CG2

Resources Explain the changes over the past 50 years in the use, distribution, and importance of natural resources (including land, water, energy, food, renewable, non-renewable, and ﬂow resources) on human life, settlement, and interactions by describing and evaluating
 * change in spatial distribution and use of natural resources
 * the differences in ways societies have been using and distributing natural resources
 * social, political, economic, and environmental consequences of the development, distribution, and use of natural resources
 * major changes in networks for the production, distribution, and consumption of natural resources including growth of multinational corporations, and governmental and non-governmental organizations (e.g., OPEC, NAFTA, EU, NATO, World Trade Organization, Red Cross, Red Crescent)
 * the impact of humans on the global environment

= How have the spatial distribution and use of natural resources changed? = Water is one of the worlds most used natural resources, over the past 50 years that natural resource has declined, due to many reasons. Where the water is fresh or there is a new fresh water source the population increases. It increases due to the harmful effects of the bad water source. Where the water becomes harmful due to chemical wastes, or other harmful things within the population declines. The population moves to a place where there is fresh water.

**Access to Fresh Water:**
Sub-Saharan Africa: 60% East Asia & Pacific: 78% South Asia: 84% Latin America & Caribbean: 85% Middle East & North Africa: 86% Europe and Central Asia: 90%

The forrest is another major natural resource, and is declining and effecting populations around it. There are many tribes in Africa that are leaving their home due to the forrest being cut down and not being replaced. So the surrounding population is declining around the forrest. In the year 2000, the world poplation was around 6 billion but by 2050, it has been predicted that it should reach around 9 billion. 9 billion is a scarce due to the lack of food, fresh water sources, agriculture, medicine, and technology.

= What are the different ways in which societies have been using and distributing natural resources? = Many challenges and opportunity's have formed from the increasingly interdependent nations. The world has been making improvements in transportation, communication, the spread of democratic systems and the rise of free trade. Their has also been an increase in the free market with the buying and selling of goods. The worlds developed nations control much of the world's capital, trade and technology. But the developing nations have workers who can be paid cheaply and developed countries depend on workers like this. Many companies send work to poorer countries to save money and increase efficiency. Their have been multinational corporations that have formed and these corporations have branches and assets in many countries. The corporations have large influences on the prices of goods, and they take large profits out of developing countries, and pay low wages, thus lowering their standards of living. An aspect of economic interdependence is what happens in a country economy can affect the world's market and has a global impact.

Below is a link to which the natural resources distributed by countries are shown. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/geo_nat_res-geography-natural-resources

= What are the social, political, economic, and environmental consequences of the development, distribution, and use of natural resources? Natural resources can, and often do, provoke conflicts within societies as different everyone fights for their share. Sometimes these emerge openly as separatist conflicts in regions where the resources are produced, but often the conflicts occur in more hidden forms, such as fights between different government ministries or departments for access to budgetary allocations. This tends to erode governments' abilities to function effectively. There are several main types of relationships between natural resources and armed conflicts. First, effects can undermine the quality of governance and economic performances, increasing the vulnerability of countries to conflicts. Second, conflicts can occur over the control and exploitation of resources and the allocation of their revenues. Third, access to resource revenues by belligerents can extend the duration of the conflicts. Overpopulation does not depend only on the size or density of the population, but on the ratio of population to available sustainable resources. It also depends on the way resources are used and distributed throughout the population. If a given environment has a population of 10 individuals, but there is food or drinking water enough for only 9, then in a closed system where no trade is possible, that environment is overpopulated; if the population is 100 but there is enough food, shelter, and water for 200 for the indefinite future, then it is not overpopulated. The use of natural resources can effect the population of the environment. =

= How have networks for the production, distribution, and consumption of natural resources - such as multinational corporations, and governmental and non-governmental organizations - developed and changed? =

= How have humans impacted the global environment (positively/negatively)? Humans have impacted the environment both positively and negatively. In a positively way the humans help control animal populations. In a negative way the humans are over populating the world. The gases from the power plants are producing air pollution, which gets trapped in clouds, and is then rained out, making acid rain. =