resource reliance Flashcards
What is needed for basic human development?
- Resources such as food, energy and water are needed for basic human development
Why is food a necessity for basic human development?
- Without enough nutritious food, people can become malnourished
- This makes them more likely to get ill, and may stop them from working or doing well at school
Why is energy a necessity for basic human development?
- Energy - a good supply of energy is needed for a basic standard of living
e.g. to provide lighting ad heat for cooking. It’s also essential for industry and transport
Why is water a necessity for basic human development?
- Water - people need a constant supply of clean, safe water for drinking coking and washing.
- Water is also needed to produced food, clothes and lots of other products
What are the two main reasons for the increase in food, water, and energy consumption?
- Rising population
- Economic development
How does rising population increase food, water, and energy consumption?
- The global population is increasing - in 2011 it was just over 7 billion and it’s expected to reach 9 billion by 2040.
- This means more people require more resources
- Increased demand for one resource can increased demand for another
e.g. more people means that more food needs to be grown, which increases demand for water
How does economic development increase food, water, and energy consumption?
- Economic development means that people are getting wealthier, especially in emerging ad developing countries
- Wealthier people have more disposable income which affects their resource consumption
- They have more money to spend on food and they often buy more than they need
- They can afford cars, fridges, televisions - all of which use energy to run them also uses a lot of water
- More people can afford flushing toilets, showers dishwashers etc. - this increases water use
What are the factors that limit the supplies meaning that it can’t meet demand?
- Climate
- Geogoly
- Conflict
- Poverty
- Natural hazards
How does climate limit supplies?
- Some countries have very low rainfall, so water supplies are limited,
- This also limits how much food they can grow. Climate change may change rainfall patterns, affecting water availability and crop growth
How does geology limit supplies?
- Some countries don’t have reserves of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, and may not have a suitable landscape for generating renewable energy from
e.g. wind or hydro power - Geology can also limit water supply - when rain falls on permeable rock,
e.g. sandstone, it flows into the rock and can form underground water stores that are hard to get to
How does conflict limit supplies?
- War can disrupt transport of resources e.g. by damaging roads, water pipes or power lines
How does poverty limit supplies?
- Some countries can’t afford the technology to exploit the natural resources that are available
e.g. agricultural machinery, nuclear power plants
How do natural hazards limit supplies?
- Events such as tropical storms, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can damage agricultural land and destroy infrastructure such as water pipes and power lines
How has large-scale industrial farming changed overtime?
Since the 1960s, there has been a growth in large-scale, industrial farming where processes are increasingly done by machines
e.g. tractors and combine harvesters, rather than people.
What are the positive impacts of large-scale industrial farming?
*Industrial farming can increase the amount of food that can be produced, because processes such as milking, ploughing and harvesting can be done more quickly.
What are the negative environmental impacts of large-scale industrial farming?
Changes to farms have had impacts on ecosystems and the environment:
* Field sizes have increased so that food can be produced more cheaply. Removal of hedgerows has led to a decline in biodiversity.
* The amount of chemicals used in food production has been increasing - large quantities of artificial fertilisers and pesticides are applied to crops, and animals are given special feed to encourage growth. If they enter water courses (e.g. rivers), these chemicals can harm or kill organisms.
* Increased use of heavy machinery, e.g. in planting and harvesting, can cause soil erosion
Is the global demand for fish increase or decreasing?
- Global demand for fish is increasing.
How are most fish and seafood provided?
- Most fish and seafood is provided by commercial fishing methods - these include trawling (towing huge nets behind boats) and dredging (dragging a metal frame along the seabed to harvest shellfish such as oysters and scallops).
How has fishing methods changed over time?
* Since the 1950s, fishing has become increasingly mechanised - this means that boats can now carry bigger nets and haul in bigger catches than used to be possible, helping to meet demand for fish.
* Fish farms (aquaculture) are also being used to breed fish and shellfish in contained spaces.
What are the negative environmental impacts of commercial fishing?
