Natural resources (economically referred to as lan

• Water: It is the most important natural resource and one cannot survive without water. We can see that life thrives/flourishes in the presence of water. It is a natural resource needed by all living beings not only for survival, but also to grow and develop.
• Air: The most abundant and important natural resource for survival, air (in the form of oxygen) is needed by most creatures (except for anaerobic organisms) found on earth.
• Sunlight: Just like air and water, sunlight is needed for survival of living beings. The process of photosynthesis is carried out in the presence of sunlight. With plants visibly circulating most of the energy in the food chain, one tends to forget that sunlight is the original source of energy for life on earth. The water cycle too cannot be completed without sunlight.
• Plants: The plants are the main energy source for living beings on earth. Carnivores and scavengers obtain energy by feeding on other animals which in turn, feed on plants. Though plants are considered a renewable natural resource, their excessive use could deplete them. For example, the Amazon forest cover is fast shrinking which is a dangerous sign for the health of our ecosystem.
• Wind Energy: It is one of the least used natural resources on earth. The process of obtaining energy from wind doesn't pollute the environment. Air pollution resulting from combustion of fossil fuels can be reduced to a great extent with the use of wind energy.
• Tidal Energy: This form of energy is similar to wind energy in terms of functioning. In fact, the tides/waves of oceans used to obtain energy, originally obtain it from wind. More information in the form of facts about tidal energy should be useful.
• Soil: It is one of the most abundant resources found on earth. Soil is needed for growing crops. The same soil can be used over and over for the purpose of agriculture. However, this natural resource needs to be protected from the menace of erosion. Increasing the vegetation i.e. forest cover is the best way to prevent soil erosion.

Classification of natural resources can be carried out also by taking into account the degree or level to which they are developed/processed into products for human consumption. Information about resources taking into account this criterion of classification is presented below.

• Currently Used Resources: These are the natural resources currently used for human consumption. Coal, petroleum, etc. are some of the examples of these natural resources.
• Potential Resources: These are the untapped resources of nature. The potential resources can be put to future use. Hydrogen is one such resource which has the potential to be used as fuel in the future.

The elements enlisted in the article give us an idea of the richness of earth's resources. The list of natural resources presented in the article is not an exhaustive one. This is because, a natural material takes different forms after it is processed. These different forms are used in different ways and the purpose for which it is used makes it a resource. Thus, only few of the important natural resources are listed in the article.

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man`s need,
But not every man`s greed".
-- Mahatma Gandhi

If anything, Copenhagen showed how fluid the global distribution of power has become. But Copenhagen stands out because it sits at the intersection of major trends that will define our coming century, from globalization and economic competition to resource scarcity and great power politics.

Every country came to the table with concerns that ranged from the existential - the tiny Maldives and Tuvalu islands are threatened with destruction - to the serious - most countries finally understand the human, environmental and economic cost of delaying action - to the perplexing demand by Saudi Arabia to be compensated for any action that results in lower oil consumption.

Some of their leaders, like Mohamed Nasheed, the president of the Maldives, a nation made up of more than a thousand islands in the Indian Ocean, have emerged as tigers, ready to fight. He is, in other words, unwilling to treat global warming as a normal political issue. On the dying coral reefs of the Maldives, the government's entire cabinet held don scuba gear and held an official underwater meeting to pass a 350 resolution for the Copenhagen -

Copenhagen leaves real work still to be done. For all the wrangling, the discussion was necessary and Copenhagen did focus the public eye on climate change. The best case scenario is not falter in taking many small steps forward.

But the greatest challenge is to lead the world into a new era of peace and humanism, to create more inclusive, just and equitable societies, through sustainable economic and social development, based on science, innovation and new technologies that will serve mankind and preserve the environment. Climate change, biodiversity, mitigation of natural disasters, water resources management energy and pandemics are the new key challenges in science which should be given priority.

Dr. Vladislav Bevc, welcome to the interview

Dr. Bevc: Let me comment, the implication here seems to be that there is some action indicated. In the following comments it is apparent that any action of the kind IPCC and the Maldivian "tigers" are trying so hard to foist upon us would be ill advised.

