Krasnodar Territory, cedar and fir taiga in Russia, the Deccan Highlands and the oldest Corbett National Park in India, Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks in the USA, Arctic polar bears and Antarctic penguins, kangaroos, koala, dingo dog, Australian devil in Australian national parks"Blue Mountains", "Kakadu" and many others, fur seals of the Commander Islands, Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), reserves in South and Equatorial Africa.
Recreational resources of anthropogenic origin can be subdivided into material ones (embodied in architectural monuments, museums, palace and park ensembles etc.) and spiritual, reflected in science, education, literature, folk life, etc. These are numerous museums of world importance, historical and cultural monuments of Russia, European countries, China, India, Japan, Iran, Mexico, Peru, Egypt.
Of particular note are the objects world heritage humanity. In 1972, UNESCO adopted the Convention on the World Natural and Cultural Heritage and began to draw up a list of World Heritage Sites. Currently, the list compiled on its basis includes 911 heritage sites, including 704 cultural heritage sites, 180 - natural heritage and 27 are of mixed heritage.
Recreational resources are the backbone of tourism. In recent decades, there has been a "tourism boom" in the world. According to the World Tourism Organization, in 2012 the number of international tourists in the world alone reached 1 billion, and receipts from international tourism exceeded 1 trillion. The leaders of world tourism in 2012 were France, the USA, China, and in terms of income from tourism - the USA, Spain, France (see Table 11.10).
Natural resources of Russia
The mineral resources of our country are extremely diverse. On European territory and in Western Siberia covered with a thick sedimentary cover, there are rich deposits of sedimentary, primarily fuel, minerals. 95% of the country's fuel resources are concentrated in its Asian part. On shields and in ancient folded zones, - in the Kola-Karelian region, in Altai and the Urals, Eastern Siberia and in the Far East, where numerous outcrops of magmatic intrusions took place, there are rich deposits of ore minerals, gold, diamonds, chemical and construction raw materials.
As a result, Russia occupies a leading position in the world in terms of proven (explored) reserves of many minerals. Thus, it accounts for 18% of the world's gas resources and more than 5% of the world's oil reserves. The overwhelming majority of gas reserves are located in the West Siberian basin, as well as in the Barents-Pechora, Orenburg, Astrakhan, North Caucasian, Lensko-Vilyui and Okhotsk basins of Russia. Most of the oil reserves are also located in the West Siberian basin and, in addition, oil reserves are located in the Volga-Ural, in the Barents-Pechora, North Caucasian, Caspian and Okhotsk basins. There are great potential hydrocarbon reserves on the shelves of the Arctic and Pacific seas, but production here is still minimal.
Russia also occupies a leading place in coal reserves (18% of the world's proven reserves), where the undisputed leader are the giants of the besseins - Tunguska and Lensky, but their explored reserves are small, and there is almost no production here. Of the developed basins, the huge Kansk-Achinsky brown coal basin, the Kuznetsk coal and other coal basins located in Russia - Pechora, Donetsk, Irkutsk, Yuzhno-Yakutsk, Primorsky, Sakhalinsky, Podmoskovny, should be distinguished.
Russia possesses 18% of the world's uranium ore reserves. The main Russian deposits are located in Eastern Siberia and the Far East - the Chita region, Buryatia and the Republic of Sakha. Uranium ores in Russia are poorer than foreign ones. Ores in Russian underground mines contain only 0.18% uranium, while Canadian underground mines produce ores with up to 1% uranium. In terms of the production of uranium ores, Russia is in 6th place (6.6% of world production).
The most important component mineral resource base are ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Large deposits of iron ores in Russia are, first of all, the Kursk magnetic anomaly, as well as the Ural, Kola-Karelian and Angarsk deposits. In terms of reliable reserves of iron ore, Russia is one of the world leaders - 15% of world reserves. And in terms of the extraction of iron ore, Russia is in 5th place - more than 100 million tons. However, the provision of Russia with the manganese and chromium ores necessary for metallurgy is small.
There are aluminum ores in the European North (including the largest nepheline deposit in Kola Peninsula), in the North-West region of Russia, in the Urals and in Siberia. However, in general, the reserves of aluminum ores in Russia are small.
Russia has large reserves of nickel ores, which are often mined together with copper. In terms of the extraction of nickel ores, Russia occupies a leading place in the world - over 20% of world production.
Copper, cobalt, nickel, platinum ores are mined in Russia in the Norilsk region, as well as in the Urals, on the Kola Peninsula. Ores are often complex and contain simultaneously copper, nickel, cobalt and other components. Tungsten-molybdenum ores are found in the North Caucasus and Transbaikalia. Complex, mainly lead-zinc polymetallic deposits are found in Transbaikalia, Primorye, North Caucasus, Altai region. There are rich deposits of tin ores in the Far East. Placer and primary gold deposits are found in the Far East, Transbaikalia, and mountainous Altai.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia has to start developing deposits of manganese, titanium-zirconium, chromium ores, the concentrates of which were previously completely imported from the Union republics.
