7 markers

Question 1

For a named area of tropical rainforest you have studied, describe the impacts of deforestation on the local natural environment.

Answer 1

1) Loss of biodiversity:
* Biodiversity, or the variety of all living things on our planet, has been declining at an alarming rate in Borneo.
* At least 30% of Borneo’s tropical forest have been destroyed over the last 40 years.
2) Loss of habitats:
* The large-scale deforestation has led to loss of habitat for animals who live within the rainforest.
* Borneo has lost nearly 150,000 orangutans over the last two decades.
* This has made poaching easier and local people can boost their low incomes greatly by selling young orangutans as pets.
3) Reduced rainfall in the local area:
* When forest is removed, moisture is no longer transpired through its leaves to the atmosphere and rainfall is no longer intercepted on its leaves to be evaporated back to the atmosphere.
* The moisture content of the air is reduced, resulting in less local rainfall and more droughts.
* A 2018 study found that Borneo’s precipitation has fallen by around 20 percent in the last 60 years

Question 2

For a named area of tropical rainforest you have studied, describe the impacts of deforestation on the local people.

Answer 2

1) Deaths of ways of life and unique cultures:
* Forest clearance in Sarawak for HEP developments, oil palm plantations, and logging may threaten the hunter-gatherer way of life of the Penan people.
* They are a community of 10,000-12,000 people.
* The Penan people rely on the forest for their existence. They feed on fruit, nuts, plants and animals from the forest.
2) Risks to health:
* Smoke from burning forests is also a health hazard.
* More than 100,000 people are likely to have died prematurely from smoke exposure as fires burned across Borneo in 2015, according to research from Harvard and Columbia universities.
* This event was known as the 2015 Southeast Asian Haze.
Loss of soil fertility:
* With no rainforest vegetation to protect the soil, heavy rainfall washes it away.
* Deforestation breaks the nutrient cycle, which the soil depends on for its fertility.
* This affects farmers ability to grow crops

Question 3

For a named hot desert you have studied, explain why the amount of rainfall in this area is low.

Answer 3

1) The Benguela Current
* The cold Benguela current runs along this coast.
* Cold currents bring drier air as there is less evaporation. With less evaporation there is less rainfall.
2) the Drakensburg Mountains
* Winds coming from the Indian Ocean to the east lose part of their humidity when they pass over the Drakensburg Mountains, and they are essentially dry when they reach the desert.
* This is a rain shadow effect.
3) The Hadley Cell
* high pressure Namib Desert extends along the Atlantic coast of south-west Africa from latitude 15°S to 32° where the dry air of the Hadley Cell descends, creating high pressure.
* With the air sinking, cloud formation is inhibited.

On average, it has less than 10 mm of rain annually.

Question 4

Explain why large scale deforestation of tropical rainforests threatens the global natural environment.

Answer 4

• Less carbon dioxide used by trees
• Build up of Carbon dioxide/created by burning
• Forms layer/blanket
• Increase in temperatures/greenhouse effect/global warming
• Melting ice/glaciers
• Loss of species which live in impacted area e.g. polar bears
• Rising sea level
• Flooding of coastal lowlands,
• Loss of mangroves
• Changes to climatic patterns, e.g. drought etc.
  _
• Increase in rate of ice melting in Antarctica - 150 billion tons a year
• In Greenland 270 billion tons a year lost
• Maldives predicted by one study to be uninhabitable by 2050

Question 5

For a named coastal area you have studied, describe attempts to manage erosion.

Answer 5

1) Sea wall in Withernsea
* Running along the Withernsea promenade is a recurved seawall, built to protect the Withernsea coastline from erosion.
* Originally, there was a straight wall protecting the town, however, the energy of the waves eventually scoured away the base of the wall causing it to collapse.
* The present seawall cost a total of £6million, £5000 per metre, to construct.
* Sections of the sea wall were upgraded during 2017.
2) South Withernsea Coastal Defence Scheme
* In 2020, the £7 million South Withernsea Coastal Defence Scheme, which began April 2019, was completed.
* This includes extending existing defences southwards with 400 metres of rock armour (rip rap).
* 70,000 tonnes of rock armour was imported by sea from Norway to construct the defence.
3) Mappleton protection scheme:
* In 1991 A coastal management scheme costing £2 million was introduced involcing hard engineering.
* Two rock groynes were built. However, this has increased erosion south of Mappleton.
* Rip rap was placed along the base of the cliff.
* Cliff stabilisation has been used more recently. In order to protect the cliffs from undercutting, the cliff gradient was reduced artificially.

