| environ. |
non-renewable resource A natural resource which, in terms of human time scales, is contained within the Earth in a fixed quantity and therefore can be used once only in the foreseeable future (although it may be recycled after its first use). This includes the fossil fuels and is extended to include mineral resources and sometimes ground water, although water and many minerals are renewed eventually (就人类历史时间尺度而言，地球中含有固定数量的自然资源，因此在可以预见的将来仅能被使用一次(尽管它可能在第一次使用后被再利用)。这包括化石燃料和扩展到包括矿产资源、有时也包括地下水，虽然水和一些矿物质最后将被更新。) |