Salt deposits should be distinguished from non-metallic deposits. Russia has large deposits salts in the Urals, in the lower Volga region, in the south of Western and Eastern Siberia. There are unique apatite deposits in the Khibiny on the Kola Peninsula. Phosphorites are mined in Central Russia... Sulfur deposits are known in the Volga region. There are rich diamond deposits in the Republic of Sakha; deposits have also been discovered in the European North not far from Arkhangelsk.
At the same time, most of the mineral deposits in Russia are of low quality, the content of useful components in them is 35-50% lower than the world average, in addition, in some cases, they are difficult to access and are located in areas with extreme natural conditions. As a result, despite the presence of significant explored reserves, the degree of their industrial development is quite low: for bauxite - 33%, nepheline ores - 55%, copper - 49%, zinc - 17%, tin - 42%, molybdenum - 31%, lead - 9%, titanium - 1%.
Land resources in Russia are quite large, but agricultural land, as in the rest of the world, tends to decline. Over the past quarter century, their area has decreased by about 15%. Although arable land in the structure of the land fund of Russia is only 7% and, moreover, its area is decreasing, the provision of arable land in Russia is one of the highest in the world - about 0.9 hectares per person, and Russia has huge reserves of the most fertile - chernozem soils.
Analysis of the data of state monitoring of lands for the state of the natural environment shows that the state of land quality in virtually all regions Russian Federation is rapidly deteriorating. The soil cover, especially of arable land and other agricultural land, continues to undergo degradation, pollution, littering and destruction, catastrophically loses its resistance to destruction, the ability to restore properties, reproduce fertility due to depleting and consumer use of land. In addition, about half (northern) of the territory of Russia is in conditions excessive moisture, a South part European territory of Russia and southern Siberia are in the zone of insufficient moisture. Waterlogged and swampy lands occupy 12%, and saline, alkaline lands and lands with solonetzic complexes occupy 20% of the country's agricultural land.
Forest resources in Russia are extremely rich. The provision of forest resources in Russia is one of the highest in the world - 5 hectares per person, therefore, 26% of the world's timber reserves are in Russia. At the same time, Russia has more mature and productive forests than other countries, because its forests are dominated by conifers. Therefore, almost half of the world's coniferous tree stocks are concentrated in our country.
Over the past 30 years, the state of forests has been continuously deteriorating. Deforestation exceeds reforestation. About a third of the forests cut down annually are restored in a natural way, the rest require special measures to restore them. The forests of the European territory are degrading especially rapidly. Fires, industrial emissions and construction work also cause enormous damage to forests. Wood reserves in recent years have decreased by 1.2 billion m3, which indicates that the forests of Russia are "getting younger", i.e. the most valuable - mature and productive forests are being cut down, and restoration is carried out at the expense of low-value small-leaved young stands.
Water resources are very large - Russia ranks second in the world in terms of water resources after Brazil, with 32 thousand m 3 of fresh water per inhabitant per year. However, they are very unevenly distributed. So, the basins of the Arctic and Pacific oceans account for 80% of the runoff. As a result, a number of regions experiencing a shortage of fresh water (Volga region, Central Black Earth region, North Caucasus, Ural, Central regions), since its reserves are mainly concentrated in the European North, Siberia and the Far East.
The intake of fresh water is growing at an extremely fast pace: if in 1950 it was 80 km 3, now it is 400 km 3 per year. This is due to the fact that in Russia there is a different structure of water consumption than in other countries. The consumption of water for industrial needs is the largest and amounts to 57%, 16% of water is used for agriculture, 23% for domestic needs and 4% of water resources are concentrated in reservoirs. A similar structure of consumption (a lot of industrial and domestic consumption) has developed due to the high share of water-intensive industries and wasteful consumption of water in the municipal economy. The aridity of the southern regions of Russia, which are the main agricultural regions of the country, increases the level of water use in agriculture. Nevertheless, the total water consumption in Russia is only 3% of the average annual flow of the country's rivers.
A serious problem of water resources is their pollution. Almost all large rivers are “polluted” or “heavily polluted”. About 57% of reservoirs from which drinking water is taken do not meet sanitary standards in terms of chemical and microbiological indicators. Approximately half of the population uses drinking water that does not meet hygienic requirements.
Hydropower resources in Russia are quite large. The hydropower potential of Russia is estimated at 2.5 trillion. kW. hours (12% of the world's hydropower potential), of which it is technically possible to use 1.7 trillion. kW. hours of electricity. In terms of the provision of hydropower resources, Russia ranks second in the world after China. The largest total hydropotential is possessed by Far East and Eastern Siberia.