Question 6

For a named coastal area you have studied, explain how coastal erosion has affected the people who live there.

Answer 6

1) Cliff Erosion:
* Coastal erosion is rapid along the soft boulder clay areas of the Holderness Coast.
* This is Europe’s fastest eroding coastline with an average of 2 metres of coastline lost every year.
* This leads to damage and loss of infrastructure, loss of property, loss of farmland and danger for tourism.
* 24 homes in Skipsea could be lost to coastal erosion by 2025.
2) Slumping:
* Slumping is a process where there is a mass movement of material on a coast. It is caused by erosion.
* A significant slumping event took place at Hornsea in March 2019 following a spell of unusually hot and dry weather.
* A large section of the cliff, around 50m long and 8.5m at its widest point, had slumped.
* It meant that homes became closer to the sea and are more vulnerable to storm surges.
3) Storm/Tidal Surges:
* Coastal erosion strongly happens during storm surges.
* Waves of over 5 metres high are recorded annually in storms along the coast.
* This also causes significant levels of flooding – homes were evacuated along the coast in January 2017.

Question 7

For a named area of coastline you have studied, explain how it provides opportunities for people.

Answer 7

1) Tourism:
* The beaches of the Holderness Coast attract around 1 million people each year.
* Seaside tourism has been estimated to contribute an estimated £56m to the local economy.
* This is vital in areas such as Hornsea where 1 in 5 jobs are in the tourist industry.
2) Energy:
* The Easington Gas Terminal is one of three main gas terminals in the UK, and is situated on the Holderness Coast.
* Around 20% of Britain’s imported gas from Norway is brought ashore via a huge 1,200km long underwater pipe known as the Langeled pipeline.
3) Fishing:
* The Holderness Coast is mostly known for its shellfish.
* Bridlington, a major town along the Holderness Coast, is now the most important port in the UK and Europe for lobster landings.
* In 2014 local fishermen caught 420 tonnes of lobster worth £4m.

Question 8

For a named TNC you have studied, describe the advantages and disadvantages it brings for people at a national scale.

Answer 8

1) Multiplier effect:
* Shell Companies in Nigeria spent $1.3 billion on contracts awarded to Nigerian companies in 2018.
* This has boosted employment and and helped Nigeria’s economy.
* The spending has led to the multplier effect which is when an initial injection into the economy causes a bigger final increase in national income.
2) Taxes
* Shell paid $1.7 billion in taxes to the Nigerian government in 2018.
* The government has been able to use this money to build new infrastructure.
3) Climate change:
* In 2020, Shell disclosed emissions of 1,400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
* This contributes to global warming and climate change which will lead to increased droughts in Nigeria.

Question 9

For a named TNC you have studied, explain why it operates in so many countries.

Answer 9

1) Raw material availibility (oil and gas)
* Shell operates in over 70 countries and extracts oil and gas in countries such as Nigeria, Canada, Argentina and the UK. For over 60 years Shell has operated in Nigeria.
* Nigeria ranks 10th in the world for proven oil reserves.
2) Lower costs for headquarters
* Shell’s headquarters are now in London after moving these from the Netherlands in 2022.
* Shell moved its headquarters to London due for taxation purposes, allowing it to generate higher profits if located in the UK.
3) Cost of labour:
* There is a stark contrast to expatriate workers at Shell, who can earn up to US$20,000 a month.
* Nigerian local workers at Shell are paid around US$2,000 a month.

Question 10

For a named TNC you have studied, describe the advantages and disadvantages it brings for people at a local scale.

