Natural resources are those resources that are drawn from nature and are used without much modification-air, water, soils, minerals are the natural resources. They are also called renewable resources.
The study of natural resources is called Natural resource management or natural resource sciences is an interdisciplinary academic field that studies the availability, manageability, sustainability of natural capital in the environment. It involves disciplines such as ecology, structural geology, physics, chemistry, biology, soil science, and geography with quantitative skills in economics.
Natural resources are classified into different groups depending upon their level of development and use, origin, renewability and distribution.
Natural resources play an important role in the growth of the economy. One would be surprised to know that majority of the natural resources are underground.
On the basis of the level of their development and use, resources can be classified into actual and potential resources. Potential resources are those resources whose entire quantity may not be known and these are not being used at present and could be used in the future.
Actual resources are those resources whose quantity is known. On the basis of origin, the natural resources can be biotic or abiotic. Biotic resources include all living things like plants and animals.
Abiotic resources are non-living things like soil, rock and minerals. On the basis of renewability, natural resources can be categorized into renewable and non-renewable resources.
Renewable resources are those which can get renewed or replenished quickly, such as solar and wind energy. Non-renewable resources are those which have limited stock. Once the stocks are exhausted it may take thousands of years to be renewed or replenished, such as coal, petroleum and natural gas.