Recreational resources in Russia are very rich, but, unfortunately, are poorly and inefficiently used. Middle zone of Russia with soft temperate climate, beautiful rivers, hills and mixed forests very favorable for rest and treatment. Mountain areas Caucasus, Urals, Altai, Kamchatka - great places for mountain recreation, tourism and skiing. Mineral healing springs in the Caucasus, Altai, Kamchatka and other regions are of great value for the treatment of the musculoskeletal system, stomach and other diseases. Black sea coast in its beauty it surpasses the sea coasts of many countries.
Russia is also rich in cultural monuments. 24 of its sites are included in the World Heritage List, including the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square; historical centers of St. Petersburg and Novgorod; the architectural ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra; monuments of the Vladimir-Suzdal land; historical and cultural complex Solovetsky Islands; Kizhi churchyard.
V.P. Maksakovsky General economic and social geography. A course of lectures), Moscow: Infra-M, 2010.
Business American site 24/7 Wall St. (24/7 Wall Street) has conducted a study of the countries with the largest and most valuable natural resources on Earth.
We used estimates of total reserves, the most expensive and used resources: oil, natural gas, coal, timber, gold, silver, copper, uranium, iron ore and phosphates, and their market value. According to sources: US Geological Survey, US Energy Information Administration, Bloomberg, etc.
The richest countries in the world with natural resources
1.Russia
Total resource cost: $ 75.7 trillion.
Oil reserves: 60 billion barrels; cost: $ 7.08 billion
Natural gas reserves: 1.680 trillion cubic meters cub. feet ( 47.58 trillion cub. m); cost: $ 19 billion
Wood stocks 1.95 billion acres; cost: $ 28.4 trillion
Russia is the richest country in natural resources, ... It ranks first among all countries in the world in terms of natural gas reserves (27.5%) and timber, second in the world in terms of coal and rare earth minerals deposits (rare earth minerals are currently not mined). In third place in terms of gold deposits.
2. United States
Total resource cost: $ 45 trillion
Oil reserves: not in the top 10
Natural gas reserves: 272.5 cubic meters m; cost: $ 3.1 trillion
Timber reserves: 750 million acres; cost: $ 10.9 trillion
In the United States, 31.2% of the world's coal reserves. They are estimated at $ 30 trillion. Wood and coal, taken together, account for approximately 89% of the total value of a country's natural resources. The United States is also among the top five countries with global reserves of copper, gold and natural gas.
3. Saudi Arabia
Total resource cost: $ 34.4 trillion
Oil reserves: 266.7 trillion. barrels; cost: $ 31.5 trillion
Natural gas reserves: 258.5 trillion. m cube; cost: $ 2.9 trillion
Saudi Arabia owns about 20% of the world's oil - the largest share of any country. In the fifth place in the world in terms of natural gas reserves. Resources are rapidly depleting, and in a few decades, Saudi Arabia will fall out of this ranking.
4. Canada
Total resource cost: $ 33.2 trillion
Oil reserves: 178.1 billion barrels; cost: $ 21 trillion.
Wood stock: 775 million acres cost: $ 11.3 trillion
The recently discovered oil sands (2009-2010) have added about 150 billion barrels to Canada's total oil. Canada ranks third in timber reserves and second in uranium reserves.
5.Iran
Total resource cost: $ 27.3 trillion.
Oil reserves: 136.2bn. barrels; cost: $ 16.1 trillion
Natural gas reserves: 991.6 trillion. cub. m; cost: $ 11.2 trillion
Wood stock: not in the top 10
Iran shares a giant with Qatar gas field in the Persian Gulf South Pars / North Dome. The country has about 16% of the world's natural gas reserves, according to this indicator it ranks second in the world. And in third place in terms of oil reserves in the world (more than 10% of world oil reserves).
6. China
Total resource cost: $ 23 trillion
Oil reserves are not in the top 10
Natural gas reserves: not in the top 10
Wood stock: 450 million acresCost: $ 6.5 trillion
The main resources of China are coal reserves (more than 13% of the total in the world) and rare earth minerals. Shale gas deposits have recently been discovered. After their assessment, China's status as a leader in natural resources will only improve.
7. Brazil
Total resource cost: $ 21.8 trillion
Oil reserves: not in the top 10
Natural gas reserves: not in the top 10
Timber reserves: 1.2 billion acres; cost: $ 17.5 trillion
Possesses large reserves of gold and uranium. Owns 17% of the world's iron ore. But the most valuable resource is timber, 12.3% of the world's timber reserves. Recently discovered offshore oil reserves were not included in the report. Since, there is still no accurate estimate (according to preliminary data, reserves may reach 44 billion barrels of oil).
8. Australia
Total resource cost: $ 19.9 trillion
Oil reserves: not in the top 10
Natural gas reserves: not in the top 10
Wood stock: 369 million acres cost: $ 5.3 trillion
Australia has the largest gold reserves in the world (14.3% of world reserves). It also supplies 46% of the world's uranium. In addition, the country has significant amounts of natural gas offshore the northwest coast, which it shares with Indonesia. Australia has an enormous supply of timber, coal, copper and iron. The country is in the top three in terms of total reserves of 7 out of 10 resources on this list.
