geography paper 1

• Natural hazard


  A natural process that can cause death, injury, or disruption to humans, property, or possessions
• Types of natural hazards

  • Tectonic (e.g. earthquakes)
  • Geological (e.g. landslides)
  • Atmospheric (e.g. hurricanes)
• Earth's layers


  • Crust (5-10 km thick, several large tectonic plates)
  • Mantle (2,900 km thick, often liquid rock)
  • Outer core (molten)
  • Inner core (solid, very dense)
• Convection currents in the Earth

  1. Radioactive decay generates heat

  2. Heat causes magma to rise

  3. Magma cools and sinks

  4. Circular convection current is formed
• Types of plate boundaries

  • Destructive (crust is destroyed, subduction, earthquakes, volcanoes)
  • Constructive (new crust is formed, plates pull apart, volcanoes)
  • Conservative (plates slide past each other, earthquakes)
• Earthquake terms


  • Focus (point where energy is released)
  • Epicenter (point directly above focus on surface)
  • Seismic waves (energy radiating outwards)
• Earthquake management


  • Earthquake-resistant buildings
  • Public awareness and education
  • Improved prediction and monitoring
• Earthquake case studies


  • Gorkha earthquake in Nepal 2015 (7.8 magnitude, landslides)
  • Tohoku earthquake in Japan 2011 (9.0 magnitude, quick recovery)
• Volcanic hazards


  • Ash cloud
  • Lahar (fast-flowing mud)
  • Pyroclastic flow (superheated gas)
• Why people live in volcanic/earthquake-prone areas

  Beneficial for farming, cheaper land, tourism, lifelong homes
• Global atmospheric circulation


  • Hadley cell, Ferrel cell, Polar cell
• Pressure systems


  • Low pressure (hot air rising, stormy)
  • High pressure (cold air sinking, calm)
• Winds always blow from high to low pressure
• Tropical storms


  Different names in different regions (e.g. hurricane, typhoon, cyclone)
• Atmospheric circulation at the equator

  1. Sun heats ground

  2. Hot air rises

  3. Air cools and sinks

  4. Cycle repeats
• Low pressure


  Caused by hot air rising, leads to stormy, cloudy weather
• High pressure


  Caused by cold air sinking, leads to clear, calm weather
• Tropical storm formation


  1. Sun heats large area of ocean, creating warm moist air and low pressure

  2. Trade winds blow in opposite directions, causing spinning motion

  3. Storm gathers speed, normally faster than 74 mph

  4. Storm gathers power, with cool air sinking in the center

  5. Storm loses energy when it hits land and loses water source

  6. Damage and effects occur
• Increase in ocean temperatures

  Increase in frequency of tropical storms
• Tropical storm management strategies

  • Aid planning
  • Prediction
  • Educating people
• Primary and secondary effects of tropical storms

  • Intense winds damaging buildings
  • High season flooding, people left homeless
  • Crops damaged
• Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 was a category 5 super typhoon that caused 6,500 deaths and 130,000 homes destroyed
• $190 million in aid was issued and typhoon preparedness education was provided for Typhoon Haiyan
• Global temperatures have risen by 0.9°C since 1950
• Arctic sea ice has declined by 10% in the last 30 years
• Sea levels have risen by 10-20 cm in the past 100 years
• Evidence of natural climate change

  • Orbital changes
  • Sunspots
  • Volcanic eruptions
• Strategies to manage climate change

  • Carbon capture technology
  • Tree planting
  • International agreements like COP26
  • Increased use of renewable energy
• The Cumbrian floods in the UK had record heavy rainfall for 36 hours, causing 1,500 homes to be flooded
• In response, new flood embankments were built and improved flood warnings were implemented
• Abiotic


  Non-living components of an ecosystem
• Biotic


  Living components of an ecosystem, including flora and fauna
• Food webs and chains show the interactions between biotic components
• Energy is lost at each link in a food chain, limiting the number of links to 4-5
• Nutrient cycle


  1. Biomass layer

  2. Litter stage

  3. Decomposition

  4. Nutrients returned to soil
• Tropical rainforests cover 2% of the Earth's surface but contain over 50% of its plant and animal species
• Interdependence


  When two organisms are mutually reliant on each other
• Tropical rainforests are found centered along the equator
• Climate graph


  Shows average monthly rainfall (bars) and temperature (line)
• Layers of the rainforest

  • Forest floor
  • Understory
  • Canopy
  • Emergent layer