Year 12 Assessment 1 Cont.

Question 1

Why are global forests important?

Answer 1

-they act as carbon sinks (they take in CO2, produce oxygen and regulate the temperature of the earth and its weather patterns.

Question 2

What is spatial modelling?

Answer 2

A methodology used to acquire information about present and future spatial relationships between geographic phenomena. It is used to project changes in land cover, and incorporate both environment + socio-economic variables.

Question 3

What is a scenario based projection?

Answer 3

They take into account the many processes and factors driving land cover change, eg. The more complex the factors, the less certainty based on the outcome.

Question 4

What is the predicted world population by 2050?

Answer 4

9 billion.

Question 5

What influences world population and growth rates?

Answer 5

1. People living longer due to better diets, medical advances and better living conditions.
2. Population growth will occur in urban areas of developing nations
3. Fertility rates are declining therefor less people being born.

Question 6

Why do fertility rates drop in more affluent countries?

Answer 6

1. Improved healthcare = lower infant mortality = less need to have more children as less die in the early years
2. Increasing costs of raising children in more wealthy nations
3. Better education and participation in the workforce for women

Question 7

Core periphery:

Answer 7

• the more affluent countries increase demand for food and consumer goods.
• 20% of the population consume 80% of worlds resources.
• it is less affluent countries producing these goods, this results in land degradation of LDCs

Question 8

How did the industrial revolution impact land degradation?

Answer 8

Slow introduction of mass production, industrialisation and an increase in population growth resulted in worsened environmental quality. However MEDCs can now lead the way as regards finding ways to improve the environment.

Question 9

What are the 9 processes of land cover change?

Answer 9

• growth of settlements + urbanisation
• deforestation
• land reclamation
• expansion of agriculture
• intensification of agriculture
• land and soil degradation
• range land modification
• industry and mining
• irrigation

Question 10

Characteristics of urbanisation?

Answer 10

• more people living in cities
• accounts for 3% of land surface, yet 50% of population live in them
• they affect climate by altering albedo, temperature, rainfall, air quality, cloud distribution and vegetation cover.

Question 11

Characteristics of deforestation?

Answer 11

• the removal of forests for urban development or agriculture
• includes clear cutting for agricultural, fires, logging for timber
• Brazil is the biggest culprit with 17% of rainforests destroyed in the last 50 years for cattle grazing

Question 12

Characteristics of land reclamation?

Answer 12

-where land is gained or created from the sea, wetlands or river beds
Eg. Flevopolder, Netherlands or Singapore and Tokyo

Question 13

Characteristics of expansion of agriculture?

Answer 13

• increasing amount of land available which can be used for agricultural activities (deforestation)
• very little underdeveloped land left, usually desert, ice or forest
• countries that continue to expand pay the price eg Indonesia’s palm oil.

Question 14

Characteristics of intensification of agriculture?

Answer 14

• increasing the productivity of resources being used in agriculture
• achieved by adjusting labour, fertilisers, seeds, technology etc.
• required to satisfy demand by expanding population but damage the environment

Question 15

Characteristics of soil degradation?

Answer 15

• the decline in the quality and health of natural land resources including soil degradation
• caused by overgrazing, erosion, mining, urbanisation and disposal of industrial waste.
• since 1950, 30% of the worlds arable land lost through degradation includes desertification .

Question 16

Characteristics of range land modification?

Answer 16

• where native vegetation is predominantly, grasses, savannahs, and shrubs (81%) of Australia.
• expanding agricultural use of them is threatening ecosystems
• the impacts upon the ecosystem services provided to the population

Question 17

Characteristics of industry and mining?

Answer 17

• in Australia valued at $195 billion
• in Australia mining is very regulated and rehabilitated, in Venezuela, large parts of river are polluted with mercury meaning it’s not rehabilitated.

Question 18

Characteristics of irrigation

Answer 18

• artificial method of watering plants for agriculture, involving diverting water from steams, river or groundwater services.
• causes issues in countries that require water rights in order to share access to a river

Question 19

Past indigenous practices for land management?

Answer 19

• traditional burning, fishing traps and sowing, storing plants
• monitoring the land, knowing when to burn areas to create grassland (provides grazing for prey and protection from bushfires)
• only taking certain amount of eggs to ensure continuing supply of food source

Question 20

What are the modern practices for indigenous land management?

Answer 20

• aboriginal ranger programs that allow traditional indigenous land management practices to be used with modern solutions
• hunt for feral animals (foxes, cats)
• track endangered species
• record new plants
• protect biodiversity