9. Iraq
Total resource cost: $ 15.9 trillion
Oil reserves: 115 billion barrels; cost: $ 13.6 trillion
Natural gas reserves: 111.9 trillion. cub. ft (3.15 trillion cubic meters); cost: $ 1.3 trillion.
Wood stock: not in the top 10
Iraq's greatest wealth is oil - 115 billion barrels of proven reserves (9% of the world's total oil). Iraq also has one of the most serious phosphorite reserves in the world, worth more than $ 1.1 trillion, and these deposits are not fully developed.
10. Venezuela
Total resource cost: $ 14.3 trillion
Oil reserves: 99.4 billion barrels; cost: $ 11.7 trillion
Natural gas reserves: 170.9 trillion. cub. ft (4.8 trillion cubic meters); cost: $ 9 trillion
Wood stock (value): not in the top 10
Venezuela is one of the 10 largest holders of iron, natural gas and oil resources. Natural gas reserves in this South American country are ranked eighth in the world and amount to 179.9 trillion. cub. pounds (just over 2.7% of world reserves). It contains 99 billion barrels of oil (7.4% of the world's total reserves).
Just press the button of your social. networks at the bottom of the screen!
A source : The World's Most Resource-Rich Countries - 24/7 Wall St.
That part of the nature of the Earth, with which humanity interacts in its life and activities, is called natural, or the environment.
The material basis for the development of human society is the wealth of nature. All components of nature can be considered depending on the degree of their involvement in material production or as natural conditions or as natural resources.
Elements of nature that are directly used (or can be used) by man in his production activities are called natural resources. Natural resources that cannot be completely depleted are called inexhaustible. These include the energy of the Sun, wind, tides, rivers, nuclear energy; natural resources that can be completely depleted are called exhaustible. Exhaustible natural resources include renewable (biological, land and water) and non-renewable (mineral) resources.
Those elements of nature that are not directly used by man in his production activities, but significantly affect his development, are called natural conditions. These primarily include relief, geological structure and climate.
The line separating the concepts of natural conditions and natural resources is rather arbitrary. For example, wind acts as an important natural condition that affects such elements of human economic activity as water and air transport, agriculture, etc. At the same time, it is an important resource, primarily for energy production. As society developed, natural conditions and natural resources had different meanings, others were simply not used by man, since there was no need for them. Natural resources are a historical category associated with changes in the needs and capabilities of society, the development of science and technology at different historical stages. For example, in the era of scientific and technological revolution, the importance of non-ferrous metal ores and energy resources has sharply increased.
There are different approaches to the classification of natural resources (table 4). By origin, mineral, water, resources of the World Ocean, land, biological, climatic, space resources... Exhaustible and inexhaustible are distinguished. By way of use: agro-climatic, energy, recreational, etc.
Table 4
Resource availability is the ratio between the amount of (explored) natural resources and the extent of their use. It is expressed either by the number of years for which the resource should be sufficient, or by its reserves per capita at the current rates of extraction or use. According to experts, general geological reserves of mineral fuel should be sufficient for more than 1000 years.
There are two ways to assess the provision of a country with a certain type of natural resources. The first is to divide the size of the reserves of a given resource by the current production volume per year and get the number of years for which this resource should be sufficient. The second is to divide the amount of reserves of a given resource by the population of the country and find out how much of this resource is per capita. By quantitatively assessing the country's resource availability, one can draw conclusions about the degree of its provision with this resource.
Of course, the indicator of resource availability is primarily influenced by the wealth or poverty of the territory with natural resources. But since resource availability also depends on the scale of their extraction (consumption), this concept itself is not natural, but socio-economic.
Scientifically grounded economic assessment of natural resources is of great importance in the process of nature management. Its constituent elements are exploration, identification, inventory, as well as quantitative and qualitative assessment of natural resources.
Resource availability around the world, taking into account the current level of production:
- coal - over 3000 years old;
– iron ore- 460 years old;
- gas - 50 years;
- oil - 36 years.
Placement of natural resources
The distribution of natural resources around the planet is characterized by unevenness. Between countries and major regions modern world there are noticeable differences in the level and nature of their provision with natural resources.
The distribution of mineral resources is explained by differences in climatic and tectonic processes on Earth and different conditions for the formation of minerals in past geological eras.
Fuel minerals are of sedimentary origin and usually accompany the cover of ancient platforms and their inner and foredeeps.
On the globe more than 3.6 thousand coal basins are known, which together occupy 15% of the earth's land area. Of the total coal reserves, 40% falls on brown coal and 60% - on hard coal. Explored reserves account for 8% of the total. More than 90% of all coal resources are located in the Northern Hemisphere - Asia, North America, Europe.