So Tuvalu and Maldives islands are threatened with destruction by flooding by the rising sea level. And the Americans are to blame for it! Let me explain, Tuvalu is an atoll resting on volcanic rock that is gradually subsiding into the sea. It is not the sea that is rising. On top of the volcanic rock is coral which grows rather slowly. Its lower layers die off by natural causes as they sink deeper into the ocean where the sunlight is blocked. Possibly, Tuvalu might not survive a rapid sea level rise predicted by global warming alarmists. These claim that the ocean level rose 8 to 12 inches in the previous century and predict it will rise another 18 inches by 2100.

On the other hand satellite radar measurements show that Tuvalu sea levels fell 4 inches over a decade. Tide gauges installed on Tuvalu in 1978 show that in 1997-1998 Tuvalu's sea level dropped by about one foot. This was caused by El Nino/Southern Oscillation which is a natural periodic event that does not affect long-term sea level trends.

Let me ask, why is Tuvalu's prime minister [they've got one, too] concerned?

Tuvaluans actually hope they may file suits against the United States and obtain large chunks of money as reparations for "global warming". In addition Tuvaluans hope to be allowed to move their 11,000 residents to Australia and New Zealand where they would be permanently supported by the relief agencies as they are neither capable nor willing to perform any useful work.

How these people treat their own native environment was described to me by two missionary friends who had lived on Kiribati, pronounced Kiribas, another such island. The beautiful beaches there are used as latrines for the local population so that they are all messed up. But then they do not flush toilets and this certainly earns them praise from the environmentalists.

On Tuvalu the islanders have been excavating sand for building projects. The holes they left behind were filled by sea water giving impression of flooding in places where there was no flooding 15 years ago.

The bottom line is: Tuvalu is not sinking! People are simply telling those lies to persuade Australia and New Zealand to take them in where they would live in idleness supported by the working citizens of these countries.

As far as Maldives is concerned, it does appear that it is geologically similar to Tuvalu, Kiribati and the like, namely that the volcanic rock on which the coral superstructure rests may be gradually sinking - quite unrelated to any atmospheric phenomena or ocean level fluctuations. For Maldives neither satellite altimetry nor tide-gauge records have registered any significant sea level rise.

Contrary to IPCC prognostication sea level there fell by 20 to 30 centimeters in the past 30 years (as reported by Morner in an article published in 2004). Here is an example of a natural phenomenon to which man may have to adapt rather than demand that the global evolution of the Earth be altered - as if this were possible in the first place. Perhaps scuba diving equipment is a good idea for the Maldivian cabinet - it will keep their mouth shut - for a while at least.

Throughout history people have migrated from areas where living was difficult or impossible to other areas, the situation with which Maldivians are faced in no different other nations have faced in the past. Instead of whining Maldivian government should prepare its population so that they would be welcome wherever they eventually move.

Q: Politicians struggle to cast Copenhagen as a success, while most observers will judge it a failure. What is your opinion ?
Dr. Bevc: The objective of Copenhagen was to put in place a worldwide agreement on mandatory restrictions on energy use, rationing, government control of industry and all economies. That agreement did not materialize for the time being for politicians smart enough not to knowingly join a suicide pact which such an agreement would represent.

The result of an agreement contemplated by Copenhagen would be that developed countries, mainly the United States, would be given a quota on how much fossil fuels they may use. As the quota would be discriminatory low such countries (mainly the United States) would be forced to buy so-called "carbon credits" from undeveloped countries, like Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tuvalu and the like which have no industrial production to speak of. Such purchases would represent a permanent entitlement to those countries or, rather, to the ineffectual and most often corrupt regimes.

The "program" would not reduce any emissions at all, it would only sap and eventually destroy the free market economies of advanced countries - the perennial objective of Marxists and the Greens.

Q: What we have witnessed in Copenhagen was a rare spectacle in global affairs: a massive exercise in political group think reaching its pinnacle precisely as the rational foundation for it begin to unravel in every public way. Let me ask what's cooking, is it the planet, or just the evidence?
Dr. Bevc: There certainly is no evidence of an impending catastrophe.

Q: It's like nothing we've ever faced before -- and we're facing it as if it's just like everything else. Is that the problem?
Dr. Bevc: If a problem such as depicted by alarmist promoters of industrial restrictions and control existed on a global scale we could do nothing about it.

The only way to deal with it would be adaptation with appropriate technological approaches.

Q: We Can't Wish Away Climate Change, can we?
Dr. Bevc: We cannot! Climate has been changing for about 4 billion years and has evolved in a rather stable situation. Climate changes are cyclical and are part of the world we live in. Life on Earth has adapted itself and evolved with the changing climate. It is megalomania to attempt to control the climate.

