Welcome to the Geography Exploration Class! Today, we'll explorenatural resources. They are nature's generous gifts to humanity—a 'big package'—forming the material foundation of civilization. Yet not everything in nature can be called a 'resource'.

To enter the hall of natural resources, you must hold two tickets:

• natural attribute: It must be a substance or energy directly derived from nature.
• economic attribute: Under current technological conditions, it must be capable of creating value for humanity.

Technology is the catalyst of understanding

The scope of natural resources is not a rigid dogma—it expands withtechnological advancementcontinuously. Take sunlight as an example:

• In ancient times, it was merely a background source of warmth.
• In agrarian civilizations, it powered photosynthesis.
• In modern civilization, through photovoltaic technology, it has become a continuous source of electricity.

In the future, phenomena once considered 'natural disasters'—like lightning or deep-sea pressure—may also become new types of natural resources through the magic wand of technology.