The ten largest coal basins in the world: Tunguska, Lensky, Kansko-Achinsky, Kuznetsk, Ruhr, Appalachian, Pechora, Taimyr, Zapadny, Donetsk.
Most of both general and proven reserves are concentrated in economically developed countries (Table 5).
Table 5. Countries distinguished by explored coal resources (2007)
More than 600 oil and gas basins have been explored, 450 are being developed. The main reserves are located in the Northern Hemisphere, mainly in the Mesozoic sediments. An important place belongs to the so-called giant fields with reserves of over 500 million tons and even over 1 billion tons of oil and 1 trillion cubic meters of gas each. There are 50 giant oil fields (more than half are located in the countries of the Near and Middle East), gas - 20 (they contain over 70% of all reserves, such deposits are most typical for the CIS countries).
The largest oil and gas basins: Persian Gulf, Maracaiba, Orinok, Gulf of Mexico, Texas, Illinois, California, West Canadian, Alaska, Severomorsky, Volga-Ural, West Siberian, Daatsin, Sumatra, Gulf of Guinea, Sahara.
The world's total oil reserves are about 170 billion tons, including:
Foreign Asia - 108 billion tons;
America - 26 billion tons;
Africa - 15.6 billion tons;
Foreign Europe - 2.1 billion tons;
Australia and Oceania - 2.3 billion tons.
Table 6. Countries distinguished by proven oil resources (2007)
In the CIS - 16.0 billion tons, of which: in Russia - 66%, in Kazakhstan - 30%, in Azerbaijan - 2%, in Turkmenistan - 2%. The world's total gas reserves are 135 trillion cubic meters. In terms of natural gas reserves, two regions are distinguished: the CIS (Western Siberia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) and the Middle East (Iran). They are distributed by country as follows:
Table 7. Countries distinguished by explored gas resources (2007)
Uranium (nuclear raw materials) is very widespread in the earth's crust, but it is economically profitable to develop only deposits containing at least 0.1% uranium (1 kg - $ 80). According to the IAEA, Australia, South Africa, Niger, Brazil, Namibia, Russia stand out in terms of uranium reserves.
Ore minerals usually accompany foundations and ledges of ancient platforms, as well as folded areas. In such areas, they often form vast ore (metallogenic) belts - Alpine-Himalayan, Pacific, etc.
The largest reserves of iron ore are concentrated in the USA, China, Russia, India, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Liberia, and Sweden. About 1,100 million tons of iron ore are mined annually.
Of the non-ferrous metals, the most common is aluminum, the content of which in the earth's crust is 10% by weight. Mainly deposits of aluminum ores are found in tropical and subtropical zones... Several bauxite-bearing provinces are distinguished:
- Mediterranean: France, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania;
- Coast of the Gulf of Guinea: Guinea, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Cameroon;
- Coast The Caribbean: Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Suriname;
- Australia.
There are also reserves in the CIS and China.
The main resources of copper ores are concentrated in Zambia, Zaire, Chile, USA, Canada, Peru, the Philippines; lead-zinc ores - in the USA, Canada, Australia; tin ores - in Malaysia, Indonesia, Bolivia, Brazil, Thailand.
Nonmetallic minerals are mineral chemical raw materials (sulfur, phosphorites, potassium salts), building materials, refractory raw materials, graphite, etc. They are quite widespread.
Land resources. The earth is one of the main resources of nature, sources of life. Land resources are necessary for human life and for all sectors of the economy. There are as many of them on the planet as there is land, which makes up 29% of the earth's surface.
Land resources - the surface of the Earth, on which various objects of the economy, cities and other settlements can be located. These are mostly territorial resources. But when assessing the territory, from the point of view of the possibilities for the development of agriculture and forestry, it is important to consider the quality of land - their fertility, since in this case land is the main means of production. Provision of mankind land resources is determined by the world land fund, which is 13.4 billion hectares. Of the individual large regions, Africa (30 million km 2) and Foreign Asia (27.7 million km km 2). However, if we consider the provision of regions with land resources on a per capita basis, then the result will be the opposite: for each inhabitant of sparsely populated Australia there are 37 hectares of land (the maximum indicator), and for each inhabitant overseas Asia- only 1.1 hectares, about the same in foreign Europe. The structure of the land fund shows how land resources are used.
The most valuable are cultivated lands (11%), which provide 88% of the foodstuffs necessary for mankind and are mainly concentrated in the forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones of our planet. Of no small importance are meadows and grazing lands (23% combined), which provide 10% of the food consumed. Agricultural land - arable land, meadows, pasture land. Forests and shrubs occupy 30%. Urbanized locations - 2%. Unproductive and unproductive lands - 34%.
