Q.Distinguish between renewable and non-renewable (exhaustible) natural resources, with examples.
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🔒 Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Concept understanding — Environmental Degradation and Resource Depletion
Economic growth generates negative externalities — costs (like pollution) imposed on third parties and not reflected in market prices — causing markets left alone to over-produce polluting output relative to the social optimum. This shows up as air and water pollution, land degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss, waste accumulation, and climate change. Natural resources are classified as renewable (forests, fisheries, groundwater — sustainable if used within their regeneration rate) or non-renewable/exhaustible (coal, petroleum, minerals — a fixed stock depleted with every unit used). Open-access or commonly-held resources are especially vulnerable to the 'Tragedy of the Commons', where each user's private incentive to extract more outweighs the shared, diffused cost of depletion, leading to over-exploitation. The 1972 'Limits to Growth' report first placed the question of whether exponential growth can continue indefinitely on the global …
The distinction turns on whether a resource can naturally regenerate, which decides whether sustainable use is even possible in principle.
Renewable resources regenerate over time (forests, fisheries, groundwater); non-renewable resources exist as a fixed stock (coal, petroleum, minerals). …
Renewable resources — such as forests, fish stocks, grazing land and groundwater — are capable of natural regeneration over time. If harvested or extracted no faster than the rate at which they replenish themselves, they can, in principle, be used indefinitely. However, if extraction exceeds the regeneration rate, even a renewable resource can be permanently degraded or exhausted (an over-fished fishery may collapse, an over-pumped aquifer may take decades to recover, or may not recover at all). …
A common error is assuming 'renewable' means a resource cannot ever be exhausted — in fact, over-extraction of a renewable resource beyond its regeneration capacity can exhaust or permanently damage it, …
- CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL2 marksQ.Write a short note on: Biodiversity
›Reveal solutionSolution
Biodiversity is the variety of all living things — plants, animals and micro-organisms — and their ecosystems; it keeps nature in balance and supplies food, medicines and raw materials, but it is being lost through deforestation, pollution and over-exploitation.
This is a 2-mark short note in the AP Intermediate 2nd-year Economics environment unit.
Biodiversity, short for biological diversity, means the great variety of life on earth — the many different species of plants, animals and micro-organisms, the genetic variety within them, and the different ecosystems (forests, wetlands, oceans) in which they live. Biodiversity is valuable because it maintains the balance of nature, keeps soil and water healthy, pollinates crops, and provides food, medicines, timber and other raw materials. However, biodiversity is being reduced by deforestation, pollution, over-hunting, over-fishing and th …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL2 marksQ.Write a short note on: Green house effect.
›Reveal solutionSolution
The greenhouse effect is the trapping of the earth's outgoing heat by atmospheric gases like carbon dioxide and methane, which keeps the planet warm. Excess greenhouse gases from human activity intensify it and cause global warming.
This is a 2-mark short note in AP Intermediate 2nd year Economics, part of the environment theme, treated in line with the NCERT/CBSE curriculum.
Meaning. The greenhouse effect is the process by which certain gases present in the earth's atmosphere - known as greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapour - absorb and trap part of the heat (infrared radiation) that the earth gives off, instead of allowing it to escape into outer space. This trapped heat keeps the earth's surface warm, much as the glass of a greenhouse keeps it warm inside. A moderate, natural greenhouse effect is necessary to make the planet warm enough to support life. However, the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and industrial activity have greatly increased the concentration of greenhouse gases, int …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL2 marksQ.Write a short note on: Bio-diversity
›Reveal solutionSolution
Bio-diversity is the variety of all living organisms - the range of species, their genetic variation and the variety of ecosystems. It sustains ecological balance and provides food, medicines and raw materials, so its conservation is vital.
This is a 2-mark short note in AP Intermediate 2nd year Economics, part of the environment theme, treated in line with the NCERT/CBSE curriculum.
Meaning. Bio-diversity, short for biological diversity, refers to the enormous variety and variability of living organisms found on earth. It has three aspects: the variety of different species of plants, animals and micro-organisms (species diversity); the genetic variation that exists within each species (genetic diversity); and the variety of different ecosystems or natural habitats such as forests, grasslands, wetlands and oceans (ecosystem diversity). Bio-diversity is important because it maintains the ecological balance, keeps natural cycles going, and supplies human beings with food, medicines, timber, fibres and many other resources. The loss of bio-diversity through deforestation, pollut …
- CBSE 2020Set ANNUAL2 marksQ.Write a short note on: Ozone layer
›Reveal solutionSolution
The ozone layer is a protective layer of ozone gas in the stratosphere that absorbs the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, shielding life on earth. Chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons deplete it, forming the ozone hole and causing serious health and environmental harm. This is an AP Intermediate 2nd-year Economics topic on environmental degradation.
Meaning: The ozone layer is a region of the earth's upper atmosphere (the stratosphere) that contains a relatively high concentration of ozone gas. Its chief importance is that it absorbs most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation and prevents it from reaching the earth's surface, thereby protecting humans, animals and plants.
Ozone depletion: The release of certain man-made chemicals, especially chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in refrigerators, air-conditioners, aerosols and foams, destroys ozone molecules and thins the ozone layer. The severe thinning over the polar regions is known as the 'ozone hole'.
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- CBSE 2020Set ANNUAL2 marksQ.What is Noise?
›Reveal solutionSolution
Noise is unwanted or disturbing sound, measured in decibels, and when it becomes excessive it is called noise pollution. Its main sources are vehicles, industries, loudspeakers, construction and machinery, and it damages hearing, raises stress and disturbs health and sleep. This is an AP Intermediate 2nd-year Economics topic on environmental pollution.
Meaning: Noise is any sound that is unwanted, unpleasant, irritating or disturbing to human beings and other living creatures. While sound in itself is natural, it becomes 'noise' when it is loud, harsh or occurs at the wrong time and place. The intensity of sound is measured in units called decibels.
Noise pollution: When the level of noise rises beyond tolerable limits, it is termed noise pollution. Its chief sources are:
- Road, rail and air traffic.
- Industries, factories and machinery.
- Loudspeakers at functions, festivals and public events.
- Construction activity and household appliances. …
- CBSE 2019Set ANNUAL2 marksQ.Write a short note on: Ozone layer
›Reveal solutionSolution
The ozone layer is a layer of ozone gas in the stratosphere that absorbs most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays and protects life on earth; it is being damaged by chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons, leading to ozone depletion and the ozone hole.
The ozone layer is studied under environmental degradation in the Environment and Sustainable Economic Development topic of the AP Intermediate 2nd-year Economics course (aligned with the NCERT/CBSE commerce curriculum).
Meaning and importance. Ozone is a gas whose molecules are made of three atoms of oxygen. A concentrated band of this gas, called the ozone layer, is found in the stratosphere, roughly 15 to 35 kilometres above the earth's surface. Its great importance is that it absorbs most of the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation before it reaches the earth, protecting human beings, animals and plants from its damaging effects such as skin cancer and harm to crops.
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