geography assessment

• The four spheres of the environment

  • Lithosphere
  • Atmosphere
  • Hydrosphere
  • Biosphere
• Lithosphere


  • Ground/rock/crust and upper mantle
• Atmosphere


  • Air
• Hydrosphere


  • Water
• Biosphere


  • Living things
• The biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere make up all of Earth's components, both living and non-living
• The interactions between the four spheres drive Earth's processes
• Biodiversity


  The variety of all life forms on Earth
• Benefits of a healthy biodiversity

  • Biological resources - associated with living things (flora and fauna)
  • Ecosystem services - processes that contribute to efficient functioning of the environment
  • Social benefits - positively affect the interaction between individuals, groups and societies
• The way in which we think about our environment has changed dramatically over the last few decades
• The ecosystem services it provides (like clean air, plant pollination and fertile soil) have long been ignored or taken for granted
• Source


  Natural products that can be used or converted by humans for our use
• Sink


  Processes in the natural environment that break down, recycle or absorb waste/pollution
• Service


  Things that are done for us by the natural environment that don't produce consumable resources
• Spirituality


  The environment also has a spiritual function for many people
• Environmental change is any alteration to an environment that disturbs natural ecological processes
• Some environmental changes have beneficial outcomes for humans, while others have negative effects
• Natural


  Factors that cause environmental change without human involvement
• Human-induced


  Factors that cause environmental change due to human activity
• Tropical rainforests


  Climate, global distribution, ecosystem functions, environmental processes
• Types of rainforests


  • Tropical
  • Temperate
• Tropical rainforests


  • Characterised by warm temperature and high rainfall
  • Temperature averages between 20°C to 29°C
  • Rainfall between 200 to 1000 cm annually
  • Cover 6% of the planet's surface
  • Have the highest biodiversity of any terrestrial biome
• Tropical rainforests are found where there are both high temperatures and high precipitation
• Tropical rainforests are found near the Equator, mostly between the Tropics of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn
• Regions with tropical rainforests

  • South America (Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia)
  • Africa (Angola, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  • Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia)
  • Australasia (Australia, Papua New Guinea)
• Vast areas of rainforests are cleared or degraded each year by human activities, with dramatic consequences for biodiversity
• Around 5 million hectares of forest is cleared each year, 95% of this occurs in the tropics
• Threats to Tropical Rainforests

  • Amazon Deforestation
• Causes of Deforestation


  • Cattle ranching
  • Agriculture
  • Logging
  • Mining
  • Oil extraction
  • Dam-building
• Brazil, DRC, and Bolivia have high rates of tropical rainforest deforestation due to agriculture and mining
• Sumatra


  • Location: Island in western Indonesia between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea
  • Area: 473,481 km²
  • Population: Approximately 60 million people
• Palm oil


  Comes from the fruit of the Elaeis guineensis species of palm, which originates in the equatorial coastal region of West Africa
• Palm oil is the most widely-used vegetable oil in the world
• Palm oil has been used by humans for over 5000 years
• Products containing palm oil

  • Cooking oil
  • Chocolate
  • Cosmetics
  • Chips
  • Instant noodles
  • Biscuits
  • Margarine
  • Shower gel
  • Shampoo
  • Soaps
• Why palm oil is used

  • Greater yield - it produces far more oil on far less land than other vegetable oils
  • Increases the shelf life of various products
  • Can withstand high temperatures
  • Odourless and colourless, so it doesn't change the product when added
  • Used as biofuel in some countries to replace fossil fuels
• Palm oil plantations


  Grown in the tropics, requiring high rainfall, adequate sunlight, and humid conditions
• Clearing for palm oil plantations has destroyed vast swathes of rich, green rainforest
• Palm oil plantations are expanding more rapidly than any other agricultural commodity
• Indonesia


  Largest palm oil producer, producing 47 million tonnes of crude palm oil in 2023, contributing to 59% of global production