Geography

 GEOGRAPHY

UNIT 1

Section A - The Challenge Of Natural Hazards

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1 - Natural hazards:

• A natural hazard - is an extreme natural event that causes disruption to human activity.

• Why do people live there? - People live in hazardous areas because of: poverty, lack of knowledge, farming, scenery, family + friends.

2 - Tectonic Hazards:

• Earthquakes occur along plate margins.

• Plates move because of heat within the earth. 

There are 3 types of plate margin:

• Constructive - plates are moving apart + new crust is formed from the rising magma in the gap (wide, flat volcanoes)

• Destructive - plates move towards each other. If it is one continental plate (less dense) + one oceanic plate (more dense), the oceanic plate will go under the continental one + magma magma rising will violently cause steep volcanoes. If both are continental, they push up and form mountains (eg. himalayas)

• Conservative - plates are moving past each other (only makes earthquakes).

Prevention methods:

• Monitoring - using scientific equipment to detect warning signs of natural hazards so that people can get earlier warnings and prepare better for the event.

• Prediction -  using historical evidence + monitoring to predict when + where the tectonic hazard event will happen. Allows time to plan.

• Protection - designing buildings to withstand tectonic hazards eg) shock absorbers or reinforced windows. 

• Planning -  educating people eg) evacuation drills, gathering in specific areas to stay safe from collapsing buildings.

3 - Weather Hazards:

• Air rises = low pressure on the ground

• Air sinks = high pressure on the ground

• Ferrel cell is fueled by the hadley and polar and basically just connects the two. 

• Air rises when its warm (close to the sun eg. near the equator) + sinks when its cool (eg. far from the sun in the north or south or high up in the atmosphere.

• Trade winds go from high to low pressure (Polar cell is moved across the surface like this)

• The Somerset levels - SW England, river tane + parrot, caused by low pressure in the atlantic ocean which brought loads of rain (350mm), high tide flooded from the bristol channel as it hadn't been dredged for 20 years.

4 - Climate Change:

• Mitigation - tackling the causes + minimising the possible impacts or root causes.

• Adapting - how to deal/live with something + reduce its negative effects

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Section B - The living World

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5 - Ecosystems

• Ecosystem -  a natural system made of biotic and abiotic components

• Biotic -  the living features of and ecosystem (animals, plants)

• Abiotic -  the non living components of an ecosystem (rivers, rocks, ponds)

• Producer - Living organisms that convert energy from sunlight into sugars (plants)

• Consumer - living organisms that consume other organisms for energy.

• Decomposer - living organisms that break down plant and animal matter 

• Food Chain - the direct links between living organisms, showing consumption.

• Food web - complex links between producers + consumers showing all connections

• Nutrients - Ongoing recycling of nutrients between living organisms and their environments.

• Examples of a small scale ecosystem include ponds (insects, pond plants, water), Hedges/bushes (insects, plants, bugs) and woodland (larger animals, insects, trees and plants)

The Nutrient Cycle:

This is the nutrient cycle. It represents the natural cycling of how nutrients move through an ecosystem. Food chains and food webs fit into the biomass store along with plants and any other living thing. The litter store is things that fall off plants or dead plants (eg leaves). The soil also contains nutrients from broken down sediment. The main things are the nutrient stores and then paths between them are the nutrient cycles.

 Impacts of change on ecosystems:

• Global scale changes -  climate change, world wars, viruses.

• Local scale changes -  changes to habitat eg) when a hedge is removed, deforestation, change of environment

Most natural changes happen at a slow rate giving the ecosystem time to adapt, however, some eg) drought or heat waves can cause massive issues because they happen so rapidly. We also get some human caused changes eg) fertilisers could run off into water and kill animals or create more plants than should be there which causes imbalance, Some hedges and trees are cut down to make space for agriculture which causes damage and kills animals or habitats.

Global Ecosystems:

Global atmospheric circulation is the main factor affecting the distribution of global ecosystems as it affects the weather and what grows there. 

Because of low and high pressure belts formed by the types of air cells, climate can vary from deserts caused by high pressure belts where sinking air stops clouds forming and create hot, dry conditions to wet and warm in tropical rainforests where low pressure at equator mean high temperature and lots of rain from clouds.

6 - Tropical Rainforests

Inside tropical rainforests are a large amount of Biodiversity. These are the many various different species of birds, plants and animals that live there.