Life on earth has seen considerable transformation as a result of the global impacts of climate change. Let us uncover some of the most striking impacts that climate change has had around the globe.

Mounted temperatures, risen sea levels, dislodged seasons... do we need more? It's high time we knew the importance of our environmental system which has long been exposed to the most dreadful ecological impacts of climate change. Climate change has terribly imbalanced life on earth by altering land and water, the two most essential aspects of our sustenance on planet earth. It is one of the greatest environmental challenges which is highly driven by human activity such as deforestation, urbanization, greenhouse gas emission, etc. Over a century ago, people all over the world used to burn charcoal and oil for household chores, factories, and transportation purposes. However, today, excessive burning of these fossil fuels has led to the emission of greenhouses gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in great amounts into the atmosphere. Hence, it is due to this addition of greenhouse gases that have induced earth's atmosphere to warm even more quickly than it had been in the earlier times.

Note that, the impacts of climate change should not be construed as transformations in the global weather. Where weather offers tremendous variability, and is observed at a specific region for a particular time of the day, climate is a long-term aggregate of these everyday conventions, for example, the monthly or yearly average temperature or precipitation of a particular region. Keeping that in mind, let us first get briefed about some of the most common causes of climate change, followed by a study of the various impacts of climate change seen across the globe.

Climate Change: Causes

Scientists have sternly put forth their view on the key natural cause of climate change as human expansion of the greenhouse effect and global warming. This effect is a kind of warming that is caused when the earth's atmosphere entraps the heat that is supposed to be radiated from the earth in direction of space. Gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and water vapor in the atmosphere act as a glass on a greenhouse that allow the sunlight to pass through, however, blocking the heat from dodging.

On the other hand, human activities such as burning of fossil fuels has increased the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is again a terrible cause of climate change. Apart from that, clearing of land for agriculture, deforestation for industrialization, urbanization, etc. are other key causes of climate change. With increased air and water pollution levels, who will be able to escape from the deterioration of the ecological system? All causes considered, let us understand about all the impacts of climate change on the world.

Climate Change: Impacts

Above all, the changes in climate that we have been witnessing are hard to predict as a result of the eccentricity they hold. Nevertheless, some of the most dangerous impacts of climate change the world has witnessed so far are listed below.

Risen Temperatures
The gases emitted by automobiles, factories, deforestation, etc. have trapped heat that is supposed to be radiated back to space, thereby, warming up the planet. Note that records may represent a rise of just a degree in the atmosphere, but even 1 degree is enough to warm the planet earth to a great extent. Higher temperatures have contributed to some horrifying health impacts of climate change such as increased deaths and illnesses, and other natural impacts such as storm intensities, and rise in the sea levels.

Rise in Sea Levels
As a result of a phenomenon called thermal expansion, melting glaciers have increased the level of seas due to increase in temperatures. This rise in the level of seas has augmented floods on low-lying areas, thus, eroding shores, damaging property, and thrashing ecology as a whole. Rising seas have highly contributed to the life-threatening economic impacts of climate change.

Shifting Landscapes
The changing patterns in rainfall and temperatures have forced the vegetation all around the world to shift towards the polar regions, thereby, undermining all the efforts of the conservation communes. This has highly affected national parks, land trusts, and world preserves.

Impact on Wildlife
One of the deadliest impacts of climate change is upon the wildlife. Experts believe that by 2050, one-fourth of the animal species on earth will head towards extinction as a result of this perpetual global warming. Changes in temperature, weather, and vegetation are forcing animals to move towards cooler regions of the earth for survival, which is likely to affect their existence as a whole.

Economic Catastrophes
Impacts of climate change on agriculture businesses, world infrastructure, and coral reefs have already cost the government a pretty penny. If not acted upon, climate change can have some utter damaging effects on the world property as a result of flash floods, hurricanes, and downpours. These calamities have potentially cost the government billions of dollars. Also, drought and famines in many agricultural regions has led to decline in crop yields, thereby, putting countless people's lives at stake.

The impacts of climate change on the world have hit the world like none other. While the poor are the most dependent on natural resources for their sustenance, the deadly effects of change in climate have made it impossible for them to putting up with it. Illnesses, natural calamities, and decline in crop production are few of the major impacts of climate change which, if not taken care of, can be responsible for scourging world's most susceptible biotic regions.

