9 Geography

What is sustainability?

Meeting our needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs, such as protecting water and food sources.

What causes coral bleaching?

Rising water temperatures and pollutants, which destroy marine habitats and affect tourism.

What are the impacts of deforestation?

It destroys native animals' habitats, reduces oxygen supply, and can lead to less life being supported.

How does air pollution affect human health and the economy?

It causes disease in humans and negatively impacts the local tourism industry.

What are the consequences of unsustainable fishing?

It leads to endangered and extinct fish species, impacting marine biodiversity and future fishing economies.

What are the four components of the biosphere?

Lithosphere (solid earth), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (gases), and biosphere (life).

What is the difference between an organism, population, community, and ecosystem?

An organism is an individual, a population is a group of individuals of one species, a community is all populations in an area, and an ecosystem includes a community and its non-living environment.

What defines a biome?

A complex biotic community characterized by fauna/flora and maintained under climatic conditions, influenced by latitude.

What are the characteristics of the tundra biome?

Cold, treeless with permafrost soil, temperatures ranging from -40°C to -18°C, and 150mm-250mm of precipitation.

What is an example of a plant and animal from the tundra biome, including one adaptation?

Arctic fox (short legs/ears for insulation) and arctic willow (shallow root system).

What are the key features of the savanna biome?

Grassland with individual trees, temperatures between 20°C-30°C, and 250mm-500mm of rainfall.

What is an example of a plant and animal from the savanna biome, including one adaptation?

Giraffe (long neck for food) and Bermuda grass (go long without water).

Describe the grassland biome.

Open areas of flat grass, temperatures from -20°C to 30°C, and 500mm-900mm of rainfall.

What is an example of a plant and animal from the grassland biome, including one adaptation?

Bison (digestive system for grass) and galleta (low rainfall).

What defines a desert biome?

Dry regions with little rain (less than 250mm), temperatures ranging from -4°C to 38°C.

What is an example of a plant and animal from the desert biome, including one adaptation?

Meerkat (dark patches around eyes) and eastern prickly pear (reduced leaves).

What are the characteristics of the rainforest biome?

Areas with tall trees and high rainfall (2000mm-10000mm), temperatures between 20°C-25°C.

What is an example of a plant and animal from the rainforest biome, including one adaptation?

Jaguars (muscle to climb trees) and rubber trees (dark leaves).

What is unique about the coniferous forest biome?

It consists of conifer trees, experiences temperature swings from -40°C to 20°C, and has 300mm-900mm of precipitation.

What is an example of a plant and animal from the coniferous forest biome, including one adaptation?

Grizzly bear (protective fat layer) and pine trees (deep roots).

How have humans altered biomes for food production?

Over half of the world's habitable land has been converted into farmland, impacting the environment.

What are the key characteristics of land alteration?

Land alteration shapes land and hillsides for roads and urban development.

What are the effects of grassland conversion?

Native grasses are replaced with crops, affecting local ecosystems.

What is water diversion in agriculture?

Diverting water streams to irrigate crops and pastures, often using deep aquifers.

What are some sources of water pollution from farming?

Bare soil erosion, fertilizers causing algal blooms, and pesticides poisoning wildlife.

What is centre-pivot technology?

Centre-pivot technology is a method of irrigation that utilises rotating sprinklers to provide water to crops, increasing efficiency of water delivery, usage and labour.

What is soil degradation?

The deterioration of soil quality affecting 2 billion hectares due to deforestation, over-farming, and poor irrigation.

How has the Russia/Ukraine war affected wheat production?

It blocked essential wheat growing areas, affecting supply and prices, prompting countries like Senegal to grow their own.

Where is most wheat grown in Australia?

Primarily in Western Australia and New South Wales.

What are the optimal conditions for wheat growth?

Wheat requires optimal conditions, such as temperatures around 23°C.

What are the growing regions for wheat in Australia?

North growing region is in central/southern QLD and northern NSW; south growing region is in central NSW to VIC, TAS, WA, and SA.

What is food security, and how does it differ from food insecurity?

Food security is when everyone, at all times, has physical, economic and social access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet dietary needs and preferences for a healthy life. Food insecurity is when this is not met.

What is food security determined by?

Availability (reliable source of quality food), access (sufficient resources to produce/purchase food), utilisation (people have knowledge & sanitary conditions for nutritious food), and stability (utilise stable quantities of food for a long time).

What are some factors in food security?

Climate change, scarcity of farming land, water supply, technology, poverty, diseases in crops and cattle, and politics.

What is a food system?

Interconnected components and processes that feed people.

What is production in a food system?

Growing crops, raising livestock and harvesting wild foods.

What is processing in a food system?

Cleaning, packaging, and transforming raw materials into food products.

What is distribution in a food system?

Transporting food from producers to consumers.

What is marketing in a food system?

Advertising, branding and selling food products.

What is consumption in a food system?

Preparing, purchasing and eating food.

What is disposal in a food system?

Handling leftover food and waste.

What is an ecological footprint?

Determines the impact of humans on the environment through measuring the amount of land required to sustain the use of natural resources available.

What is the biocapacity of a region?

Ability to support live and accommodate a population's ecological footprint.

What is a positive biocapacity reserve?

Biocapacity exceeds ecological footprint.

What is a negative biocapacity reserve?

Ecological footprint exceeds biocapacity.

What is the aim of the Ecological Footprint Initiative?

To make ecological footprint a standard-decision making tool for investments to ensure ecological sustainability.

What are population pyramids?

A bar graph that represents the distribution of population by age and sex.

What could be inferred by a population pyramid with a decreasing number of individuals when going down the graph?

That the population is going to decrease.

What could be inferred by a population pyramid with a steady number of people when going down the graph?

The population will remain steady.

What could be inferred by a population pyramid with an increasing number of individuals when going down the graph?

The population is going to increase.

Urbanisation

A population shift from rural to urban areas, and occurs due to a number of push and pull factors.

Liveability

Liveability refers to the characteristics of a place that makes it suitable and desirable for living.

Economic Advantage

A position or capability that allows someone to outperform in a particular market.

Population Distribution

Refers to how people are spread across a geographical area.

Population

All of the inhabitants of a defined area.

Migration

Movement of people to a new area or country in order to find work or better living conditions.

Refugee

A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.

Asylum Seeker

A person who has left their home country as a refugee and is seeking asylum in another.

Cultural Integration

The process of blending and harmonising different cultural perspectives, practises, and values within an organization or community.

Urban Sprawl

Urban sprawl is the uncontrolled expansion of urban areas, typically characterised by low-density development.

Population Density

Population density refers to a measure of the number of species, typically humans, within an area, usually expressed as the number of people per unit of area.

Sea Change/Tree Change

A complete and radical transformation from city living to a rural country setting.

Ecological Footprint

Measures human demand on natural capital, the quantity of nature it takes to support people and their economies.

Pull Factors

Reasons why people choose to move to a specific new location, for example employment, job variety, higher incomes, and education.

Mega City

A cityscape with at least 10 million people.

Push Factors

The reasons that people may choose to leave a place, for example unemployment, droughts, rural poverty, and conflict.

Urban Growth

The increase in the physical size of a city or urban area, and/or the increase in the number of people living in that area.

Spatial Distribution

The arrangement or pattern of phenomena, objects, activities, or population across the Earth's surface or in a given space.

Demographic Characteristics

Measurable statistics that describe the key attributes of a population group, such as age, gender, income, education and location.