Global & UK Resource Distribution

What Counts as a Natural Resource?

A natural resource is anything in the physical environment that can be used to meet human needs — food from the soil, energy from sunlight, fish from the sea, iron from the rocks. Geographers classify resources in two ways. First, by whether they are living: biotic resources come from living things, while abiotic resources come from the non-living world. Second, by whether they replace themselves: renewable resources can be used repeatedly if managed well; non-renewable resources are finite. Wind is renewable and abiotic; cod is renewable but biotic (if not over-fished); coal is non-renewable and abiotic.

How Humans Exploit the Environment

Three big resources — food, water and energy — drive most exploitation. Fishing fleets harvest 90 million tonnes of marine fish per year, with around a third of stocks now over-fished. Farming covers around 38% of the Earth’s land surface and uses around 70% of fresh water withdrawn worldwide. Fossil-fuel extraction continues at scale: around 4.5 billion tonnes of crude oil and 8 billion tonnes of coal a year. Deforestation clears around 10 million hectares of forest every year, much of it tropical. Each form of exploitation changes the place where it happens. Overfishing collapses food chains; intensive farming erodes soil and depletes aquifers; mining and drilling pollute air and water; deforestation removes habitat and releases stored carbon.

Global Distribution of Key Resources

Resources are unevenly distributed because geology, climate and land cover vary. Soil and agriculture concentrate in the world’s great river basins (Mississippi, Ganges, Indus, Nile) and in temperate plains (Ukraine, the US Midwest, Argentina’s pampas). Forestry depends on biome: the boreal forests of Russia and Canada and the tropical rainforests of the Amazon and Congo basins are the largest stores. Fossil fuels are tied to ancient sedimentary basins: oil in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Iran), the Gulf of Mexico, and Russia; coal in China, the US, India and Australia; natural gas in Russia, Iran and the United States. Water supply follows precipitation patterns: tropical rainforests, monsoon Asia and equatorial Africa receive most rain, while subtropical deserts (Sahara, Arabian Peninsula, Australia’s outback) face chronic shortage. Rocks and minerals follow geology: copper in the Andes, iron ore in Western Australia, lithium in the ‘triangle’ of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

UK Resource Distribution

The UK’s smaller landscape is also unevenly resourced. Soil and agriculture: rich loamy soils in East Anglia and the Vale of York support cereals; Welsh and Scottish uplands carry sheep and beef cattle. Forestry: woodland covers around 13% of the UK, much of it Sitka spruce plantation; the largest blocks are in Galloway and the Kielder Forest in Northumberland. Fossil fuels: North Sea oil and gas (mostly off the coasts of Aberdeen and East Anglia) supply around 30% of UK gas demand, although output has fallen since the late 1990s. Coal still exists in disused fields in Yorkshire and Wales but commercial production has effectively ended. Water supply: Western and northern uplands (Lake District, Welsh hills, Scottish Highlands) receive around 2,000 mm rainfall a year, while East Anglia receives around 600 mm and depends on transfers and aquifers. Rock and minerals: granite from Cornwall and Aberdeenshire, limestone in the Pennines, china clay in St Austell, and small reserves of tin, lithium and tungsten.

Patterns of Consumption

Consumption is also uneven, but not in the same way as supply. Wealthy countries consume far more energy and food per person than poorer countries even when they have less raw resource. The average UK resident consumes around 2,800 kg of oil-equivalent energy a year; the average Bangladeshi consumes around 270 kg. The average UK resident eats around 80 kg of meat a year; the average Indian eats around 4 kg. Water consumption follows wealth too — an average North American uses around 200 litres a day for domestic purposes, an average Sub-Saharan African about 20 litres. Globalisation now blurs these patterns: a UK consumer drinking Kenyan coffee or eating Spanish strawberries is using virtual water and energy from another part of the world. Around 70% of the UK’s overall ‘water footprint’ comes from goods imported from beyond its borders.

Why Distribution and Exploitation Matter

Distribution and consumption are connected. Countries with abundant resources but small populations (Norway’s oil, Saudi Arabia’s oil) export them to populous, resource-poor countries. The result is geopolitical leverage — Russia’s gas exports gave it political influence over European energy security until 2022. Resource exploitation reshapes the host place: oil revenue built Dubai’s skyline but groundwater abstraction lowered the city’s aquifer. Decisions made in cities far from the resource often determine its fate. Recognising the global pattern is the first step in the rest of the topic, where you will look at energy and water management in detail.