The different layers of a tropical rainforest mean different levels of sunlight reach different plants. Some have a lot of competition but others do not anymore. This causes lots of adaptations that have to happen in order for the plants to survive. The tropical rainforest climate is consistently warm (20-30°C) and very humid. It receives heavy rainfall, often over 2000 mm annually. Humidity levels are high, usually between 77% and 88%.

CASE STUDY : Deforestation in Malaysia

• Malaysia is near the equator in the tropic of Cancer. Its in south east asia in the pacific ocean and is south of Thailand and North of Indonesia

• Rainforests are found in Malaysia because the climate is low pressure in the tropics meaning lots of rain and hot conditions. This makes it ideal for biodiversity.

Threats to malaysia's rainforests:

• Logging (large exporter of tropical wood, lots of deforestation)

• Road building (provide access to new mining areas + settlements, transport)

• Energy development (Bakun dam supplies energy, flooded 700km² of farmland)

• Mineral extraction (forest has to be cleared for equipment)

• population (settlers clear forest to live there because not enough space in the city)

• Subsistence farming (slash and burn leaves the nutrients so it is sustainable)

• Commercial Farming (palm oil, soya, means land used cannot grow anything else ever again)

Impacts of deforestation in malaysia:

• Soil erosion (roots + plants bind soil together)

• Loss of biodiversity (less plants + habitats destroyed)

• Climate change (release CO2 + transpiration means hotter climate)

Reasons for Protecting Rainforests:

1. Water - they are important sources of freshwater 

2. Medicine -  lots of medicinal plants

3. Climate - 28% of the worlds oxygen 

4. Energy - hydroelectric power systems

5. Biodiversity- 50% of the world's plant species

6. Climate Change - trees help absorb CO2

7. Employment - construction, tourism, mining, farming

8. Indigenous Tribes - small communities

9. Soil Erosion - bind together and shelter soil

Sustainable Management of TRF:

• Selective logging and replanting, conservation areas (national parks), education, Ecotourism, international agreements.

Not doing hot deserts as part of the GCSE curriculum the school chose.

8 - Cold Environments

Cold environment - places that experience temperatures that are sub zero for long periods of time eg) the antarctic. Some places only experience very cold long winters. 

• Polar - very very cold winters, ice and snow all year, low snowfall, small mosses and plants grow, polar bears. Higher on the clone, arctic, greenland, antarctic.

• Tundra - Slightly less cold winters, brief summers, small shrubs and plants, permafrost, arctic fox, arctic hare. Northern Russia, Canada and alaska.

Managing Cold Environments:

• International agreements - recognise and prevent countries from economic development there. 

• Technology -  pipes are created and adapted to cause as little damage possible.

CASE STUDY: Svalbard

Svalbard is an archipelago (large group of islands) located in northern europe, halfway between Norway and the north pole. It is also located in the arctic circle. Its location would explain the harshly cold environment there. It has a permanent population of 2700 of which 2300 live in the capital - Longyearbyen.

Key Terms:

Ecotourism - travel that conserves the environment and benefits locals

Non-renewable energy - energy from sources that will run out eg)oil, coal.

Permafrost - areas of land and soil that are permanently frozen

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Section C - Physical Landscapes in the UK

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9 - UK Landscapes:

• Relief - the term used for the differences in height from place to place on the land's surface

• Landscape - a landscape is an area of land that can be viewed at a certain time.

In exams, maps like these have to be read and described. Red is highland, green is lowland:

- In the UK, Lowland is located most commonly in the south east areas such as norwich and cambridge.

- Highland areas are also commonly found in the north and north west areas such as Northern Scotland and central

England.

- The higher areas are usually made from metamorphic rock or igneous rock as it is less easily eroded

- The lowland areas are usually made of sedimentary rock as they are weathered easily and therefore form lower lying land.

• Igneous rocks - are formed from melted rock deep inside the Earth. 

• Sedimentary rocks - are formed from layers of sand, silt, dead plants, and animal skeletons. 

• Metamorphic rocks - formed from other rocks that are changed by heat and pressure underground.

10 - Coastal Landscapes:

• Waves are most commonly caused by wind. 

• Wind-driven waves, or surface waves, are created by the friction between wind and surface water. 

• As wind blows across the surface of the ocean or a lake, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest. 

• The distance the wind blows across the water is called the fetch.

