Key Terms - Fragile Environments

Question 1

Fragile Environment

Answer 1

A fragile environment is vulnerable to change and may struggle to recover from any changes. Damage and changes can be caused by both natural events such as volcanic eruptions or tropical cyclones and human activity.

Question 2

Deforestation

Answer 2

The chopping down and removal of trees to clear an area of forest.

Question 3

Tropical Rainforests

Answer 3

Tropical rainforests have a continual growing season with high rainfall and temperatures all year round.

Question 4

Coral reef

Answer 4

A coral reef is made up of millions of coral polyps. These are tiny animals, but they contain plants called algae.

Question 5

Arid and semi-arid environments

Answer 5

Areas with lack of rainfall

Question 6

Tundra and alpine environments

Answer 6

Tundra is a biome, or type of environment, which is characterized as treeless, cold, and relatively dry. Across the globe, there are two types of tundra—alpine and arctic. Alpine tundra occurs at high elevations where temperatures are colder, winters are longer, and growing seasons are shorter.

Question 7

Desertification

Answer 7

Sedentarisation

Question 8

Fuelwood

Question 9

Drought

Question 10

Soil degradation

Question 11

Global climate change

Question 12

Milankovitch Cycles

Question 13

Greenhouse effect

Question 14

Greenhouse gases

Question 15

Enhanced greenhouse effect

Question 16

Atmosphere

Question 17

Biodiversity

Question 18

Pastoralism

Question 19

Sedimentation

Question 20

Indigenous population

Question 21

Stric effect

Question 22

Thermal expansion

Question 23

Sea level risen