In the CIS, African countries and North America the share of cultivated land is close to the world average. For overseas Europe this figure is higher (29%), and for Australia and South America- less high (5 and 7%). The countries of the world with the largest cultivated land are the USA, India, Russia, China, Canada. The cultivated land is concentrated mainly in forest, forest-steppe and steppe natural zones. Natural grasslands and pastures prevail over cultivated land everywhere (in Australia more than 10 times), except in foreign Europe. Globally, an average of 23% of the land is used for pasture. Resource availability of land is determined per capita. Australia ranks first in terms of land per capita. The largest sizes of cultivated land are in the USA, India, Russia, and China. The main tracts of arable land are in the Northern Hemisphere: Europe, Southern Siberia, Eastern, Southeast and Southern Asia, the plains of Canada and the United States. The countries with the lowest provision of arable land per capita are China (0.09 ha), Egypt (0.05 ha).
The polar spaces in Greenland, in the north of Russia, Canada, Alaska are unsuitable for processing; desert regions of Central Australia, the highlands of Central Asia, the Sahara desert, etc. Processes are taking place: desertification - the sands of the Sahara, the deserts of South-West Asia, North and South America; destruction of lands by quarries, filling with dumps, flooding by created reservoirs.
However, the structure of the land fund does not remain unchanged. It is constantly influenced by two opposite processes:
- on the one hand, land is being expanded, virgin lands are being developed (Russia, USA, Kazakhstan, Canada, Brazil). Land-poor countries are attacking coastal areas (the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal, Japan, Canada, Singapore, etc.);
- on the other hand, the deterioration and depletion of land is going on all the time. It is estimated that due to erosion, waterlogging, salinization, about 9 million hectares fall out of agricultural circulation annually. There is a growth of cities, in arid regions - desertification threatens to reach 3 billion hectares.
Therefore, the main problem of the world land fund is the degradation of agricultural land, as a result of which there is a noticeable reduction in cultivated land per capita, and the "load" on them is constantly increasing.
Water resources. These are waters suitable for use in the economy: rivers, lakes, canals, reservoirs, groundwater, soil moisture, glacier water. More recently, water was considered one of the free gifts of nature and water resources belonged to the category of inexhaustible.
However, fresh water resources account for 2.5% of the volume of the hydrosphere. As its consumption grows in many regions of the Earth, its shortage begins to be felt. In addition, as a result of pollution of rivers and lakes, their waters become unsuitable for human use. Therefore, water resources are depleted.
Most of the fresh water is "conserved" in the glaciers of Antarctica, Greenland, in the ice of the Arctic, in mountain glaciers and is still practically inaccessible for use.
The main source of fresh water is rivers. Of all the river waters of the planet (47 thousand km 3), only half can really be used. The water of the lakes is referred to as static reserves due to slow water exchange, although an insignificant share of reserves (on average 1.5-2% of their total volume, and in Lake Baikal - 0.3%) is renewed annually.
The consumption of fresh water is about 5 thousand km 3 per year and is constantly growing, while the resources of the river flow remain unchanged. This poses the threat of a shortage of fresh water. The main consumer of fresh water is agriculture, where its irretrievable consumption is high (about 89%). Thus, irrigation accounts for 69% of consumption. Industry consumes 21%; utilities - 6%; reservoirs - 4%.
To solve the problem of water supply, projects of economical water consumption are used, the construction of reservoirs, desalination sea water, redistribution of river flow; projects for the transportation of icebergs are being developed. Countries are provided with water resources in different ways. About 1/3 of the land area is occupied by the arid belt, which is home to 850 million people. Countries with insufficient water resources include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany; with medium security - Mexico, USA; with sufficient and excessive security - Canada, Russia, Congo.
Fresh water supplies on Earth are extremely unevenly distributed. In the equatorial belt and in the northern part of the temperate belt, it is abundant and even abundant.
The availability of water resources is calculated as the amount of river flow per capita.
The most abundant countries are those with more than 25 thousand m3 per capita per year ( New Zealand, Congo, Canada, Norway, Brazil). In the arid belt of the Earth, which covers about 1/3 of the land area, the water shortage is acutely felt. The most dry countries are located here, where there is less than 5 thousand m 3 per capita (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, China, India, Germany, Poland).
Only 1/3 of the population uses good-quality water, 1/3 is insufficiently provided with it, and another 1/3 uses poor-quality drinking water. In Africa, 10% of the population is provided with regular water supply, in Europe - more than 95%.
There are several ways to solve the water problem of mankind. Perhaps the main one is a decrease in the water intensity of production processes and a reduction in water losses. The construction of reservoirs (USA, Russia, China) that regulate river flow is of great importance. In the USA, Canada, Australia, India, Mexico, China, Egypt, the CIS countries, numerous projects for the territorial redistribution of river flow by means of its transfer have been implemented or are being designed. In the countries of the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean, in Turkmenistan, in the Caspian Sea, seawater desalination is used. There are projects to transport icebergs from Antarctica. It is possible to stop the discharge of industrial, agricultural and municipal wastewater into inland water bodies and the sea. A significant amount of water can be obtained by collecting rain and melt water in underground storage facilities. A large resource is groundwater, readily available in many parts of the world, for example, in the Sahara. Fresh water resources can be increased by using a closed circulating economy.
