Natural Environment: Resources, Hazards, and Policies

Posted on Jan 19, 2025 in Geology

The Natural Environment as a Resource

1. Relief as a Resource

The relief of the Spanish mainland provides resources and is related to human activities:

  • Influences settlements
  • Plays a role in farming
  • Provides mineral and energy resources
  • Impacts communications
  • The peculiarities of the terrain can be a tourist attraction

The coastal relief is unfavorable for the installation of ports due to the predominance of rectilinear forms. Fishery resources are impacted by the narrow width of the continental shelf.

2. Water as a Resource

Water is essential for life on Earth and for many human activities. For this reason, people prefer settlements near water.

  • Consumptive uses of water include agricultural irrigation, use in economic sectors, use in homes and towns, and so on.
  • Non-consumptive uses of water include fisheries, aquaculture, hydroelectric production, and so on.

In Spain, water mainly comes from precipitation that feeds surface waters and aquifers. Only 32% of the total available water is used due to strong evaporation. Although this amount is still above water demand, there is an annual water deficit of around 3,000-4,000 hm3 because of several problems:

  • The uneven distribution of resources
  • The uneven distribution of demand
  • The failure of reservoirs and water losses

The infrastructure used to regulate water resources and improve water quality are hydraulic works.

a) Works to regulate water resources in Spain have a long historical tradition:

  • Rivers have been regulated by dams and diversion channels:
  • Reservoirs
  • Distribution channels
  • Transfers

The main water resources exploited are:

  • Some lakes in the Pyrenees
  • Aquifers
  • Seawater

b) Works to improve water quality include water treatment plants, which treat water to make it drinkable, and wastewater treatment plants that treat wastewater to prevent contamination.

Water policies have two main purposes:

  • The ratio of water relates to the Law of Waters
  • The management of water resources is carried out through hydrological planning

3. Vegetation as a Resource

Vegetation is also essential for life, as in photosynthesis it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere and releases O2. In addition, it plays the following functions:

  • Provides resources such as food for people and raw materials for various industries
  • Contributes to the protection and improvement of the environment, reducing air pollution

4. Soil as a Resource

Soil affects various aspects of human activity:

  • Preferred settlement areas have fertile soil, and houses have traditionally used materials from the environment
  • Agricultural production depends on soil fertility
  • Infrastructure is affected by some characteristics of the soil

Natural Features

Natural hazards are environmental features that threaten welfare or human life due to the catastrophic consequences that can occur. There are several types of risks:

  • Geologic Hazards:
    • Earthquakes
    • Volcanic eruptions
    • Landslides (including rockfalls and mudflows)
  • Climate Risks:
    • Floods
    • Droughts

Protection Against Natural Hazards

There are four types of stages to address these risks:

  1. Construction of infrastructure
  2. Creation of systems for forecasting and monitoring
  3. Emergency measures
  4. Risk prevention

Environmental Problems and Policies

Negative human actions on the environment include over-exploitation (exploitation above its production capacity and regeneration), pollution (addition of harmful substances in a proportion not assimilated by the environment), and the destruction or disappearance of elements of the environment.

Today, Spanish environmental policy is determined by international agreements, the EU environmental policy, and the MARM (Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs).

a) International agreements signed by Spain, including the performance of certain commitments.

b) EU environmental policy aims at preserving the environment through actions that impact the environmental policy of member states:

  • Prevention
  • The promotion of sustainable development
  • Correcting existing problems in the EU
  • The correction of global environmental problems