EOY - Geog the living world cold environments

Question 1

why are polar regions cold

Answer 1

• Intensity of sunlight – The suns rays have to travel a further distance to reach polar regions, their intensity and warming power is therefore reduced allowing ice to accumulate. For half of the year the sun never goes above the horizon.
• High Air Pressure – These areas have less moisture, and reduced precipitation, in some instances less than 10mm a year.

Question 2

Svalbard

Answer 2

• Most northern permanently inhabited place
• north of Norway, east of Greenland, in Arctic Ocean
• 60% glaciers 40% tundra
• 5 major islands
• population of 2700, mostly living in main town of longyearbyen

Question 3

Polar regions

Answer 3

• climate - temp often below -50
• Soils - permanently covered in ice so soil is permanently frozen
• Plants - some plants such as mosses and lichens are found on the fringes of ice
• Animals - polar bears are one of the few animals that live here and are well adapted to this cold environment with thick fur and black nose and foot pads to absorb sunshine

Question 4

tundra climate

Answer 4

• Less extreme climates
• winter temp of minus 20°C
• Brief summers up to 5°C
• high precipitation in coastal regions

Question 5

Tundra soils

Answer 5

• soils are frozen in permafrost, But in summer will melt closer to the surface
• water draining through the soils removes nutrients so it becomes waterlogged as water is trapped in permafrost

Question 6

Tundra plants & animals

Answer 6

• Low growing flowering plants such as bearberry and arctic moss
• low bushes and small trees may grow in warmer regions
• Several animals live here relative to polar environments including the Arctic fox and Arctic hare

Question 7

development opportunities in svalbard - fishing

Answer 7

At least 70% of all Atlantic cod is from the Barents Sea

apart from cod there is estimated 500 species of fish here

the waters are extremely important breeding grounds for fish and needs to be protected from pollution and overfishing which is a challenge to development

Question 8

development opportunities in svalbard - coal mining

Answer 8

Advantages:

• employs a lot of people
• there are many rich reserves
• vital to the economy

disadvantages:

• making roads to the mines can be hard in rough terrains
• controversial as burning coal is bad for the environment

Question 9

development opportunities in svalbard - tourism

Answer 9

opportunities

• fantastic scenery and wildlife
• chance of seeing Northern Lights
• large harbour
• Boosts economy

challenges

• making infrastructure in icy terrain is difficult and is damaging to environment

Question 10

development opportunities in svalbard - geothermal energy

Answer 10

• Located close to the mid-Atlantic Ridge constructive plate margin.
• Here the crust is thin so hot rocks are closer to the surface.
• The heat of the ground can be used to generate electricity.

Question 11

Why should wilderness areas be protected? – For

Answer 11

• wilderness areas are fragile
• rare wildlife is found there
• untouched natural environment

Question 12

Why should wilderness areas be protected? – Against

Answer 12

• they are rich in resources
• new technology can help reduce environmental damage

Question 13

Use of technology to manage cold environments

Answer 13

Technology provides an environmentally friendly solution to some challenges that cold environments have. For example the trans Alaskan pipeline uses:

• stilts an insulation to raise an insulate the trans Alaskan pipeline off the grounds to protect the permafrost
• Pumping stations can keep the oil moving
• the pipeline is supported and can slide if earthquakes happen
• oil flow automatically stops if there’s a leak the pipeline allows Caribou to migrate underneath because it is raised