Lesson video

Hello, geographers.

My name is Mrs. Griffiths.

Welcome to the lesson.

Today's lesson is all about the importance of key resources for human development.

So we're gonna be focusing on food, water, and energy, and getting a bit of an overview of their importance for our wellbeing.

Also, the way supply varies around the world and how the rate of how these resources are consumed also varies.

So let's make a start, shall we? The lesson outcome, I can explain the significance of food, water, and energy to wellbeing and describe global inequalities in supply and consumption of these resources.

We have some keywords today.

We have three keywords.

So the first one is resources.

Resources are material available in the environment such as water, food, and oil that supply our wants and needs.

Undernutrition, what does that mean? It means not consuming enough calories or nutrients to maintain a normal, active, healthy life.

And then sanitation.

Sanitation systems are designed to protect public health, such as disposing of sewage and other waste products.

So you'll notice that those keywords crop up in our lesson today.

So how does our lesson break down? We've got two parts to the lesson.

The first part is what resources are essential for our wellbeing? And then secondly, we have how does supply and consumption of resources vary? Now, remember, we're looking at this at a global scale.

So let's make a start on this first one, what resources are essential for our wellbeing? Now, resources are materials available in the environment that support our wants and needs.

For example, what are we talking about? Let's have a look at those images.

We're talking about food, water, and energy here used for cooking.

Now these resources are essential to our social and economic wellbeing.

Let's think about what that phrase then means.

If we just take the example of food, food is essential for our social and economic wellbeing.

And it's very basic, isn't it? You can imagine we can't live without food.

It supports growth and maintains health.

It provides energy for work and economic activity, and it's part of our shared culture.

So it's not just about a biological processes of growth and maintaining health.

It's also part of our culture.

At a global scale, food supplies are uneven.

And here we have a choropleth map showing number of calories that are available per person per day.

So this choropleth map uses colour and the darker the colour, the more calories that are available.

Now, remember that in terms of these calories, these are the total calories that are available per person.

Doesn't actually represent those eaten because there is some food waste involved.

But when we look at that map, our eyes are naturally drawn to the areas of darker colour.

So we are looking at North America, we're looking at parts of Western Europe where the amount of calories that are available per person are greatest.

Compare that to areas of South Asia and perhaps Central and East and West Africa.

And we can see there's a big difference in terms of the calories that are available per person.

So food supplies are uneven.

Food consumption does vary within and between national populations.

So it's worth remembering that it's not just between different countries, but there's variety within a country's borders.

And those that variety of food consumption affects quality of life.

Now here we can see an icon used by the United Nations for one of its sustainable development goals.

And this is the second goal ending hunger by 2030.

These 17 sustainable development goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015.

Now, this goal of ending hunger, zero hunger, has not yet been met.

Though the share of people living in extreme poverty has more than halved in the last 20 years.

So some good news.

The number of people facing hunger in 2022 was higher than in previous years.

And you might be able to think about why that is.

About 10% of people worldwide are affected by undernutrition.

So they go hungry at certain points in the year.

So that's between 730 and 780 million people worldwide, but clearly, estimates vary.

People have struggled to meet their daily needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and since.

In 60% of countries, those countries, the local economies saw food prices increase due to conflict, but also disrupted supply chains.

Think about what life was like during that pandemic.

Ah, check for you here.

True or false, resources are essential for our economic and social wellbeing.

Is that true or false? And I'm gonna need you to explain why in a moment.

So pause the video and restart it when you have an answer.

Yup, that's right, it is true.

What was your explanation? The explanation we had was, for example, food is needed for growth to maintain health and an active lifestyle, work/economic activity, and it's all part of our shared culture.

So we need food on a very basic level.

Right, let's think about water.

So water is also essential for our social and economic wellbeing clearly.

Now, when we think about water, we think about access to fresh water.

So perhaps immediately your mind jumped to our use in the home, what we call domestic use, the use by farmers, say for irrigation and the use in industry, for example, in terms of manufacturing.

But it's easy to forget about the role that water plays in sanitation.