The year 2010 has been declared the hottest year on record...
Latest figures by both NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirm that the year 2010 was indeed the hottest year on record, though it was tied with 2005. Interestingly, it was the wettest year on record too.

Climate record storing has been in place since the year 1880. By being the hottest and wettest year alike, as compared to more than 100 years of data, these are sure warning signs for all of us. Along with 2005, last year's global average surface temperature was 58.12° F, while the average for the 20th century was 57° F. This is more than a 1° jump, which is pretty alarming. In fact, the last 35 years have been below this average, and moreover, 9 of the 10 warmest years on record have been in this millennium, and we are hardly 11 years into it. 2010 witnessed record breaking heat waves in many places, besides floods in many countries, that made it also the wettest year on record. All these have been attributed to the effects of global warming on the earth due to the release of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. NOAA scientist David Easterling said, "The climate is continuing to show the influence of greenhouse gases."

These 2010 hottest year on record revelations though are not much of a surprise, since the last ten years have officially been the warmest decade ever. The previous year when average global temperatures were below normal was way back in 1976, and it does not seem like that phenomenon is going to take place in the near future.

Climate Change Denial

Climate change denial refers to the attitude of people who believe that global warming is a natural process and man can do little to control it. People who deny climate change also think that the issue of global warming is over-hyped and it poses little or no threat to mankind.

Although, the threat of global warming is real, backed by scientific evidence, most people are oblivious to this problem and their attitude towards this issue is marked by complete denial of facts. Climate change denial is a commonly held belief that global warming is hoax and the issue is being over-hyped. Anti-green activists also claim that the amount of money that is being pumped into funding research on climate change can be used for other, more important issues. Climate change denial hampers any attempts to raise awareness on this issue besides creating a doubt in minds of people whether global warming is fact or fiction.

Green lobbyists claim that activists who deny that climate change is a reality, are backed by big corporate houses, whose interests would be severely hampered if there is an increased awareness among people on the global warming, but the truth is that most of us, to an extent, are living in denial about the changes we have caused to the environment. The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has pointed out that human activity is a major cause of global warming, but skeptics doubt the credibility of these reports. Some things that climate change skeptics have to say to justify their claim are -
There is no accurate evidence that humans have changed the environment as global warming is a natural process and thus it is inevitable.
Had global warming been a serious issue, instead of the environmentalists, the respective governments would have taken immediate steps against it.
No report till date has been able to say with adequate proof that global warming is a major threat and humans are responsible for it. The researchers who come out with these reports themselves are not sure and their reports are often characterized by words such as "likely", "probably" etc.
Even if we agree that global warming is a serious threat, we can't do anything about it as the natural emissions because of volcanic eruptions are much greater than those caused due to human activities. So, instead of asking countries to cut their emissions, researchers should work together to build a mechanism which helps in controlling the emission of harmful gases in the atmosphere during a natural catastrophe.
The reason that glaciers are melting due to human activities isn't too adequate a proof of global warming as glaciers have been melting and growing over the past few thousand years.
These were some reasons skeptics have in the defense of climate change denial. Psychologists are of the belief that the reason we show skepticism about these issues is because climate change is something that we as humans don't want to think about as it disturbs our sense of optimism and longevity. They are also of the view that even though most of us know that the patterns of climate on earth have changed drastically over the last few hundred years, we simply comfort ourselves with the fact that we won't be there to see its repercussions. This to a very large extent shapes public opinion on global warming. Psychologists are also of the view that if global warming would have been a more immediate issue, that is, if it had the potential to impact our lives in the next fifteen or twenty years, our response to it would have been totally different.

Researchers who study human pattern behavior point out that we tend to align ourselves more readily with climate change denial groups as they convincingly say what we want to hear. If there is a threat looming over us, there are two ways in which we can react; accept the challenge and put in an effort to fight against it; or remain in denial that it is not lethal enough to cause any immediate damage, and we as a society have adopted the latter one. Fighting global warming would take a lot of compromises and we have grown so comfortable with the luxuries that science has offered us that giving-up on these might seem as a tedious affair.

The only way forward in the fight against global warming is a collective effort from all of us. We can't really retreat into myths and rely solely on environmentalists to fight this issue for us. They can tell us what dangers are lurking in the future, but it is the civil society who has to take corrective measures against this menace. Our actions in the next one or two decades will determine what kind of life our kids and grand-kids will have. As for those who want to live in climate change denial, it is time to wake up from their slumber before it gets too late.