Which of the following environmental resources is non-renewable?

Step 1: Analyze the question We are asked to find the resource that is non-renewable, meaning it cannot be replaced naturally within a human lifetime once used up.

Step 2: Key concept

• Renewable resources are replenished naturally in a short time. Examples are water, rain, oxygen, sunlight, wind and forests (when managed well).
• Non-renewable resources are formed over millions of years and are used faster than they can form. Examples are crude oil, coal, natural gas and minerals such as iron ore, tin and limestone.

Step 3: Check each option

• A. Rain: Renewable. The water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation) keeps producing it.
• B. Minerals: Non-renewable. Minerals take millions of years to form in the earth's crust. Once mined, they are not replaced within human time, so they are finite. Nigeria's tin on the Jos Plateau, columbite and limestone are examples.
• C. Water: Renewable through the water cycle.
• D. Oxygen: Renewable. Plants constantly replace it through photosynthesis.

Step 4: Answer The non-renewable resource is Minerals, which is option B.

Exam tip: Ask yourself, "Does nature replace it quickly?" If yes, it is renewable (rain, water, oxygen, wind, sunlight). If it took millions of years to form (minerals, coal, petroleum), it is non-renewable. A quick memory trick: "Mined or drilled = non-renewable."