The river runoff is also used to generate electricity. China, Russia, USA, Zaire, Canada, Brazil have the largest hydropower potential. The degree of utilization of the hydropower potential depends on the level of development of the country.
Forest resources are one of the most important types of biological resources. Forests provide for the diverse needs of people. They not only serve as a raw material base for the forestry and timber processing industry, but are also one of the main elements of the recreational potential, a human habitat, regulate and purify water flows, effectively prevent erosion, preserve and increase soil fertility, most fully preserve the genetic diversity of the biosphere, enrich the atmosphere oxygen and protect the air basin from pollution, largely shape the climate. Vegetable world forests is a unique supplier of wild fruits and berries, nuts and mushrooms, valuable types of medicinal herbs and specific technical raw materials for various industries. At the threshold of the emergence of agriculture, according to existing estimates, forests covered 62 million km 2, or more than 2/5 of the land surface of our planet, and taking into account other types of forest vegetation, this area was 75 million km 2.
The world's forest resources are characterized by two important indicators: the size of the forest area (4 billion hectares) and standing timber reserves. Forest resources are renewable. But since forests are reduced for arable land, construction, wood is used as firewood, as a raw material for woodworking and other types of industries (production of paper, furniture, etc.), the problem of reducing forest resources and deforestation of territories is quite acute. For the rational use of forest resources, it is necessary to comprehensively process raw materials, not to cut down forests in an amount exceeding their growth, and carry out reforestation work.
The world's forests are unevenly distributed. They form two approximately equal in area and timber reserves forest belts- north and south. Northern - in the zone of temperate and partly subtropical climate. The most wooded countries of the northern belt are Russia, USA, Canada. Finland, Sweden. Southern belt - in the zone of tropical and equatorial climates... Major forest areas southern belt: Amazon, Congo Basin, Southeast Asia, countries: Congo, Brazil, Venezuela.
Forest resources (forests) are called the "lungs" of the planet; they play a huge role in the life of all mankind. They restore oxygen in the atmosphere, preserve groundwater, and prevent soil destruction. The clearing of the Amazon rainforest disrupts the planet's "lungs". Preservation of forests is also necessary for the health of mankind.
The provision of forest resources in individual countries is calculated per capita. Each inhabitant of the planet has less than 1 hectare of forests, in Canada - more than 8, in Finland - 4, in Russia - 5.3; and in the USA it is only 0.8 hectares. Standing timber per capita on average in the world is 65 m 3, in Canada - more than 570 m 3, in Russia - 561 m 3, in Finland - over 370 m 3 and in the USA - about 83 m 3.
Biological land resources. They belong to the category of exhaustible renewable (but exhaustible) natural resources. The total number of currently known species of life on Earth is about 2 million units, and their actual number is likely to exceed 10 million (mainly due to not yet open views rainforest).
Wildlife forms the basis for agriculture and forestry, fishing, hunting and other industries, for the whole variety of economic and social activities of the population.
Resources of the World Ocean. These resources must be considered comprehensively, since they include: biological resources; seabed mineral resources; energy resources, sea water resources.
The state of stocks of aquatic biological resources, their effective management is becoming increasingly important both for providing the population with high-quality food products, and for supplying raw materials to many industries and agriculture (in particular, poultry farming). The available information indicates an increasing pressure on the oceans. In the 1980s, leading scientists predicted that by 2025, global fishery production will reach 230-250 million tons, including from aquaculture - 60-70 million tons. In the 1990s, the situation changed: forecasts of sea catches for 2025 decreased to 125-130 million tons, while forecasts of the volume of fish production due to aquaculture increased to 80-90 million tons. It is considered obvious that the growth rate of the Earth's population will exceed the growth rate of fish production.
Biological resources - fish, molluscs, crustaceans, cetaceans, algae. About 90% of the commercial objects being caught are fish. The offshore zone accounts for more than 90% of the world's catch of fish and non-fish species. Most of the world's catch is taken in the waters of the temperate and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Of the oceans, the biggest catch is Pacific Ocean... Of the seas of the World Ocean, the most productive are the Norwegian, Bering, Okhotsk, and Japanese.
Mineral resources of the World Ocean are solid, liquid and gaseous minerals. The coastal-marine placers contain zirconium, gold, platinum, and diamonds. The subsoil of the shelf zone is rich in oil and gas. The main areas of oil production are the Persian, Mexican, Gulfs of Guinea, the coast of Venezuela, the North Sea. There are offshore oil and gas regions in the Bering and Okhotsk Seas. Iron ore (off the coast of Kyushu Island, in the Hudson Bay), coal (Japan, Great Britain), and sulfur (USA) are mined from the subsoil. The main wealth of the deep-sea floor of the ocean is ferromanganese nodules.
