Year 9 Geography: Sustainable Biomes and Changing Places

Vocabulary flashcards covering Year 9 Geography topics on Sustainable Biomes, agricultural modifications, urbanisation, Barangaroo urban renewal, gentrification, and sustainability benchmarks.

Biomes

Large ecological areas that have similar flora and fauna that have adapted to local environmental conditions.

Climatic zones

Broad regions defined by similar temperature, rainfall, and vegetation patterns, driven by latitude, solar radiation, and ocean currents.

Ecosystems

Systems that consist of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact, with many existing within a single biome.

Orographic rainfall

Precipitation produced when mountain landforms block rain and moisture-carrying winds from reaching inland areas, causing rain to fall on the windward side.

Rain shadow

A dry desert region formed on the leeward side of a mountain range where moisture and rainfall have been blocked.

Subsistence farming

An agricultural practice where farmers grow crops and raise livestock primarily to feed themselves and their families, not to make a profit.

Commercial farming

A large-scale agricultural business focused on producing crops and livestock for market profit.

Terracing

A farming alteration that changes natural drainage and leaves the land highly susceptible to erosion.

Monoculture

An agricultural system that leads to the loss of soil structure and fertility, making crops highly vulnerable to disease.

Food security

A condition that exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (World Food Summit, $1996$).

Urbanisation

The internal migration of people from rural to urban areas driven by push and pull factors.

Suburbanisation

An urban management strategy that involves creating more land on the outskirts of cities for new suburbs.

Decentralisation

An urban planning strategy that encourages the growth of regional and suburban areas by relocating opportunities there.

Urban renewal

Land redevelopment carried out in areas of urban decay to provide additional housing, office space, retail, and green space.

Urban consolidation

A specific form of urban renewal focused on increasing population density in areas that are already supported by infrastructure.

Economic migration

A category of migration where individuals move specifically to find work.

Social migration

A category of migration where people move to attain a better quality of life or to be closer to family and friends.

Political migration

A category of migration where individuals relocate to escape political persecution or war.

Gadigal people

The Indigenous group who historically used the Barangaroo precinct for fishing and hunting.

Barangaroo

Sydney's largest urban renewal project since the $2000$ Olympics, featuring mixed-use development as Australia's first large-scale carbon-neutral precinct with $80\%$ of waste reused, recycled, or repurposed.

Gentrification

The process of neighbourhood regeneration by relatively affluent newcomers, who displace lower-income groups and invest substantially in improving deteriorated properties.

Millers Point

A historic, low-income working-class enclave near the Sydney CBD where over $200$ public houses were sold, displacing $600$ tenants to create a high-income area.

Urban heat island effect

A phenomenon wherein urban environments absorb and trap more heat than natural environments, leading building materials and surfaces to reach up to $10\text{–}20^\circ\text{C}$ warmer than surrounding air temperatures.

Carbon neutrality

A sustainability benchmark achieved by reducing and offsetting all energy used on a site through initiatives like renewable electricity, rooftop solar panels, and energy-efficient air conditioning.

Water positive

A sustainability benchmark achieved when a precinct recycles and exports more water than it imports, such as by sewer mining or reusing rainwater for irrigation.

Zero waste emissions

A sustainability benchmark focused on responsibly managing waste, diverting items from landfills, and eliminating emissions through methods like maggot farms for processing food scraps.