• The longer the fetch, the more powerful the wave and the stronger the wind, the more powerful the wave

Constructive vs Destructive Waves:

Destructive waves have stronger backwashes than swashes. This strong backwash pulls material away from the shoreline and into the sea resulting in erosion. They have a steep beach.

Constructive waves, on the other hand, are low energy waves that result in the build-up of material on the shoreline. They have a gentle sloping beach. They ‘spill’ onto the beach and push up sediment.

The 3 Types of Weathering of CLIFFS:

What is mass movement?

Mass  movement is the downward movement or sliding of material under the influence of gravity. The diagrams are the most common types found at the coast; rockfall (fragment break off), landslide (blocks of rock slide down), mudflow (saturated soil and weak rock flow down a slope) and rotational slip (saturated soil slumps along a curved slope.

Coastal erosion and transportation

These are the types of coastal erosion

These are the types of coastal transportation

This is Longshore drift (Transportation as well)

Coastal Deposition - is where waves lose energy and slow down. Because they are slower they can no longer carry material with them so deposit it. These are areas like coves or sheltered bays where waves slow down and are protected from wind. That's why beaches form here.

11 - River Landscapes:

• U

12 - Glacial Landscapes:

• U

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UNIT 2

Section A - Urban Issues and Challenges

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13 - The Urban world:

• Urbanisation -  an increase in the proportion of the population living in urban areas.

Causes:

1. Rural → Urban Migration - people moving from rural areas to urban areas.

• Push: natural disaster,  war + conflict, lack of employment.

• Pull: more jobs, better education, better healthcare, family, increased quality of life

2. Natural Increase:  when the birth rate exceeds the death rate 

• Increase Birth Rate - lack of contraception, lack of knowledge

• Lower Death rate -  high life expectancy due to better living conditions and diet, better medicine for the elderly, lower infant mortality rate.

Keywords:

• Megacities - an urban area with a population of over 10,000,000

• Integrated Transport System - the linking of different forms of public transport + private transport within a city and the surrounding area.

• Brownfield site - an area of land that has been previously used but has therefore become abandoned, vacant, derelict or contaminated.

• Greenfield site - an area of land surrounding a city where building is strictly controlled to stop cities growing into greenery too fast.

• Urban Regeneration - an investment in the revival of old urban areas by either improving what is already there or clearing it away and rebuilding.

CASE STUDY: Rio de Janeiro:

• Rio is an NEE, Sits on the east of Brazil on the Atlantic coast, Population of 6.5 million people, Brasilia is the capital of Brazil

Importance:

• International -  Christ the redeemer (one of the seven wonders of the world), 5 ports, 3 airports, Olympic games stadium 2016.

• National - largest steel industry in south america

• Regional -  6% of all employment in Brazil, 2nd biggest industrial centre of brazil after sao paulo.

Land use -  had lots of mountains, large proportion is favelas (squatter settlements)

• NORTH zone - main industry, airport, ports

• WEST zone - olympic stadium, changed from a lower class area to a wealthy one.

• CENTRO zone - the oldest part

• SOUTH zone - copacabana beach, main area of tourism, overlooked by south america's largest favelas.

14 - Urban Change in the UK:

• 82% of people in the uk live in urban areas

Bristol:

• Located in the south west of england, has an M4 link to london, has an airport, airbus is based there, has 2 internationally good universities, manufacture silicone chip (2nd largest after California)

• Migration - most migrants from Poland and Somalia - this enriches the culture of the city, puts pressure on housing and employment and increases the level of skills.

Urban Sprawl - in Bristol there is urban sprawl into the urban fringes. This is where the city is rapidly growing and expanding into the greenfield sites that are surrounding the city on the urban fringes. The solution to this is to instead of building on greenfield areas to make houses, make them on the already existing brownfield sites to stop lateral expansion.

15 - Urban Sustainability:

• An example (case study) of this is the city of Freiburg in Germany.

• Over 1,000,000 corks are recycled each year.

• Energy for 28,000 homes generated by burning waste.

• Roof water harvesting is utilised on almost all buildings and homes.

• They recently installed 400 solar panels around the city.

• 44,000 trees were planted.

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Section B - The Changing Economic World

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16 - The development gap

The development gap is the difference in levels of development between countries around the world; the richest and the poorest.