Now, sanitation protects human dignity, quality of water resources, and health because without our sewers and our sewer treatment, then waterborne diseases are a key risk of our use of water.

Now, global water resources like food are unevenly distributed.

And here we can see another of the United Nations' sustainable development goal icons.

And this is because water is linked to the UN's SDG 6, which is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030.

In 2022 however, 2.

2 billion people were without access to safely managed drinking water.

So quite a long way away from that goal.

3.

5 billion, so a larger number, lacked access to safely managed sanitation.

So they lacked access to that key resource that secures dignity, but also health and the security of our water resources.

Climate change, in fact worsens resource issues, particularly in terms of water, risking water conflicts.

So what's that about? In 2022, the annual international climate change conference, the COP, in fact this one was called COP27, recognise the importance of water resource management.

So you'll remember that those international climate change conferences are key to looking at emissions and carbon emissions and reducing carbon emissions for the world.

But with this particular COP, the idea of water resource management has been added as a key focus because transboundary river sisters, river systems, sorry, are home to 40% of the world's population across 153 countries.

But very few of those have international agreements in place to secure water supplies.

So this is a live issue going forward when we look at all of our use of water and the availability of water in the context of climate change.

Now here we have a bar graph which presents percentage of domestic waste water.

So that's sewage that is safely treated by world region.

And the bar graph is broken down into what looks like, in some cases, continents, but in other cases, regions.

So for example, we've got Central and Southern Asia group together.

We've got Sub-Saharan Africa presented as a group.

Now, when you look in that graph, what do you notice? Well, what I notice that the share of wastewater that is safely treated before being discharged into the environment varies considerably between regions.

So compare, say Sub-Saharan Africa, considerable parts of the African continent to Oceania.

So what goes on in Australia and New Zealand, very different amounts of the wastewater being safely treated.

Check for you here then.

Which the following statements is or are not true about water resources.

So we're looking for not true about water resources.

Pause the video and restart it when you think you have the answers.

Okay, and if you said D is not true, water resources are evenly distributed across the globe, you are absolutely right.

All of the rest of them are true.

Well done.

Thirdly then, energy.

We've looked at food, we looked at water, let's have a look at energy.

Energy is essential for our social and economic wellbeing.

How is it? How is it essential? Well, we're using it for cooking, heating, and lighting homes in that domestic sphere I mentioned.

It powers industry, clearly, when we think about our manufacturing.

Also enables the transportation of goods and it's how you travel on holiday.

And it makes technological revolutions possible.

For example, the current data revolution or the talk about AI in the news, this is all made possible by energy resources.

And we have the comment here that energy consumption is also a key contributor to air pollution and climate change.

We were talking about COPs earlier, weren't we? Affecting global supplies of food and water.

That's interesting, isn't it? Where energy is consumed, it is having an impact on the supplies of food and water.

So we can see how these key resources are linked.

Happily, renewable energy is on the rise.

So if we think about climate change, we think about trying to reduce carbon emissions and look after our climate, reduce the greenhouse effect in terms of enhanced greenhouse effect.

Renewable energy generation is on the rise and the United Nations has a goal linked to this.

So SDG 7 is all about affordable and clean energy for all.

And it's the SDG where greatest progress has been made.

Most of the new clean energy, interestingly, being generated has been generated not only in high income countries, but also some newly emerging economies.

However, access to electricity is not yet universal.

So if we take the example of 2022, so comparing that with food and water, access to electricity declined for the first time in a decade due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

You'll remember that gas supplies were, I guess used as a weapon of war with Russia, limiting access to its gas for Europe.

2.

1 billion people still relied in 2022 on polluting fuels and technologies such as charcoal, coal, crop waste, dung, kerosene, and wood.

So that's what they would've been burning for their fuel, for example, for cooking.

Now, here we've got a graph showing us the global population that are with, in blue, and without, in red, access to electricity.

Think about how that has changed over time.

But first, let's just define our terms. Having access to electricity here means having an electricity source that can provide lighting and charge a phone or radio for four hours a day.

So not 24 hours a day.