Answer 10

1) Employment:
* It employs roughly 5,000 people (95% of whom are Nigerian).
* Another 20,000 are employed indirectly by companies providing services and supplies.
2) Conflict:
* Conflict arose between Shell and local tribes close to extraction, with the Ogoni people of the delta protesting, sometimes violently, about environmental issues and lack of government support.
3) Environmental damage
* Shell has been responsible for over 4000 oil spills since 1960, contaminating food supplies and destroying natural habitats.
* E.g. In 2008 leaks from Shell’s Trans-Niger pipeline spilled about 600,000 barrels of oil into the earth in Ogoniland.
* Deforestation has also taken place to clear local forest cover and food supplies.

Question 11

For a named country or region you have studied, describe and explain the natural factors that cause food shortages.

Answer 11

1) Drought
* Recently Eswatiniti has been affected by a series of droughts.
* E.g. there was a very bad drought in 2016 caused by an El Nino event (60% less rain then the average)
* The harvest produced 10% of the required food & 40,000 cattle died.
* There is a lot of erratuc rainfall e.g. in 2020, making it difficult for farms to produce consistently.
2) HIV/AIDS
* Has badly weakened the population.
* In 2016, 27% of the population were infected (the highest rate in the world)
* Significantly reduces agricultural workforce.

Question 12

Describe and explain the benefits and disadvantages of solutions to food shortages.

Answer 12

1) Food Aid
* Organisations such as the UN’s World Food Programme supply food aid during emergencies.
* E.g. in 2020 the WFP received a donation of $425,000 from the EU to meet the needs of 54,000 Swazi households through cash transfers.
* Food aid is a great short term solution because the money allows the vulnerable to purhase food from local retailers to meet their needs. This also boosts the local market.
* However, it can lead to farmers believing they will always be supplied so they stop working.
2) Measures to increase crop outputs
* WFP has tried to improve agricultural systems.
* E.g. by clearing land, developing irrigations infrastructure, improving access to markets by building roads.
* It can’t deal with food shortages quickly.
* However, it is a good long term solution.
* It encourages self-sufficient food production.

Question 13

For a named country or region you have studied, describe the effects of food shortages?

Answer 13

1) Malnourishment:
* Very big issues in regions such as Lubombo
* Chronic under-nutrition is a particular pronlem for children - leading to slower growth and vulnerability to disease.
* 25% of children under the age of 5 are stunted.
* Kwashiorkor is a common protein efficiency disease amonst children in Eswatini which can lead to death
* Life expectancy is a mere 60 years old
2) Economic decline:
* The malnourishment caused by food shortages hugely reduces the size of the work force in Eswatini.
* Many children are also ill so can’t receive a proper education and learn skills necessary for jobs.
* This small workforce damages Eswatini’s economy because businesses can’t function efficiently and little produce can be produced.
3) Dependance on international food aid
* Many parents have given up on farming since the 1990s droughts and rely on food aid.
* Therefore children don’t learn agricultural skills.
* The UN World Food Programme fed more than 200,000 people in the aftermathof the 2016 droughts.

Question 14

For a named country or region you have studied, describe and explain the human factors that cause food shortages.

Answer 14

1) Social unrest:
* A series of ongoing protests in Eswatini against the monarchy and for democratisation began in late June 2021.
* The social unrest within the country has led to the destruction of businesses in urban areas, including the two biggest cities, Manzini and Mbabane.
* The delivery of food aid and goods was also hindred by looting of non-governmental organisations.
2) Cash crops
* Many small scale farmers choose to grow sugar which they can easily sell for money to buy food and other goods.
* This means there is a lack of farmers growing staple foods like maize which are necessary food security.
* To highlight this point - sugar is Eswatini’s biggest industry, employing over 93,000 people. Many farm in the Low Veld region.

Question 15

For an example you have studied, describe and explain the land use of a farm or agricultural area.

Answer 15

1) Hot climate
* Sugar needs a hot climate.
* Eswatini’s Low Veld area (see Fig. 9.9) has an average monthly temperature of 29 °C in summer, and temperatures rarely fall below 15°C. There are also a lot of sunshine hours every day.
2) Characteristics of the land
* Eswatini’s Low Veld region has flat land suitable for large-scale mechanisation.
* The alluvial soils in the river valleys are rich in nutrients and retain moisture.
3) Access to markets
* Entry to international markets provided by government trade agreements - a political input.
* Trade agreements include the United States Sugar Program, which allows sugar sales to the USA.

