HASS geography

• what is a habitat


  an area of environment in which an organism lives
• whats an Atmosphere


  a mixture of gases that surround the earth
• Whats a lithosphere


  a mixture of rocks that make up the earths mass, including the solid mass on the durface and the molten rocks beneath the crust
• Hydrosphere


  The water on the earth (in any form; vape, liquid and solid)
• biosphere


  all living things on earth that rely on each other (atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere)
• degradation t


  the reduction of quality and health of a natural environment due to natural processes or human activities
• Climate


  Long term weather condition change (e.g; average rainfall & temperature)
• Ecosystem


  the community of living and non-living components within an environment
• biodiversity


  the variety of life on earth, in all it's form
• How are the environments classified?


  Land: climate, elevation, typography, vegetation & soil types
• What are the factors that contribute to the distribution of land environments?

  • latitude, how far or close the coastline is, elevation (contributes to the rainfall and temperature) & the presence of major landforms such as; mountain ranges
• define environmental worldview


  An opinion, idea or way of thinking about the value of the environment
• What determines an individuals environmental worldview?

  personal experiences, media and education (PME)
• describe the difference between human and earth centered worldviews

  Human centered worldviews refers to the belief that humans are the most important species, disregarding the spiritual value of the natural environment, and only seeing it as a resource that should meet our unlimited needs and wants. Whilst, Earth centered views refers to the belief that all living things exist to support life, including the natural environment.
• How can our environmental worldview affect our responses to environmental issues


  Our environmental worldview can affect whether we'll conduct a positive or negative behaviour or action towards what needs to be done on a local, regional or national scale. e.g, our behaviour of managing water wastage locally can depend on our environmental worldview, as earth centered people are more eager to make, whilst human centered wouldn't care as much as they should.
• what are two ways that an environment can change

  natural disturbances; natural disasters OR human induced activities; extensive agricultural practices
• How can natural disturbances affect the environment

  Can cause disruption of the surrounding natural environment; stagnant regrowth of trees, which may cause animals who rely on those trees and plants to find alternative resources.
• How can human induced activities change the environment

  can change the environment indirectly or directly. For example, clearing a forest to use land for extensive agricultural use is a direct cause of change, as for the increase population may lead to a greater increase in demand for food, by which that is indirect.
• climate change


  refers to the changes in the pattern of weather over larger time scales; it's the natural process that's responsible for the cycles of ice ages
• is climate change natural or human induced?

  climate change is naturally induced, as due to the sun's radiation and variations in the earth's orbit, it naturally changes the composition of gases due to greenhouse gases
• Climate change


  refers to the changes in the pattern of weather over large time scales
• explain why climate change is human induced

  climate change is human induced due to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and extensive agriculture practices
• greenhouse effect


  an increase of amount of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere, which is believed to be the cause of the gradual warming of the surface of earth
• 3 most common types of greenhouse gases

  methane (production + transport of coal and agricultural practice), carbon dioxide (burning of fossil fuels), nitrous oxide (agricultural and industrial activities)
• difference between greenhouse effect and ENHANCED greenhouse effect

  greenhouse effect refers to the NATURAL process of atmospheric absorption and reflection of heat back towards the earth, although ENHANCED greenhouse effect refers to the extensive increase of greenhouse gases in the earths atmosphere -> ANTHROPOGENIC (human induced)
• 6 factors that influence environmental change

  social, historical, economic, environmental, political, technological
• sustainability


  the practice of using natural resources responsibly so that it is available for future generations
• 4 different approaches that assess and manage environmental change

  1. preventing change:
  2. monitoring and assessment: e
  3. reversing previous changes:
  4. artificial solutions:
• preventing change


  manages threats like pests, and attempts to prevent the introduction of new threats -> cheaper + effective, as it's more easier to prevent invasive species rather than removing them
• monitoring and assessment


  doesn't directly influence changes to the environment, but an essential part of guiding management practices through the use of technology which involves gathering, managing and analysing spatial data
• reversing previous changes


  reversing management, policies and practices they do this through -> technology and opinions of residents
• artificial solutions

  used to enable a natural process to continue within a changed environment: compromises for ecosystems still function within a human environment
• How Aboriginal environmental management can assist modern technique

  Assists by using traditional burning techniques, fish traps, sowing and hunting practices to survive

  -> controlled burning, reduce fuel land and by which vegetation evolves to adapt to fire, regenerating to increase biodiversity