Cold environments (The Living World)

Question 1

What is AQAs case study for cold environments?

Answer 1

Svalbard

Question 2

Name two plant adaptations in cold environments:

Answer 2

Bright colours (so that birds can see them and spread the seeds from the berries to plant more of the plants)
Low growth (to not be impacted by windy conditions as wind has less force low to the ground)

Question 3

Opportunities for development in cold environments:

Answer 3

Fishing (150 species)
Tourism (300 jobs)
Mineral extraction (300 jobs)

Question 4

Challenges of cold environments

Answer 4

Permafrost (could melt and cause houses to become
Extreme temperatures (have to wear thick clothes)
Inaccessibility (only 50 km of road makes it difficult for people to get to places such as work)

Question 5

Why should we protect cold environments?

Answer 5

Beautiful scenery makes it great for tourim
Opportunities for fishing
Excellent outdoor laboratories for research (for things like climate change) when unpolluted

Question 6

How can we protect/manage cold environments?

Answer 6

Trans Alaskan pipeline (raised to prevent permafrost melting and let animals travel underneath and has automatic shut off systems in case of an oil leak)
International agreements such as the antarctic treaty (prevents economic development and tourism damaging cold environments)