Question 16

For a named example you have studied, describe and explain the location of a factory or industrial zone.

Answer 16

1) Government incentives
* A reason why Sunderland was chosen was government incentives.
* When ,in 1984, Nissan and the UK government signed an agreement to build a car plant, they agreed on a 3km2 greenfield site in the city.
* This was such an appealing option because the land was offered to Nissan at agricultural prices – around £1800 per acre.
2) Good transport links
* The site is close to ports on the Wear and Tyne rivers and within easy driving distance of Newcastle International Airport.
* It is also close to major roads such as the A1 and A19.
* These transport links mean that materials can easily be transported to and from the factory.
3) Unemployment
* The North East region of England had recently undergone a period of deindustrialisation, with the closure of most of the shipyards and coal mines.
* The high unemployment meant Nissan had a large, manufacturing-skilled workforce to draw upon.
* This also means that they could pay their workers lower wages as jobs were difficult to come by.

Question 17

For a named country or area you have studied, describe the different methods which are used to manage tourism.

Answer 17

Encouraging ecotourism
* Ecotourism is tourism that has little on impact on the environent and involves contributing positively to local ecosystems.
* An example of a popular ecotourism attraction in Jamaica is the National park, called the Blue and John Crow Mountains.
* The environment is protected because nature reserves and eco-lodges are built.
* The park accounts for 4.5% of Jamaica’s land surface.
* Entry fees are $10 for adults in national parks to allow the preservation of local wildlife.
2) Marine Parks
* To manage of the issue of coral reef destruction.
* The Negril Marine Park nature reserve was established in 1998 to help preserve sea life that tourist snorkellers and divers want to see such as coral reefs.
* The Park covers a total area of approximately 160 km2.
* The park is managed through enforcement of the Marine Park Regulations with ranger patrols and zoning.
3) Creating oppurtunities for small businesses
* Large corporations dominate the industry.
* * Big up Small Business is a TUI Care Foundation project, delivered by the Travel Foundation, is creating new opportunities for up to 150 small-business entrepreneurs in Jamaica, so that more people can benefit from tourism. Small businesses are receiving training to improve their business and better understand international market requirements. So they can better connect with tourists

Question 18

For a named area where tourism is important, describe and explain how it has negative impacts for the people.

Answer 18

1) Jobs
* Although, tourism has created jobs it has also has negative impacts on employment
* Many of the jobs are very unstable and also seasonal. E.g. the global pandemic hit, services industries, like hotels. 50,000 employees directly employed in the tourism sector had to be laid off.
2) Rapid urbanisation
* Areas have become built-up, congested and polluted.
* Mass tourism has mostly affected the areas around Jamaica’s north coast resorts, east of Negril and as far as Ocho Rios.
3) Water scarcity
* Tourists consume huge amount of water. One study found that the average tourist in Jamaica uses between 600 and 2000 litres of water per night.
* This means that less water is made available to locals and they consume, between 4 - 10 times less water.

Question 19

For a named country or area you have studied, describe the different methods which are used to supply energy.

Answer 19

1) Natural Gas
* Natural gas accounted for 14% of Germany’s energy mix in 2022. Which was a drop of 10% from the figure in 2020.
* A reason for this drop is that Germany is heavily dependant on Russia for its supply and this supply has been affected by the Ukraine-Russia war.
* Now it obtains the majority of its supply from Norway via Europipe I.
* Germany’s governments likes natural gas because they see as a bridge to a low-carbon economy because it produces much less CO2 emissions when combusted than coal or oil.
2) Coal
* Coal accounted for 30% of its energy mix in 2022.
* Germany has large reserves of 2 types of coal - lignite, which is heavily extracted in Sachsen and bituminous coal, which is heavily mined in Saarland.
* It is important that coal power stations are located close to the mining areas to reduce transportation distances.
* It is an important source of energy as it is cheap due to the large reserves in Germany. It is also not reliant on other nations.
3) Wind Power
* Wind energy accounted for 22% of Germany’s energy mix in 2022.
* Germany has the biggest wind energy capacity in Europe due to it bordering both the North and Baltic Sea.
* The majority of Germany’s offshore turbines are located in the North Sea, where there are about 1300 spinning.
* Wind energy is increasing as Germany follows the Energiewende policy to transition to a low carbon energy supply.

