IB Ess 7 1 Natural Resources Uses And Management Question Bank

renewable: fish / reeds / birds for food/crops; Accept any other reasonable response. replenishable: domestic water use / hydropower; water taken from/extracted from the river/Danube; Accept any other reasonable response.

identifying a relevant example of natural income; for example natural income provided by eg fishing/hydropower/water supply/food; for sustainability, resources must be consumed at a rate that does not reduce natural capital / exceed natural income; shipping/dredging may reduce/damage natural capital (which is not sustainable); water extraction/irrigation/livestock may reduce natural capital (which is not sustainable); damming/flood control / may reduce natural capital (which is not sustainable); for fishing to be sustainable, only natural income/population growth should be harvested; for tourism to be sustainable it must not reduce/damage natural capital; increased human population will abstract/remove more water for domestic/agricultural use;

i. remove air pollutants providing cleaner air (improving health/reducing health care costs); ii. provide areas for education/tourism/leisure and physical activity (reducing obesity/stress); iii. increase economic value of homes nearby; iv. increase biodiversity of species (insects, small animals, plants) / provides a habitat for animals/pollinating bees; v. act as flood mitigation/reduces flood risk (by absorbing precipitation/increase infiltration); vi. filters (and cleans) water entering river/aquifers; vii. rivers/lakes provide a source of water; viii. cool temperatures/reduce urban heat island/reduce heating-cooling costs for homes; ix. absorb \(\mathrm{CO}_{2}\) /carbon sink / release \(\mathrm{O}_{2}\) /oxygen source; x. provides a source of food/timber/fertile soil for agriculture;

Resource Type of natural capital ground water replenishable; uranium non-renewable; mesquite seed pods renewable;

prices decreased gradually from 1980 to 1985/1989; remained fairly stable between 1985/1989 to 2005; there was a spike in prices between 2006 and 2008; prices dropped between 2008-2010; but have remained higher than pre-2005; WTTE / other figures if appropriate are acceptable.

value of resources change over time due to changing needs/shifting cultural values/technological development/accessibility; as technology made it possible to use uranium for nuclear energy, demand (and price) of Uranium increases; as countries seek alternatives to fossil fuels / more nuclear power stations opened so uranium increases in value; adoption of ecocentric values e.g. Sweden, reduces demand for uranium so price falls; concern over nuclear accidents like Fukushima reduces demand for uranium so price falls; more mines opened/new deposits found so increase in supply reduces price; drop in global uranium extraction (due to political decision) may cause increase in price; Accept other reasonable responses. Credit responses referring to dynamic nature of resources, even if they use other resources as example.

in 1971 radioactive substances were not in demand and therefore had little value (eg Uranium once had little use and therefore had low value as a resource); by 2010 the development of nuclear technology, increased demand and led to an increase in value / by 2010 we became aware of global warming/pollution effects of fossil fuel, nuclear energy became more significant and with increase in demand there was an increase in value of uranium; for 2030 the projected decline in use of nuclear power is a consequence of an increase in concern over accidents/safety of radioactive materials and will be reflected in a decline in value of uranium; Accept other reasonable answers for each period.

reduction in photosynthesis so less oxygen produced; reduction in trees results in loss of carbon sink / reduction in trees/photosynthesis reduces carbon dioxide uptake; loss of leaves means more precipitation reaches the ground causing surface runoff/causing more soil erosion/loss of soil nutrients; less uptake of water by plants resulting in increased flooding; loss of plants/trees reduces water infiltration into aquifers/groundwater; loss of habitat for species (reducing biodiversity); loss of habitat reduces food supply / loss of trees reduces food sources; loss of trees reduces available timber/wood for human use; loss of trees means reduced transpiration, reducing atmospheric moisture, reducing precipitation and thereby affecting local climate/microclimate; loss of shade means hotter ground temperatures/loss of cooling effect of forest on local climate/microclimate; Note: Accept other reasonable responses which are specific to ecosystem services provided by forests. Hence, do not accept 'contamination of freshwater by oil/chemicals reduces water/fish supplies / erosion of soils reduces nitrogen cycling/nutrient availability'.