Geography Flashcards
Define Land degradation
The loss of productivity and decline in fertility of land-based environments as a result of human activities
What are the three main types of land degradation
soil degradation, soil erosion and ecosystem decline.
Define Soil degradation
Soil degradation refers to the loss of fertility of the soil, often due to a chemical change. Also caused by large machinery, becoming acidic due to fertilizer and hard hooves animals
What is soil erosion
When soil is gradually worn away by natural phenomena such as rivers, rain, waves, glaciers and the wind. Human activities such as clearing trees accelerates this.
What is ecosystem decline
Ecosystems can become degraded through loss of vegetation, the invasion of alien plant and animal pests or a decline in the quality of streams and rivers. Can lead to desertification when coupled with a decline in soil quality
what are the three main reasons for atmosphere degradation
- Pollution caused by rising levels of Carbon and Sulphur in the air due to emission from factories, transport and households.
- Methane gas is emitted by factories and grazing animals
- Deforestation means there are less trees to absorb Carbon Dioxide levels
What are 3 Health risks of air pollution and what are they caused by
Leads to increased rates of asthma, lung disease and heart disease. Result of breathing air with high concentrations of fine particles from traffic exhaust, factories, power plant emissions and fires
What are the two main types of water degradation
- Damming our rivers which disrupts the flow of water, flooding some areas and stopping water reaching other areas. This disrupts ecosystems.
- Pollutants in our water which can be classified as either physical, chemical or biological
What are physical pollutants
Physical pollutants include particles of soil eroded from the landscape and washed into the waterways
and any litter such as plastic bags and cigarettes etc
What are chemical pollutants
Chemical pollutants include heavy metals, oils, pesticides, industrial chemicals and salt.
What are biological pollutants
Biological pollutants include bacteria, parasites and invasive plants and animals. Biological pollutants come from a range of sources including sewage treatment plants, farms, factories and storm water
What are the four main classifications of ecosystem services
Sources, sinks, services and spirituality
What are sources in terms of ecosystem services
Sources (also called provisioning services) are those natural products that can be used or converted by humans for our use. Eg mineral deposits, timber and food sources.
What are sinks in terms of ecosystem services
Sinks (also called regulating services) are those processes in the natural environment that absorb our waste. Eg micro organisms
What are services in terms of ecosystem services
Services (also called supporting services) are things that are done for us by the natural environment that don’t produce consumable resources. Eg trees converting carbon dioxide into oxygen
What is Spirituality in terms of ecosystem services
Spirituality (also called cultural services) refers to the personal relationships that human beings have with the environment. Eg a deep connection to the land formed over many generations
What is global warming
Greenhouse gases trapping some of the Sun’s energy within the atmosphere causing temperatures to rise.
What are the four main greenhouse gases
- carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels such as coal
- methane from the large scale farming of livestock
- nitrous oxide from the use of fertilisers
- fluorinated gases from refrigerators and solvents.
What are the four environmental responses to climate change (plants and animals)
- They change their basic biology (reproduce less or lay smaller eggs)
- They change the timing of certain events such as flowering (plants may flower earlier or later depending on the conditions. This impacts birds that rely on these plants for food)
- They die out (effecting the whole ecosystem)
- They move (many plants and animals are moving towards the poles and into higher altitudes. This affects plants and animals already living in these places.
What are the two main world views and their two subcategories
Human centered
- Egocentric (self centered “i am the most important creature on Earth”)
- Anthropocentric (Humans are the most important species, in charge of the earth and the natural world)
Earth centered
- Ecocentric (minimise our impact, we are no more important than any other organism)
- Biocentric (other species may be useful to us but they have their same right to exist. We must use earths resources in a sustainable way)
Define wellbeing
wellbeing is the ability of people to access the things they need in order to live happy, healthy and contented lives. Three of the most important variables include health, wealth and education
What is GDP and measure of and what does it stand for
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) provides a measure of the total market value (i.e. the monetary value) of
all the goods and services produced in a country in a given year.
one additional way to measure wellbeing>?>?
hdi?? OECD??
what are the effects of coastal degradation
can result in the loss of plant and animal species or the arrival of an invasive species that permanently affects biodiversity in the area
examples of coastal degradation
sand dunes being washed into the sea, changing the coastline, or blooms of toxic algae damaging the marine environment
what are some of the changes currently impacting on coastal environments ?
walking across sand dunes, construction of shipping ports and sea walls
are coastal environments close to cities more at risk from degradation than those in remote areas?
yes. due to more activity in the water, litter and industry surrounding
what are the main energy and matter inputs in coastal environments ?
energy such as wind and waves, and matter such as water and sand are studied as they arrive at and leave each compartment - arriving energy and matter are referred to as inputs and leaving energy and matter are outputs.
examples of inputs and outputs
inputs - sand is deposited, constructive waves, longshore drift transports sand onto beach from another part of the coast
outputs - waves eroding dunes doing storms, destructive waves, sand being lost and wind eroding sand
what is coastal squeeze? what causes this problem?
when sea levels rise, important coastal ecosystems (mangoes and salt marshes) retreat inland, they get stuck in narrowing strips of land due to coastal structures
they are caused by coastal structures such as sea walls cause this problem, stopping them from going anywhere
why is coastal erosion expected to increase as sea levels continue to rise?
as the highly effective natural barriers in preventing erosion are being killed off, due to coastal squeezes, erosion will increase.
why are sea levels around the world rising?
due to climate change. as the climate warms, land ice melts.