Soft engineering = involves adapting and learning to live with the coast , works in sympathy with nature ● Less expensive ● Less effective Beach nourishment: ● Beach nourishment = broad term for the replacement of lost sediment ○ Nourished beach → fewer waves...
UK’s Lowlands: Scarps and vales ○ Central and southern England → low lying clay vales alternating with chalk ridges ○ Chalk ridges ■ North and South Downs ■ Berkshire Downs ○ Limestone hills ■ Cotswolds ■ Chilterns ■ Mendips ○ Clay vales ■ Wiltshire and Oxfordshire ●...
Alaskan Oil: 1968 → vast onshore fields were discovered at Prudhoe Bay ○ Oil production began in 1977 ○ Almost 2 million barrels a day were produced ● 800 km trans-Alaskan oil pipeline was built to transport the oil to Valdez ○ Oil tankers could not be used due to ice...
Wilderness environments = unspoilt and remote regions of the world ○ Include: ■ Truly isolated regions (eg/ Antarctica) ■ Populated areas that retain some wilderness characteristics (eg/ tundra) ● Extreme climate and inaccessibility keep mass tourism and economic...
Actions at different scales: ● International agreements/treaties ○ They are able to influence what happens to cold environments /ecosystems ■ eg/ the Antarctic Treaty ■ eg/ number of bowhead whales in Arctic waters has been growing at 3% per year since 1970s ● Used to...
How technology aids wilderness communities: ● Technological developments have helped make life easier in cold environments ○ Digital technology offers new development opportunities → can help minimise : ■ Environmental damage ■ Cultural erosion ● By late 1980s →...
Tropical rainforests = hot and wet biomes renowned for their biodiversity ○ Found in a broad belt across the Equatorial region ○ Occupies only 7% of the world’s land surface ○ Contains many useful resources ■ Mainly found in Brazil, Central Africa, South East Asia ● 2...
Global impacts: ● Global warming ○ Tree canopy absorbs CO 2 from the atmosphere → stops as soon as trees are felled ○ Fire is used to clear rainforests → carbon stored in wood is released ○ Deforestation contributes to the greenhouse effect ● Loss of biodiversity ○...
Plants: ● Factors that help plants survive with poor soils ○ Rapid cycling of nutrients through the ecosystem ○ Absorption of sunlight → photosynthesis ○ Warm and humid climate is ideal for plant growth ○ Ability of plants to adapt as they compete for...
Deforestation of Tropical Rainforests: Deforestation = the cutting down of forests (trees)/the permanent loss of trees ○ Only started to have a serious impact on rainforests in the last 100 years ● UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that 50% of world’s...
Logging = business of cutting down trees and transporting logs to sawmills ● Selective logging = cutting trees which are mature/inferior → to encourage growth of remaining trees in forest ● Commercial farming = farming to sell produce for a profit to...
Strategies for Managing Tropical Rainforests: Sustainable management = using goods and services in a way that makes them available for future generations → takes at 3 levels: international, national and local ● Rainforest needs to be managed sustainably in order to...
Tropical rainforests provide resources and opportunities in 2 different ways ○ Goods = products by the rainforest in its natural state → can be obtained directly from the rainforest ■ Native food crops ■ Wild meat/fish ■ Building materials (eg/ timber) ■ Energy from...
Interdependence: ● Plant cover is low ○ Cold climate causes plants to grow/decompose slowly ○ Soil is relatively thin/low in nutrients ■ In summer there is greater plant cover ● Plants absorb heat from the sun ● Prevent permafrost from thawing ● Permafrost provides...
World’s cold environments are high-latitude world regions ○ Cold, sinking air generates freezing winds ○ Insolation is weak ■ Sun doesn't rise for several months → due to Earth’s tilt on its axis ● Ground is permanently frozen in polar and tundra climates = permafrost...
US state of Alaska borders Canada and the Arctic Ocean ○ Covers nearly 2 million km 2 ○ Is one of Earth’s coldest regions ● Although it takes up a lot of space → Alaska is one of the Earth’s most sparsely populated areas ○ Reflects lack of economic opportunities ○ ½...
Development Challenges in Alaska: Uneven development: ● Adapting to cold tundra environment in Alaska is a challenge ○ There is virtually no settled population in Alaska due to low temperatures and months without sunlight ● Absence of people reflects low carrying...
Distribution and Characteristics of Global Ecosystems: Biome = a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat ○ Suited to the climate of the locality it is placed ○ Can be spread across continents → will be differences in the...
Changes Affecting Ecosystem Balance: Physical and human forces that disturb ecosystem balance: ● Periods of extreme weather/climate change → an disturb balance of ecosystems ○ eg/ in 1976 - 77, south England experienced an 18 month drought → killed many trees ○ eg/ in...
Operation of Ecosystems: Population = all the members of a single species that live in a habitat ● Habitat = the place where an organism lives ● Community = all the populations of different organisms that live together in a habitat ● Ecosystem = interaction of a...