Question 20

For a named country or area you have studied, describe different methods used to supply clean drinking water to the population.

Answer 20

1) The South-North Water Transfer Project
* Reservoirs collect and store water in China’s south where there is a water surplus and pipes transport the water to rivers or reservoirs in the country’s north where there is a water deficit.
* The $80 billion scheme was launched in 2002. It is the largest water diversion/transfer project ever undertaken.
* The Eastern route is 1,155km long and was completed in 2013. It provides water from the Yangtze river to Shandong Province (including the city, Tianjin) and other areas to be used for domestic and industrial use. Around 1 billion cubic meters of water is transferred each year.
2) Desalination:
* Plants are being built on China’s coastline to provide water for cities in the north and east.
* China currently has 140 desalination plants which supply water-stressed cities such as Tianjin.
* These produce 1.65 million tonnes of water each day.
* China continues to invest in new desalination plants and will raise capacity to 2.9 million tonnes a day by 2025.
* Currently, desalination accounts for only 1.2 percent of China’s domestic water supply.
* Desalinated water relies on expensive imported technology and costs between 50 and 140% more per ton than regular tap water.
3) Wells
* In Shanghai, 50 wells have been dug 240m deep beneath large residential areas and universities.
* The water from these wells will be used when there are acute water shortages in the city.
* The city is also building new water treatment plants and reservoirs.

Question 21

For a named area you have studied, describe how economic development is damaging the natural environment.

Answer 21

1) Clearing Mangroves:
* Clearing mangroves on the coast, such as along the Kingston waterfront, to develop tourism (e.g. building hotels) has led to beach erosion.
* Mangrove forests are one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems and a key natural mitigation measure in response to climate change, providing protection against storms.
* The Forestry’s Land Use Assessment between 1998 and 2013, found that mangroves and swamps had depleted by 98% in Jamaica.
2) Damage to Coral Reefs
* Coral reefs, have seen the threat to their existence increased by the anchors of cruise ships.
* In Jamaica, the coral reefs now only have between 5% and 10% of their coral left alive.
* An area where there has been large damage to coral reefs is the town of Negril.
* Coral reef ecosystems are important for maintaining marine life.
3) Water Pollution:
* Coastal waters have been heavily polluted by sewage from Jamaica’s hotels in tourist hubs such as Montego Bay.
* This is harming marine life. Endangered species in Jamaica include the tundra peregrine falcon and the green sea turtle. Pollution contributes to a decline in biodiversity.
* This further threatens the coral reefs of Jamaica as sediment and other pollutants smother coral reefs.

Question 22

For a named area you have studied, explain how economic activity is managed to reduce the risks to the natural environment.

Answer 22

Encouraging ecotourism
* Ecotourism is tourism that has little on impact on the environent and involves contributing positively to local ecosystems.
* An example of a popular ecotourism attraction in Jamaica is the National park, called the Blue and John Crow Mountains.
* The environment is protected because nature reserves and eco-lodges are built.
* The park accounts for 4.5% of Jamaica’s land surface.
* Entry fees are $10 for adults in national parks to allow the preservation of local wildlife.
2) Marine Parks
* The Negril Marine Park nature reserve was established in 1998 to help preserve sea life that tourist snorkellers and divers want to see such as coral reefs.
* The Park covers a total area of approximately 160 km2.
* The park is managed through enforcement of the Marine Park Regulations with ranger patrols and zoning.
3) Reducing Pollution:
* A water treatment plant was built at Logwood, a town in Jamaica, to limit pollution from Negril’s hotels.
* Jamaica introduced a ban on single-use plastic bags, plastic straws and Styrofoam in a bid to reduce the impact plastic is having on the environment.
* Plastic pollution results in flooding as it piles up in waterways as well as damage to coastal and marine ecosystems.
* Sea mammals such as whales and turtles as well as sea birds and other sea life ingest plastics leading to fatalities. Microplastics discovered in fishes is then in turn is consumed by people.