Year 10 Geography: Environmental Change and Management & Wellbeing Revision

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, environmental worldviews, urban strategies, indicators, and climate change policies for Year 10 Geography exam revision.

TEEL Structure

A paragraph writing framework for extended responses consisting of Topic Sentence, Evidence, Explanation, and Link.

Environmental Sustainability

The responsible management of human interactions with the atmosphere, land, and water so natural ecosystems and resources are preserved for the future.

Ecological Footprint

A measure of human demand on Earth's ecosystems that compares resource consumption and waste generation against biocapacity.

Biocapacity

The capacity of a given biological area to regenerate renewable resources and absorb human-generated wastes.

Natural Greenhouse Effect

The natural atmospheric process by which gases trap heat, keeping the planet warm enough to sustain life.

Enhanced Greenhouse Effect

The intensified warming of Earth's atmosphere caused by elevated levels of greenhouse gases released through human activities.

Carbon Dioxide ($CO_2$)

A key greenhouse gas emitted through human activities that contributes significantly to enhanced atmospheric warming and climate change.

Methane ($CH_4$)

A potent greenhouse gas released through human practices that drives the enhanced greenhouse effect and global warming.

Nitrous Oxide ($N_2O$)

A greenhouse gas produced by human sources that traps atmospheric heat and contributes to global climate change.

Net Zero Emissions

A state in which total greenhouse gas emissions released by human activities are balanced by an equivalent amount removed from the atmosphere.

Environmental Worldview

The overarching philosophical lens or belief system through which people interpret nature and determine how humans should interact with and manage the environment.

Anthropocentric Worldview

A human-centred perspective that views nature primarily in terms of its utility and resource value to humankind.

Egocentric Worldview

A self-centred worldview that prioritises individual human benefits and personal gain over environmental or communal wellbeing.

Biocentric Worldview

A life-centred perspective that attributes intrinsic value to all living things regardless of their usefulness to human beings.

Ecocentric Worldview

An earth-centred worldview that places intrinsic value on entire ecosystems, including living organisms, land, water, and atmospheric systems.

Mosaic Burning (Cool Burning)

A traditional Indigenous Australian land management practice using controlled, low-intensity fires to maintain ecosystems and reduce climate change impacts.

Attenborough's Global Solutions

Strategies championed by David Attenborough to address environmental change, including shifting to renewable energy, rewilding natural spaces, and stabilising population growth.

Urban Heat Island Effect

A phenomenon where urban centres experience substantially warmer temperatures than surrounding non-urban areas due to human activity and heat-absorbing built structures.

Urban Infill

A sustainable urban planning method focused on redeveloping vacant or underused parcels within existing urban limits to curb outward expansion.

Green Infrastructure

A network of natural and semi-natural green spaces integrated into urban planning to combat environmental degradation and enhance community wellbeing.

Smart Water Management

Modern urban planning and engineering approaches designed to reduce water stress and build water-sensitive cities.

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled horizontal expansion of a city into surrounding rural and natural areas, contributing to habitat loss, water stress, and pollution.

Stormwater Runoff

Surface water from precipitation that flows across impermeable urban surfaces into drainage systems and waterways, threatening hydrosphere health.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A composite statistic that measures overall human wellbeing and global development by evaluating life expectancy, education, and income per capita.

Happy Planet Index (HPI)

An indicator that assesses sustainable wellbeing by evaluating how efficiently a country uses environmental resources to support long, happy lives.

Sustainable Society Index (SSI)

A comprehensive index that explicitly connects human wellbeing, economic development, and environmental health.

Montreal Protocol

An international environmental agreement designed to safeguard the atmosphere by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances.

Kyoto Protocol

An international treaty committing industrialized nations to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change.

Paris Agreement

A legally binding global treaty aimed at limiting global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.

Desertification

A process of land degradation in arid and semi-arid regions where productive biological dryland becomes increasingly barren and desert-like.

Soil Degradation

The decline in soil condition and productive capacity caused by unsustainable human land use, erosion, and deforestation.

Food Insecurity

A condition in which individuals or communities lack reliable physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food.