In low income countries and some newly emerging economies, electricity outages are part of daily life.

So that's not something that that perhaps is on our radar, but it's certainly true in parts of India, for example, which is why people have backup generators.

Now, what's the graph showing us? It's showing us that access to electricity has increased in recent decades.

So three in every four people plugged in in 2000 in the year 2000.

But by 2022, 9 in every 10 people had some electricity.

So that's really positive change, isn't it? So which of the following is not true about the global pattern of energy resources? Have a read through those four options and restart the video when you think you've got the answers.

And if you said, "Well, B is not true, having access to electricity means 24 hours a day," you are absolutely right.

The definition on our last graph said four hours a day.

So I've got some tasks for you here, questions one and question two for you to complete.

So time to grab a pen.

For each of the following resources, list three ways that is essential for social and economic wellbeing.

And we've got food, water, and energy 'cause that's what we've been looking at today.

Secondly, I'd like you to describe how global access to electricity has changed over time.

So pause the video now, you've got these two tasks to get on with, and then restart it when you want to check your answers.

Okay, how did you get on? So question one, for each of these following resources, list three ways it is essential for social and economic wellbeing.

So your answer might include the following.

Here we have food.

Well, food supports growth and maintains health.

It provides energy for work and economic activity, and it's part of our shared culture, thinking about our social wellbeing there.

In terms of water, well, it's key to the domestic sphere as is food.

So we've got drinking, washing, cooking, all using water.

Our farmers are irrigating crops whilst people in industry are manufacturing goods using huge amounts of water as well.

If we look at energy, energy is being used for cooking, heating, and lighting our homes.

It's also powering industry and, for example, artificial intelligence.

And it enables transportation of goods and us if we go on holiday if we are tourists.

So well done if your answer looked something like that.

Question two, you are asked to describe how global access to electricity has changed over time.

Now, your answer might include the following.

Access to electricity has increased in recent decades.

In the year 2000, three in every four people globally had some access to this energy resource.

But by 2022, the proportion had risen to nine in every 10 people globally.

However, the rise in access over time has not been constant.

So in 2022, access to electricity declined for the first time in a decade due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

So what I like about that answer is it's quite detailed, it's quite specific.

It picks out particular years to talk about, as well as the overall trend.

So well done if you've got something like that.

Let's have a look at this second part of the lesson then.

How does supply and consumption of resources vary? I feel like we've started to talk about that, but let's really focus in on it.

So as we've said, the United Nations' sustainable development goals known as the SDGs are global targets inspired by global inequalities.

And we are focusing on these ones.

Zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, and affordable and clean energy for all.

But what is this geographical pattern of resource inequality? So what's the pattern that perhaps has inspired these targets? What pattern does this choropleth map show? So I'm gonna give you a moment to have a think about that one.

Okay, so we've got our choropleth map there, which is the share of the population that is undernourished.

Remember, undernourished meaning people that go hungry for part of the year.

Now, the globe pattern of national populations that have the highest share of people experiencing undernutrition is clear, I think, from the colour palette that has been used for this choropleth map.

So we've got the darkest reds and maroons for the countries that are most affected by hunger.

And clearly, where you have a population that 40% or 45% of which are going hungry really on a regular basis.

That's a huge problem, isn't it? So undernutrition appears to be worst in East, Central, and West Africa, South and Southwest Asia.

You might talk about that as the Middle East, sorry, and I'm gonna just draw a ring around those two regions so you know where I am talking about.

But what doesn't, this choropleth map show? What else? What other information perhaps do we need to really know about undernutrition and how that exists around the world? Well, I'll give you some hints.

Particular sites of poverty or how unequal access to food is within each country is not shown on this map.

So with a choropleth map where one shade has been used to depict the whole country, it's easy for us to imagine that everyone within that country, you know, this trend is true for everyone within that country.

However, there might be pockets within particular countries where larger than 45% or less than 20% of people are undernourished.

So it doesn't show us the diversity within countries, does it? Also, the size of the populations involved is not very clear.

Now, did you know that there are more people in South Asia that face hunger than within the African continent? Is that clear from this choropleth map? No it's not.