Commercial fishing is having a number of impacts on ecosystems and the environment:
*Over-fishing of some fish (e.g. cod) means that some species are now endangered. Decreasing the number of one species in an ecosystem can have knock-on impacts on other species (see p.57).
* Dredging can damage seafloor habitats and disturb organisms such as sea urchins and starfish.
* Fish farms are often overcrowded, and the large number of fish produce a lot of waste. If this waste is released into the natural environment, it can cause large blooms of algae. The algae absorb a lot of oxygen from the water, causing other plants and animals to die
Define deforestation
* Deforestation is the removal of trees from forests.
What is the relationship between increasing energy demand and deforestation?
- Increasing energy demand increases deforestation - trees are burnt as fuel or cleared to make way for power stations.
Give an example where deforestation is occurring to meet energy demands
- In some countries where a large river runs through an area of forest (e.g. the Amazon River in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil), forest is being destroyed to make way for hydroelectric power (HEP) stations.
- HEP provides renewable energy that will help us meet our increasing energy needs.
- However, the initial construction of HEP stations involves building a dam, which floods large areas of forest.
What are the negative environmental impacts of deforestation?
- Trees remove CO2, from the atmosphere, and burning vegetation to clear forest releases CO, So deforestation means more CO2, in the atmosphere, which adds to global warming
- Forests provide an important habitat - around 70% of all land-based plant and animal species live in forests. If the forests are cut down, these habitats are lost and species may die out.
- Removing trees exposes the soil and makes it easier to erode - eroded soil can enter rivers and streams, damaging the habitats of fish and other freshwater organisms.
- Trees intercept rainfall, so removing them makes flooding more likely - this can damage habitats.
What are fossil fuels?
- Fossil fuels, e.g. coal, gas and oil, are a major source of energy
How are fossil fuels removed from the ground?
- They are removed from the ground by mining.
i.e. surface mining, sub-surface mining, fracking
What is surface mining?
- Surface mining is where large areas of vegetation, soil and rock are stripped away so that miners can reach the materials they want.
What is sub-surface mining?
- Sub-surface mining involves digging deep shafts below the ground surface.
What is fracking and how does it work?
- Recently, a technique called fracking has been developed to extract shale gas - natural gas that is trapped underground in shale rock.
- Liquid is pumped into the rock at high pressure. This causes the rock to crack (fracture), releasing the gas, which is then collected as it comes out of the production well.
What are the negative environmental impacts of mining?
- Waste from mines can pollute soil, groundwater, drinking water and air. Pollutants include mercury and lead, which are very toxic to plants, animals and péople.
- Habitats are destroyed to make way for mines, leading to loss of biodiversity.
- Mining uses a huge amount of water (a limited resource).
- Coal, oil and gas are not sustainable energy sources.
- They’re non-renewable, and release CO, when they’re burned - - this contributes to global warming
What can seasonal variations in rainfall or unpredictable rainfall cause?
- Seasonal variations in rainfall or unpredictable rainfall can cause a water shortage at certain times of year. However, dams and reservoirs have environmental impacts:
What is a way of coping with water shortages due to unpredictable rainfall/ seasonal variation in rainfall?
- Building a dam across a river traps a large amount of water behind the dam, creating a reservoir
- This provides a reliable source of water all year.
What are the negative environmental impacts of reservoirs?
- Reservoirs flood large amounts of land, destroying habitats and agricultural land.
- Reservoirs impact local ecosystems. Water is often released through the dam at regular intervals making the river flow much more uniform - this often reduces species diversity.
- Dams also act as a barrier to species’ movements, e.g. salmon that migrate upstream to lay their eggs.
- The natural flow of sediment downstream is disrupted, reducing the fertility of areas downstream.
- Reservoirs create new aquatic environments, which can become home to non-native species.
How can water be transported to an area where it is most needed?
- Water is often not where it is most needed. E.g. the south and east of the UK is much drier than the north and west, and has a higher population density, so there isn’t always enough water to go round.
- Water transfers use canals and pipes to move water from a river that has surplus water to a river that has a water shortage.