Resource, Materials and Environment Dr. Eric Tsang P.K.

Course Content Resources Environmental resource Materials Natural material Materials in food Synthetic material Disposal and Recycle Toxic substances Environmental chemistry Environmental issues

Course Assessments 1.5 hour written examination (50%) words individual report on one specific environmental topic (50%)

What is resource? (From Wikipedia) Resource may refer to: Resource (economics), commodities and human resources used in the production of goods and services, including Natural resource, a commodity that is valuable in its relatively natural form. Human resources (HR) or human capital, valuable human work power. Resource (project management), economic resources used in planning of tasks. (not relevant to our discussion)

Resource is …… Anything that is both naturally occurring and of use to humans. Examples of resources include water, soil, air, oil, mineral, vegetation including wood, plants or animals as food.

Competition for resources Like any resources, many environmental resources are limited in nature. (e.g. crude oil) Living organisms including humans usually compete for limited resources. (e.g. animals competing for food and water) Competition for resources is a known mechanism for evolution.

Environmental Resources Management Environmental crisis may result if environmental resources are not managed sustainably. (i.e. sustainable resource management) E.g. Forestry, fresh water, fisheries

Utilization of environmental resources Extraction, utilization and depletion of resources are often linked to environmental issues. Can you list some examples?

A report on the state of world fisheries Click here to view the report

What do we mean by Environment? Nature Society

Human-Environment relationship community production transportation cultural atmosphere water soil geology biota Man-made environment Natural environment

Useful reference World Resource Institute Wikipedia ESDWEB EPD