The natural environment

How humans can deal with earthquakes and volcanoes.

• Implementing early warning systems

• Creating evacuation plans for at-risk areas.

• Building structures that are resistant to seismic activity.

Factors that determine the strength of a volcano.

• The composition of the magma beneath the surface

• The amount of gas present in the magma

• The pressure within the volcano.

Major and minor plate boundaries and their examples.

• Major plates are larger and contribute a lot to the earth's plate movement while minor are smaller and don't contribute as much.

• Example of major

  • The Pacific Plate, North American Plate, Eurasian Plate, African Plate, South American Plate, and Antarctic Plate

• Example of minor

  • the Philippine Sea Plate, Arabian Plate, Caribbean Plate, Cocos Plate, Nazca Plate, and Scotia Plate.

The ring of fire.

• The Ring of Fire is a horseshoe-shaped zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity that encircles the Pacific Ocean basin.

Plate boundaries and their different locations, for example one located off

• the west coast of central America - is the ocean to ocean convergent plate boundaries.

• in the south Atlantic ocean - is the divergent plate boundary and is the reason why the Atlantic ocean is expanding.

• where the Arabian plate meets the Iranian plate - A convergent plate boundary because the Arabian plate is colliding with the Iranian plate.

Where in the world plate movement is very rapid, at least three different places.

• Plate movement is very rapid in places such as the East African Rift Valley, the Himalayas, and the Andes Mountains.

Rivers

Rivers are natural watercourses that flow towards an ocean, sea, lake, or another river.

Chanel Shape

• Channel shape refers to the form of a river's bed and banks. It can be straight, meandering, braided, or even in a loop pattern.

Advantages and disadvantages of rivers

• Advantages of rivers - source of water for drinking, irrigation, and transportation. 

• Disadvantages - Pollution(Can affect ecosystem), flooding and erosion. 

Drainage basins

are the areas of land that are drained by a river and its tributaries.

Tributaries

are smaller rivers or streams that flow into a larger river. 

Deltas

are landforms created at the mouth of a river where sediment is deposited, often in a triangular shape. 

Confluence

is the point where two rivers meet. 

Whatsheds

are areas of land that feed water into a specific river or lake.

Interceptions

is the process of water being caught by vegetation before reaching the ground.

Infiltration

is when water passes into the soil or porous rock. 

Precipitation

is any form of water falling from the sky, such as rain or snow. 

Transpiration

Transpiration is the process by which water is lost from plants through evaporation. 

Evapotranspiration

is the combination of evaporation from the soil and transpiration from plants. 

Understand the opportunities and constraints of living in the niger delta

• Opportunities: Rich oil and gas reserves, fertile agricultural land, fishing industry.

• Constraints: Flooding, pollution from oil spills, degradation of natural habitats.

What economic activity takes place in the Niger delta and its negative effects on the natural environment.

• Oil and gas extraction, agriculture, fishing, and forestry. 

• The negative effects on the natural environment include pollution, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity.

Coral reefs and conditions under which they grow. 

• Coral reefs are underwater ecosystems made up of colonies of tiny animals.

• Coral reefs grow in warm, clear, shallow water and require sunlight for photosynthesis by the algae living within the coral.

The fringing and barrier reef, atolls and how they are formed 

Fringing reefs grow close to the shore, barrier reefs are further offshore, and atolls are circular coral formations surrounding a lagoon.

Threats to coral reefs and finally values.

• Threats - climate change, ocean acidification, pollution, overfishing, and destructive fishing practices. 

• Values of coral reefs - Tourism, Recreation industries, Providing habitat for marine life, Protecting coastlines from erosion

Weather and climate

Weather is the short-term changes within the atmosphere, while climate is the state of the atmosphere that changes over a long time.

Factors that determine climate of a region

• Latitude

• Altitude

• proximity to bodies of water

• prevailing winds

• Ocean currents.

Human activities that can either positively or negatively affect the climate.

• Positively - reforestation, renewable energy sources, and sustainable land use practices

• Negatively - deforestation, burning fossil fuels, industrial activities, and the release of greenhouse gases.

Weather instruments

• A Stevenson screen is a type of shelter used to protect weather instruments from direct sunlight, precipitation, and other environmental factors to ensure accurate measurements. 

• It is typically made of a white wooden box with louvered sides to allow air circulation while blocking direct sunlight.

six’s thermometer and what it measures

Six’s thermometers measure the maximum and minimum temperature reached over a long period of time, and it was invented by James Six.

Wind

• speed of wind - anemometer

• direction of wind -wind vane

Characteristics of tropical rainforests ecosystems

• High biodiversity

• dense vegetation

• high humidity

• consistent temperatures.

Characteristics of hot desert ecosystems 

• Sparse vegetation

• extreme temperatures

• low humidity

• limited precipitation.

Features of equatorial and hot desert climate.

• equatorial climate: 

  Consistent high temperatures

  high humidity

  abundant rainfall throughout the year. 

• Hot desert climate 

  extreme temperatures 

  very little rainfall 

  wide temperature fluctuations between day and night.

Deforestation

• The clearing of forests for agricultural, industrial, or urban development purposes.

Causes and Impact

• Causes

  Land for farming

  Land for mining

  For selling purposes,

  urbanization. 

• Impacts

  It leads to loss of biodiversity

  Disruption of ecosystems

  soil erosion

  changes in the climate.

Biodiversity

Refers to variety of life on Earth

Why it's important to have deserts covered with trees.

• Trees in deserts provide shade

• Reduce soil erosion

• Support diverse plant and animal life. 

• Provide food,medicine, and wood for shelter for the indigenous communities living in the deserts 

Four major interest groups in the forests and why.

• Environmentalists - advocates for conservation

• Indigenous communities - preservers of traditional knowledge and custodians of forests

• The logging industry - exploiters of forest resources for profit

• Scientists - studying biodiversity

Desert adaptation by both plants and animals.

• Plants conserve water through small leaves, deep roots, and waxy coatings.

• Animals have adapted by being nocturnal, burrowing underground, and having water-efficient metabolism.

The impact of human activities on desert ecosystems

• Lead to soil degradation

• Loss of biodiversity

• Desertification.

• Habitat destruction

Challenges of living in the desert.

• Scarcity of water

• extreme temperatures

• lack of vegetation for food and shelter

• limited access to resources

Why the Sahara desert is expanding southwards with time what would be the likely the potential impacts

• The expansion of the Sahara desert southwards is primarily attributed to climate change and human activities such as overgrazing, deforestation, and unsustainable agricultural practices. 

• Potential impacts 

  Agriculture

  Biodiversity loss

  Human migration