Year 9 Global Perspectives End-of-Year Revision Flashcards

International organizations formed in the $20\text{th}$ century to address global challenges:

Conflicts: Over $50$ large-scale wars caused massive losses.
Poverty: Wealth remains uneven; Europe and America held $-30\%$ of the population but $-80\%$ of global wealth.
Environment: Population growth from $1.6\,\text{billion}$ to $8\,\text{billion}$ increased industrialization and warming.
Health: Faster transport led to the spread of pandemics like Ebola and AIDS.

Organization tiers include Global (UN), Regional (ASEAN, EU), and Non-Governmental (Red Cross, Oxfam).

Established after WWI to ensure collective security. Promoted by figures including Jan Smuts, Lloyd George, and Woodrow Wilson.

HQ: Geneva, Switzerland.
Structure: Secretariat, Assembly (unanimous decisions), and Council (veto power for permanent members).
Power Progression: Moral condemnation $\rightarrow$ Economic sanctions $\rightarrow$ Military intervention.
$1920\text{s}$ Successes: Aland Islands ( $1921$ ), Mosul ( $1924$ ), and Bulgaria vs Greece ( $1925$ ).
$1930\text{s}$ Failures: Mukden Incident ( $1931$ ), Abyssinia Crisis ( $1935$ ), and the failure of the Disarmament Conference ( $1932$ - $34$ ). It was ultimately replaced by the UN due to its inability to prevent WWII.

Founded on $24\,\text{October}\,1945$ in New York City to maintain peace and human rights.

Organs: General Assembly, Security Council, ICJ, Secretariat, ECOSOC, Trusteeship Council.
Security Council: $15$ members; $5$ permanent (P5) with veto power: USA, Russia, China, UK, France.
Thematic Performance: * Peace: $48$ operations conducted; Nobel Peace Prize awarded. Hampered by P5 vetoes (e.g., South African apartheid). * Poverty: Specialized agencies like IMF, World Bank, and FAO improve output/stability. The $0.7\%$ GDP aid target is rarely met. * Health: WHO eradicated Smallpox in $1980$ . Problems persist regarding drug affordability and basic service gaps. * Environment: UNEP founded ( $1972$ ); Paris Agreement ( $2015$ ) set voluntary warming targets.

Weather: Short-term air conditions.
Climate: Average weather over many years.
Key Elements: Air temperature ( $^∘C$ / $^∘F$ ), precipitation ( $mm$ ), wind speed ( $m/s$ ), relative humidity ( $\%$ ), air pressure ( $hPa$ ), and sunshine duration ( $\text{hours}$ ).
Patterns: Temperatures decrease at higher latitudes due to lower insolation angles. Precipitation is higher at the equator (low pressure) and lower at poles (high pressure).

Global temperatures have risen sharply since $1900$ , accelerating since the $1970\text{s}$ .

Greenhouse Effect: $CO_2$ , methane, and water vapor trap re-emitted infrared radiation.
Human Drivers: Burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and intensive agriculture.
Impacts: * Environmental: Sea-level rise, melting glaciers, and ocean acidification. * Social: Climate refugees (e.g., Maldives) and food/water shortages. * Economic: Agricultural damage and recovery costs.
Tackling the Problem: * Mitigation: Reducing causes (renewable energy, afforestation). * Adaptation: Coping with effects (sea walls, drought-resistant crops). * Treaties: Kyoto Protocol ( $1997$ ) offered binding targets for developed nations; Paris Agreement ( $2015$ ) involves all countries via voluntary contributions to stay below $2\,^∘C$ .

Multiple-Choice Practice Highlights:

Short Structured Questions:

Essay Practice Themes:

International Cooperation: Comparing the League and UN successes; assessing the impact of the P5 veto vs. unanimous voting.
Climate Change Fairness: Debate on whether developed nations (historically responsible) should pay more than developing nations (current high emitters).