It's telling us about the share.

True or false then.

Most people who are undernourished live in Central or East Africa.

Pause the video now, discuss that with a partner, and then restart it when you have the answer.

Remember, I'm gonna want you to justify your answer.

And if you said false, can you explain that answer? Our answer was as follows.

There are more people suffering from undernutrition living in South Asia than in Africa.

Okay, if you have the answer, well done.

If we think about water around the world then, improved water sources deliver water that is safe to drink.

So that water might be pipe supplies to your home, that might be what you have at home, or boreholes, protected wells or springs.

And we are thinking about the collection of rainwater and of course, bottled water.

So safe water to drink.

Millions of people live without this resource in countries in South America, Africa, and Asia.

And we can see that if we look at the choropleth map, you look at the darker, mostly purples.

Those are the areas where we've got large numbers of peoples.

Remember, our last choropleth map was looking at share of.

This is large numbers of people in millions who don't have access to an improved water source and are putting themselves at risk in terms of waterborne disease.

Those largest populations are in East, South, and Southeast Asia, and West, Central, and East Africa.

And you might start to see there's some overlap here with people who are not using an improved water source and people that are undernourished based on the map we were just looking at.

Just draw a ring around those regions for you.

What does this bar graph tell us about rates of water consumption between high income countries and newly emerging economies? Well, let's have a look at it.

Have a think.

Now, I'm sure you spotted that data's a little old, it's 2010, but it does show us that people in the USA use more than three times the amount of water used in four of the five newly emerged economies listed here.

And sometimes these countries that are listed under the USA as bars on our graph are lumped together with the acronym BRICS because they're all newly emerged economies with rapidly growing economies.

But look at the rate of water consumption, much less than in the US per person per capita.

Now, around 90% of all people have access to safe, drinking water within 30 minutes of their home, 30 minutes of their home.

In 1980, that statistic was only 58%.

So we can see there has been progress on a global scale.

However, think about that bar graph we were just looking at.

It's easy to imagine why consumption rates are lower in some countries, right here in rural areas because if people have to carry that water, if they have to go and collect that water and they live a mile or more away from an improved water supply, you know, your rate of consumption will be much less, clearly, if you've got to carry it every day.

True or false, there are large global inequalities in access to safe drinking water.

What do you think? Discuss that with a partner.

And remember, I'll need you to explain your answer in a second.

And if you said true, that is true, there are large global inequalities in access to safe drinking water.

But why is that? Well, 90% of people now live with safe water supply within 30 minutes from their home, feels like progress, but rates of consumption vary hugely between countries in part due to lack of piped access to the home.

We really take that for granted, don't we? The fact that you can turn on a tap in your house and safe water comes out.

And that's 90% of people.

So think about the remaining 10% who've gone even longer journey to collect that water.

So they're walking for, they're travelling for more than 30 minutes.

So we've been thinking about global inequalities in terms of food, in terms of water.

Let's think about that same pattern in terms of energy.

So despite the growth in energy supplies at a global scale, and we are talking about in the first part of the lesson about the growth in renewable energy generation, supply for some populations lags behind.

And we can see that if we think about the number of people without access to electricity.

So there's people that lack electricity.

Here, colour has been used to show us the number of people within national populations who lack electricity.

And I'm sure you can see there's a bit of a pattern to it.

This map shows us a spatial access, spatial pattern, sorry, people without access to electricity.

And we can see there are large numbers of people that live in countries within West, Central, and East Africa, South Asia as well.

So I'll just add those rings on so that you can see them.

And remember that in many countries, electricity is more reliable in urban areas.

So when we look at this choropleth map showing us the number of people who are with or without electricity, remember the pattern of people with electricity might be that they are mainly living in cities.

People in high income countries consume the most electricity.

Now that is kind of a truism.

We know this.

Notice I've got a new choropleth map here about energy consumption.

So our last choropleth map was about people that lack electricity, and this choropleth map is about energy consumption per person.

Now you might have spotted that the pattern is sort of reversed out.

