Junior Cycle Geography: Energy, Population, Migration, Tourism, and Natural Resources

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering energy production, migration, demographic indicators, transport, tourism, economic sectors, forestry, fishing, and natural resource sustainability based on the lecture notes.

Carbon-Free Production

Energy production in which the amount of carbon released is zero.

Carbon-Neutral Energy Production

Energy production occurring when countries produce energy that does not release carbon into the atmosphere, offsetting any released carbon by planting more trees and using more renewables.

Carbon-Negative Energy Production

Energy production where more carbon is captured than produced, such as in Bhutan through heavy investment in forests.

Carbon Sink

Environments that absorb and store carbon, such as trees, plants, and oceans.

Decarbonisation

The removal or reduction of carbon dioxide output in our atmosphere.

Building Energy Rating (BER)

A rating given to buildings based on how energy efficient and well insulated they are, where a high BER corresponds to low energy bills.

Data Centre

A building where the processing, distribution, and storage of digital data takes place, which in Ireland requires a lot of energy and has a higher consumption than all Irish households combined.

Electric Vehicles

Vehicles that run on batteries powered by electricity as opposed to fossil fuels such as petrol or diesel.

EirGrid

The organization that manages Ireland's electricity grid every minute of the day, moving electricity from generators to ESB Networks and planning for future energy needs.

Celtic Interconnector Project

An undersea electricity connection from Ireland to France that aims to secure sustainable and renewable energy, promote solar electricity, reduce costs, and move toward a low-carbon energy future.

Heat Pump

A device that circulates air around the home by taking cool air from outside and warm air out of the house in summer, and the opposite in winter.

Renewable Energy

Energy generated from resources that can be replaced and replenished over time and will not run out, often referred to as green energy.

Non-Renewable Energy

Energy generated from resources that are not replaced over time and cannot be reused, which usually need to be heated or burned and release harmful gases contributing to global warming.

Natural Resources

Resources that exist without human interaction, which humans exploit for benefit such as heating homes, lighting homes, and transporting goods and people.

Matter

Anything that has mass and takes up space.

Brain Drain

The term used to describe the departure of many skilled workers from a country.

Individual Migration

Migration referring to a person who has decided to move by personal choice, such as a student deciding to attend college.

Forced Migration

Migration referring to a person or people who are forced from their homes and have no choice in the matter.

Barriers to Migration

Reasons that prevent people from migrating, encompassing formal barriers (such as visa requirements, age restrictions, and health insurance) and less formal barriers (such as language barriers, discrimination, and adapting to a new lifestyle).

Push Factor

A negative condition or factor that drives people to leave their home country, such as the lack of jobs during the $2008$ and $2009$ recession in Ireland.

Pull Factor

A positive condition or factor that attracts people to move to a particular country, such as the availability of jobs in Canada.

Dependant

A person who relies on people in the working age group for support and care.

Progressive Population Pyramid

A triangular-shaped population pyramid characteristic of a younger, growing population.

Regressive Population Pyramid

A population pyramid that is top-heavy, often displaying an upside-down triangular shape.

Stationary Population Pyramid

A population pyramid that is evenly shaped across age categories.

Child Mortality

The death rate of children between birth and $5\text{ years}$ of age.

Globalisation

A term that describes how the world has become interconnected.

Population Pyramid

An easy-to-read diagram that shows the sex and age breakdown of a population, used by governments to plan for future infrastructure and services.

Food Security

The measure of a population's ability to access food.

Food Insecurity

The lack in quantity, affordability, and nutritional content of food.

Natural Increase / Decrease

The change in population calculated by subtracting a country's death rate from its birth rate ($\text{Birth rate} - \text{death rate}$).

Population Distribution

The way people are spaced across a specific geographic area.

Population Density

The average number of people living per $\text{km}^2$, calculated as $\frac{\text{Total population}}{\text{Total area}}$.

Megacity

A city with more than $10\text{ million}$ inhabitants, such as Tokyo.

Demography

The study of human population.

Life Expectancy

The average age that a person is expected to live to.

Census

An official survey that counts and records the amount of people living in a country to assist the government in planning ahead and investing.

Birth Rate

The number of live births per thousand population in any given year, calculated as $\frac{\text{Live births}}{\text{Total population}} \times 1{,}000$.

Death Rate

The number of recorded deaths per thousand population in any given year, calculated as $\frac{\text{Recorded deaths}}{\text{Total population}} \times 1{,}000$.

The Wild Atlantic Way

Ireland's first long-distance touring route stretching $2{,}500\text{ km}$ along the Atlantic Coast from Donegal to West Cork.

Motorways

Road networks that provide the quickest and most direct route through the physical landscape.

National Primary Roads

Dual carriageways or main roads connecting towns and cities.

National Secondary Roads

Narrower roads connecting areas that do not bypass towns and villages.

Tertiary Economic Activities

Activities that provide services to communities, also known as the service sector (e.g., tourism and transport), representing the largest employing sector in the Irish economy.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of all goods and services made in an economy in a year, minus the cost of making them.

Mass Tourism

Large-scale organized tourism to popular holiday destinations.

Ecotourism

Tourism that prioritizes reducing its environmental footprint through responsible practices such as reducing waste, using sustainable transportation, and avoiding harm to wildlife.

Capital

The money and financial resources needed by a company to cover operational costs such as building a factory, transport, purchasing raw materials, and paying workers.

Corporation Tax

A government-collected tax on a company's profits, which in Ireland is set at $12.5\%$, the lowest rate in the European Union (EU).

Footloose Industries

Industries that are not tied to any particular location and can relocate with ease, often choosing locations where costs are low.

Multinational Corporation (MNC)

A company that manages business operations and facilities in multiple countries, such as Apple.

Cash Crops

Agricultural crops planted on a large scale and exported internationally for profit, such as coffee, soybeans, and cotton.

Irish Conservation Box

A protected fishing area established in $2003$ off the south-west coast of Ireland to protect young fish populations from overfishing.

Coillte

The semi-state company set up in $1989$ to manage the reforestation of Ireland, where only $12\%$ of land is forested compared to the EU average of $30\%$.

Monoculture

The agricultural practice of farming the same single crop over and over again in the same area.

Water Scarcity

The lack of availability of freshwater to meet demand, caused by overuse, climate change, and increasing temperatures that lead to droughts.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A list of $17$ global priorities for action established to improve peace, equality, and the environment of our planet.

Fish Stock

Populations of fish that humans exploit for food.

Overfishing

The practice of taking too many fish from the ocean, leading to declining fish populations because the fish do not have a chance to repopulate.

Acid Rain

Acidic precipitation caused by air pollution from burning fossil fuels that poisons soil, plants, and rivers, alters water pH, and dissolves limestone or marble buildings through carbonation.

Exploitation

The overuse and extraction of benefits from natural resources.

Extraction

The physical removal of natural resources from the ground, sea, or air, such as through mining or drilling.

Sustainability

The use of resources in such a way that they meet the needs of people today, without affecting the ability of future generations to meet their needs too.

Podzols

Soil types with high water content that are more suited to vegetation planting.

Brown Soils

Soil types that possess a good structure and water content, making them the best type of soil for pastoral, arable, and mixed farming.