Sea water is also a resource of the World Ocean. It contains about 75 chemical elements. About 1/3 of the common salt produced in the world, 60% of magnesium, 90% of bromine and potassium are extracted from the waters of the seas. The waters of the seas in a number of countries are used for industrial desalination. Largest manufacturers fresh water - Kuwait, USA, Japan.
Of the energy resources of the World Ocean, tidal energy is mainly used. There are tidal power plants in France at the mouth of the Rhone River, in Russia - the Kislogubskaya TPP on the Kola Peninsula. Projects for using the energy of waves and currents are being developed and partially implemented.
With the intensive use of the resources of the World Ocean, its pollution occurs as a result of the discharge of industrial, agricultural, household and other waste into rivers and seas, shipping, and mining. Oil pollution and the disposal of toxic substances and radioactive waste in the deep-sea parts of the ocean pose a particular threat. The problems of the oceans require coordinated international measures to coordinate the use of its resources and prevent further pollution.
Recreational resources. Recreational resources include:
1) objects and natural phenomena that can be used for recreation, tourism and treatment;
2) cultural and historical sights.
The first group includes sea coasts with a favorable climate, the banks of rivers and lakes, mountains, forests, mineral springs, and therapeutic mud. Resort areas, recreation areas, nature reserves, and national parks are being created in areas with such recreational resources.
The second group includes monuments of history, archeology, architecture and art. Most of the ancient cities of Europe and Russia are rich in cultural and historical sights, the Egyptian pyramids and temples of Luxor, the Taj Mahal mausoleum in India, the remains of the ancient Mayan and Aztec cities in Latin America are world famous.
The richest recreational resources are found in countries where favorable natural conditions are combined with cultural and historical attractions. First of all, these are the Mediterranean countries - Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, such European countries as France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, as well as Mexico, India, Thailand.
We live in the most beautiful rich country in the world, and all other countries envy us ...
So it is, or not, we will not argue, let everyone decide for himself) However, it is Russia that is the richest country in terms of natural resources. We have the largest reserves of natural gas and timber, but this, as you understand, is far from all. Let's see who else belongs to the countries whose resources are estimated at tens of trillions of dollars.
1st place: Russia
The total value of Russia's natural resources exceeds $ 75 trillion. Of these, 28.5 trillion are timber reserves (1.95 billion acres), 19 billion are in natural gas and $ 7 billion in oil. In addition, Russia is in second place in coal reserves and in third place in gold deposits. After such numbers, the words from the song involuntarily come to mind: "After all, this is our common gas, and dreams come true only with you."
2nd place: USA
The value of the natural resources of the United States is estimated at about $ 45 trillion. The lion's share make up timber reserves (about $ 11 trillion), as well as coal reserves of about $ 30 trillion. It also has large reserves of natural gas, copper and gold.
3rd place: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia's resources are estimated at $ 34.4 trillion, of which 31.5 trillion are in oil and 2.9 trillion in natural gas. It is in this country that the largest oil reserves on the planet are concentrated - about 20% of the world's total. However, these resources are being depleted very quickly, and experts assume that in a few decades Saudi Arabia will drop out of the top ten richest countries altogether.
4th place: Canada
Canada's total mineral reserves are worth $ 33.2 trillion. However, this is how the country “got rich” recently: in 2009-2010, new oil sands were discovered, which added about 150 billion barrels of oil. Now oil in the country is about $ 21 trillion (178 billion barrels). It is also in the top three in terms of the amount of wood and uranium.
5th place: Iran
The total value of Iran's natural resources is $ 27.3 trillion. Most of them are in oil reserves (16 trillion) and gas (11 trillion). Iran owns part of the giant natural gas field in the Persian Gulf, which it shares with Qatar. Therefore, Iran will be among the top three for these minerals.
6th place: China
Another resource-rich country is China. The country has reserves of about $ 23 trillion, of which the main resources are timber and coal.
A few words about the richest country
Of course, when compiling ratings in which Russia occupies a leading position, and even with a decent margin, they do not take into account production efficiency and sectoral structure... In addition, a general assessment of the amount of all natural resources of the country is difficult, many researchers speak of fundamentally different figures.
Today, more than 20 thousand oil fields have been discovered in Russia, coal, natural gas, non-ferrous, rare, ferrous and precious metals, as well as other minerals. Despite this amount, most of these deposits and the content of useful components in them are of low quality: on average 35-50% lower than reserves in the world. Add to this the inaccessibility: harsh climatic conditions, poor transport facilities, remoteness of deposits. Therefore, the development of natural resources in Russia is quite low, and few reserves have been developed at least 50%.
However, all this is the best way to help to represent the entire financial opportunity and power of Russia. It remains to wait and hope that we will feel this financial power) Or at least our children.