And maybe that's obvious because I've left my two rings on, showing the region where people, lots of people were without electricity.

And here we can see that these are the countries where energy consumption is low.

So ignoring those ringed areas, if we look elsewhere to North America, if we look at Western Europe, if we look at parts of Southwest Asia, if we look at Oceania, we can see that energy consumption per person is high and these are high income countries.

So regions with a large number of people without electricity, darker on the last map, are instead light on this map as I said.

What can we infer, thinking about the last map and this current map? Well, perhaps we can infer the ease of access to electricity specifically is linked to overall energy consumption.

So if you've got easy access to electricity, you are generally consuming a lot of electricity.

That's something we can infer by looking at those two maps.

They appear to be linked, don't they? What does this map show then? We've got a multiple choice of answers here.

High income countries consume the most energy in total, HICs and NEEs consume the most energy per capita, or LICs do not have access to electricity.

Which of those is linked to this particular map? What does the map show? Discuss it with a partner and then restart the video when you're ready to find out.

And if you said, "Well, B, HICs and NEEs consume most energy per capita," that's what we can see from the map, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

So let's think about our task for the second part of this lesson.

Firstly, I'd like to describe the pattern shown by this choropleth map.

Remember, this is a choropleth map about people not using an improved water source.

Hint, I'd like you to use named countries, regions, and continents.

So looking at this pattern at different scales if possible please.

Secondly, interesting task for you here.

I'd like you to write an acrostic, sorry, getting my teeth in there, but it doesn't have to be a poem remember.

Just an acrostic using the word resource.

Take each of the letters of that word and write a statement, a short sentence that helps you remember what we've talked about in terms of perhaps the importance of those three different key resources, but also thinking about their supply and consumption.

So that's a bit of a brain teaser for you.

So grab a pen, you've got two tasks, pause the video now, and then restart it when you want to compare what you have to what we have.

Okay, how did you get on? So the first task was to describe the pattern shown by this choropleth map.

Hint, I'd said use named countries, regions, and continents if possible, right? So the answer we have is the pattern is uneven between and within continents.

Millions of people live without this resource in countries including Pakistan in South Asia, and Nigeria in West Africa.

The largest populations without an improved water source are clustered in East, South, and Southeast Asia and West, Central, and East Africa.

So what I like about that answer is we've got named countries, we have named regions, and also we've talked about the overall pattern, not that there's sort of perhaps a regular spread of countries that don't, with people, high numbers of people without an improved water source, but actually that they're found in clusters within that global pattern.

Secondly, you had a bit more of a teaser here, which was to write an acrostic using the word resource to help us remember some of the key learning from this lesson all about global inequalities and resources.

Did your answer look something like this? So the R, R is for resources, which are natural materials with essential utility for life.

Food, water, and energy for example.

Our E links to Europe and North America, which are continents where most have access to all three.

S is for safe drinking water, which comes from an improved source such as a protected spring.

And O is for the idea that overall, access to essential resources has improved over time at a global scale.

Our U is for urban, so urban populations in newly emerging economies and low-income countries are more likely to have access to electricity.

And the R stands for richer countries, which consume most resources per person almost three times as much as NEEs.

Our C is for central, we cheated a bit here and the E is for East and West Africa and South Asia, which is the regions that are home to the most people who face hunger.

That is undernutrition worldwide.

So well done if you managed to find something to fit with each of those letters and neatly summarising what we have learned today.

A bit of a challenge, wasn't it? Summary then, what have we been looking at? Food, water, and energy affect economic and social wellbeing and are fundamental to human development.

They're absolutely essential.

There are global inequalities in the supply and consumption of food, water, and energy resources.

Around 10% of people worldwide are affected by undernutrition.

That is between 730 and 780 million people.

Remember, the estimates vary.

There is overlap between regions in which many face hunger and those in which many lack safe water.

So access to safe water, improved water, and/or electricity.

Supply or lack of resources limits consumption in some locations as does poverty.

So we've looked at quite a number of things there at a global scale and I hope that's been a really useful introduction for you into the idea of global resources.

But I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Goodbye.