GCSE Geography: AQA Case Study Collection Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, processes, and specific data points from the GCSE Geography AQA Case Study Collection, including natural hazards and environmental management.

Pollarding

The removal of the top branches of a tree to get new growth of denser branches and leaves, usually to increase the supply of wood; this practice was stopped in Epping Forest by the Epping Forest Act ($1878$).

Liquefaction

A process occurring during earthquakes, such as in Christchurch ($2011$), where the shaking ground causes water, and often mud or dirt, to rise to the surface.

Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW)

An atmospheric event that weakened the polar vortex and caused freezing air from Siberia to move westwards into Europe, leading to the Beast from the East in $2018$.

Agro-forestry

A sustainable management technique used in tropical rainforests that involves growing trees and crops at the same time to help prevent soil erosion.

Multiplier effect

An economic process where one activity, such as tourism in Svalbard, creates many additional development opportunities and jobs for local people.

Secondary effects

Indirect consequences of a natural hazard, such as the estimated economic losses of $35\times10^0$ percent of GDP or the triggering of an avalanche on Mount Everest following the Nepal earthquake.

Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

A biological designation given to $70\times10^0$ per cent of Epping Forest's area just under $2500\,\text{ha}$ to protect its biological interests.

Ecotourism

Tourism that promotes the environment and conservation goals, exemplified by the Yachana Lodge resort in the Amazon tropical rainforest.

Permafrost

Permanently frozen ground in cold environments that can be damaged by heat from buried water pipes or the hot oil transported in the Trans-Alaskan pipeline.

Deforestation

The large-scale cutting down of trees, caused in the Amazon by logging, mineral extraction, and commercial farming for beef exports.

Confluence

The meeting point of two rivers, such as the location of Cockermouth, which makes the town susceptible to flooding when water levels rise.

Selective logging

A sustainable management strategy in rainforests where trees are only felled once they have reached a particular height.

Rip wrap

A coastal defense scheme, such as the $100\,\text{m}$ Craig Walk wall at Walton on the Naze, which cost $\text{\pounds}1.3\,\text{M}$ to protect the Naze tower.

Antarctic treaty

A global agreement signed in $1959$ to protect the natural environment, preserve the area for scientific research, and keep tourism disturbance to a minimum.

Primary responses

Immediate actions following a disaster, such as the Nepalese army mobilising $90\times10^0$ percent of its soldiers or the UK providing $30\,\text{tonnes}$ of humanitarian aid to Nepal.