Geography Notes

Question 1: SPICESS Concepts

SPICESS stands for Space, Place, Interconnection, Change, Environment, Sustainability, and Scale. These concepts help us understand geography and how humans interact with the environment.

Space: The location of places and how they are arranged.
Place: Specific locations with unique features.
Interconnection: How different places are linked.
Change: How places and environments change over time.
Environment: Natural and human surroundings.
Sustainability: Using resources in a way that doesn't harm future generations.
Scale: The level at which we study something (local, regional, global).

Example: An image showing recycling bins represents sustainability because it shows efforts to manage waste and use resources responsibly.

Question 2: Key Concepts and Definitions

Spatial Distribution: This refers to how things are spread out across the Earth. For example, cities are often located near water sources for trade and resources.
Environmental Change: Changes in the natural environment due to various factors. Examples include deforestation (cutting down trees) and urbanization (building cities).
Types of Environmental Change:
- Land: Deforestation, urban sprawl.
- Atmosphere: Air pollution, climate change.
- Water: Water pollution, overfishing.
Human-Induced Environmental Change: Changes caused by human activities, such as pollution from factories or deforestation for agriculture.
Sustainability: Using resources in ways that meet our needs without harming future generations. Example: Solar panels provide renewable energy without depleting resources. The 3Ps are People, Planet, and Profit, ensuring a balance between social, environmental, and economic factors.
Environment: Everything around us, including natural and human-made elements.
Urban Environment of Perth Metro Area: Perth has a mix of modern infrastructure, beautiful beaches, parks like Kings Park, and a bustling CBD with skyscrapers and historic buildings.
Peri-Urban Zone (Rural-Urban Fringe): The area where the city meets the countryside, showing a mix of urban and rural characteristics.
Urban Settlement: A densely populated area with buildings and infrastructure, like cities and towns.
Urban Sprawl: The spread of a city into surrounding rural areas, leading to low-density, car-dependent development. It can cause habitat loss and increased pollution.

Question 3: Environment Classification

Environment: The surroundings in which people, plants, and animals live.
Classifying Environments: Environments can be natural (forests, oceans) or built (cities, towns). Urban environments are built-up areas with high population density and infrastructure, which can lead to environmental changes like increased pollution and habitat destruction.
Impacts of Urban Environments: Urban areas can cause environmental changes such as heat islands (cities being warmer than rural areas), pollution, and loss of green spaces due to urban sprawl.

Question 4: Human-Caused Environmental Changes

Two Environmental Changes:
- Urban Heat Islands: Cities are warmer than rural areas due to concrete and asphalt absorbing heat. Example: New York City.
- Resource Mining for Mobile Phones: Extracting minerals like coltan damages ecosystems and causes pollution. Example: Mining in the Congo.
Marine Dead Zone: Areas in oceans or lakes with very low oxygen levels, often caused by pollution, where marine life cannot survive.
Impact of Mining Resources for Mobile Phones: Mining causes deforestation, water pollution, and habitat destruction, making it unsustainable because it harms the environment and depletes resources needed for future generations.

Question 5: Sustainability

Sustainability: Meeting our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
Three Factors of Sustainability: People, Planet, and Profit. Example: Elizabeth Quay balances tourism (People), environmental protection (Planet), and economic benefits (Profit). Urban sprawl is not sustainable because it doesn't balance these factors, leading to more environmental and social issues.

Question 6: Key Terms and Concepts

Environment: Our surroundings, including natural and human-made elements.
Environmental Change: Changes in land, atmosphere, and water due to natural or human activities.
Sustainability: Using resources wisely to ensure future generations can meet their needs.
Ecological Footprint: The amount of land and resources needed to support a person's lifestyle.
Anthropogenic Emissions: Pollution released into the atmosphere due to human activities.
Biodiversity: The variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
Loss of Biodiversity: The decline in the number of species in a particular habitat.
Biodiversity Hotspot: A region with a high level of biodiversity that is under threat, like the Amazon rainforest.
Human-Induced Environmental Change: Changes in the environment caused by human actions.
Ecological Services: Benefits provided by ecosystems, like clean air and water.
Peri-Urban Zone: The area where urban and rural areas mix.
Urban Settlement: Densely populated areas with buildings and infrastructure.
Urban Sprawl: The spread of a city into surrounding areas.
Urban Infill: Developing empty or underused land within cities to reduce sprawl.
Liveability: The quality of life in an area based on factors like safety, amenities, and environment.
Push and Pull Factors: Reasons why people move from one place to another, like job opportunities (pull) or natural disasters (push).
Urbanisation: The process of people moving from rural areas to cities.
Megacity: A city with more than 10 million people, like Tokyo.

Question 7: Ecological Services

Ecological Services: Benefits provided by ecosystems, like clean air, water, pollination, and climate regulation.
Impact of Human-Induced Environmental Change: Human activities like deforestation and pollution can disrupt these services. Example: Deforestation in the Amazon reduces oxygen production and increases carbon dioxide levels.
Earths Needed for Resources: We currently need about 1.7 Earths to satisfy our demand for resources.

Question 8: Worldviews and Ecological Footprint

Worldview: A person's perspective on the world and their place in it.
Human-Centred vs. Stewardship Worldview:
- Human-Centred: Believes humans are the most important species and should use resources for their benefit.
- Stewardship: Believes humans should care for the environment and use resources responsibly.
Impact on Environmental Change:
- Human-Centred: Likely to lead to more environmental degradation.
- Stewardship: Aims to protect the environment and reduce impacts.
Indigenous Stewardship: Indigenous people often manage land sustainably through practices like controlled burning and conservation.
Ecological Footprint: Measures how much land and resources a person uses. Reducing it can involve using less water, recycling, and consuming less.

Question 9: Real Cost of Mobile Phones

Environmental Impacts: Mining for materials causes deforestation and pollution. Manufacturing and disposal contribute to electronic waste.
Social Impacts: Poor working conditions in mines and factories, especially in developing countries.

On March 11, 2011, at 2:46 p.m., a 9.1 magnitude earthquake, known as the Tohoku earthquake or the Great East Japan Earthquake, struck off the east coast of Japan. This disaster severely affected Japan and the globe. The main island of Honshu was the epicenter, and the earthquake's six-minute duration was unusually long. The resulting tsunami caused waves up to 40 meters high, leading to massive destruction. Over 15,000 people died, thousands were injured or missing, and about 470,000 people were rendered homeless and jobless as buildings, homes, and infrastructure were severely damaged, making it one of the most expensive disasters in history with an economic impact of approximately 25 trillion yen (230 billion USD).
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