How can we measure development:

• HDI (human development index) - measures average life expectancy, level of education and income for each country. Each country gets a score 0-1, closer to 1, the more developed it is. Good because it takes into account both social and economic factors.

• Also: Access to safe water, Birth rate, Death rate, GNI per capita, Infant mortality rate, Life expectancy, Literacy rate, People per doctor

THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION MODEL 

this shows development in 5 stages, goes 

with pyramid models:

Using just one measure of development is bad because it can be misleading. 

What influences a countries development:

Ways we can reduce the development gap:

• Investment - large companies can base themselves in other countries. This uses the multiplier effect (the company pays tax and creates jobs that pay tax which is invested in healthcare and education and infrastructure helping development. This then causes industrial growth and makes more businesses and companies grow and come to the country) to help boost development.

• Aid - one or more countries give money to other countries which are spent to benefit the population. eg) Short term - after a disaster, fast, does not help long term, Voluntary - rich people in rich countries donate to NGOs, distribute unfairly sometimes, Tied - comes with a condition eg)money spent with that country, help is fast.

• Intermediate Technology - giving tech to a country that isn't necessarily the best but is available for them to be able to repair and maintain -  is SUITABLE.

• Fairtrade - paying farmers a reasonable price for goods, helps farmers in LIC’s, helps them escape poverty and have a better life quality.

• Debt relief - many LIC’s owe money to other countries, debt is reorganised to be managed or reduced so LIC’s can spend money on development and can grow and develop.

• Microfinance loans - small amounts of money sent to people who usually struggle to get credit eg) women to help them set up businesses and grow and develop with reasonable interest rates

TOURISM IN JAMAICA - people visit because of weather, beaches, culture. Brings jobs, money, encourages development of land to hold more people for tourism, conservation projects. Investment in roads and airports, contributes to 24% of Jamaica's GDP. Negatives are) pollution from cruise ships, tourists destroying areas, litter, imbalance of wealth, jobs could be seasonal.

Consequences of Uneven Development:

• Health - health varies between countries, LIC’s cant access water + sanitation, more disease, lower life expectancy, opposite for HIC’s

• Wealth - large variation, a huge wealth gap, top 10% taking 52% of global income, bottom 50% receive 8% of global income.

• Migration - higher rates of migration, push and pull factors, for better jobs or flee dangerous places.

17 - CASE STUDY: Nigeria - a new emerging economy

• Nigeria suffered from conflict and unrest after independence but is now politically stable since 1960.

• Well known for its football, nollywood, music

• North nigeria is a dry desert-ish area, much of it is tropical grassland, some areas ideal for growing cocoa.

• No longer dominated as much by agriculture (1999, 75% in the primary sector of agriculture)

• More machines and jobs so manufacturing has rapidly developed - telecommunications

• Oil is secondary and is on the rise as Nigeria has natural reserves, they are a bit dependent on it.

• Manufacturing is also big

• Transnational corporations (TNC’s) are helpful for Nigeria because they are companies that branch into multiple countries. They invest, pay tax and multiplier effect: (the company pays tax and creates jobs that pay tax which is invested in healthcare and education and infrastructure helping development. This then causes industrial growth and makes more businesses and companies grow and come to the country)

• However, TNC’s pay as low as they can, working conditions are poor, profits go back to the base country

• Shell oil is an example that pays tax and helps in the country.

18 - The changing UK economy

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Section C - The Challenge of Resource Management

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19 - Resource Management:

• Resource - is the stock of something that has a value or purpose.

• Food - without enough nutritious food people can become malnourished which can make them ill and prevent people from working or receiving education 

• Water - must be clean and safe for cooking cleaning washing and drinking 

• Energy - light in heat for cooking helps keeping warm and for industry

Because of population growth and economic development the demand for these resources are exceeding the supply

20,21+22 - Food, Water + Energy Management:

CASE STUDY: Energy Scheme - Chabermontera micro-hydro scheme:

• The area is too small for it to be economical to build an energy grid.

• Their farming (main source of income) is hindered by the lack of light + energy.

• Water was channelled from a river up a mountain, then released down the steep slope, turning a turbine and flowing back into the river further along.

By introducing this, chambermontera benefitted from:

• Developed business

• Increase in population

• Reduction of flood risk

• Reduced deforestation ( no need to burn wood for light)

• Electricity available in the winter

• Streetlights so they can go out after dark

• Improved medical care and healthcare

• Improved education which draws people in and created jobs