unit 1 (WWR) past papers

• Solar variation


  Occurs on an 11 year, and longer, cycle which alters the amount of incoming radiation from the sun
• The variation is enough to cause warming/cooling of 0.1-0.6C on timescale of a few years
• Longer term (decades) sunspot trends can have a cumulative cooling or warming effect
• Thermohaline circulation/ocean currents


  Shifts in these can cause alternations to climate
• Answers should not focus on global warming/enhanced greenhouse effect or Milankovitch cycles
• Indicative content guidance


  • Adaptation involves accepting that future climate change will occur and changing lifestyles and economic activity to suit
  • Mitigation means reducing emissions to both try and prevent global warming, or reduce its impact/scale
• Do adaptation schemes successfully drive mitigation schemes at all scales?

  Global conferences (Kyoto 1997, Paris 2015) have had variable success in reaching agreements and reducing emissions -reductions – variation in target setting between countries and willingness to ratify treaties
• Mitigation on a local scale


  May be developed on a need basis
• Lack of agreement in evidence and projections of global warming


  Has led to differing models of impacts and therefore actions
• The priority of global warming afforded by government, as political policy


  Will determine the readiness of action to be taken (or political stability of governance)
• The implementation of adaptation and mitigation


  Is dependent on geographical location and economic factors, e.g. coastal areas subject to increases in sea level rise will be more likely to take measures to reduce the impacts and however this will be dependent on the cost-benefit
• Spatial variation in the work of NGOs, such as WaterAid or the Red Cross to work with local communities


  To facilitate mitigation strategies within communities. These measures often take place in areas where there is greatest need
• In areas where the impacts of global warming brings benefits (e.g. viticulture)

  There may be less desire to act and implement adaptation and mitigation. Or if economic benefits outweigh impacts of warming mitigation may not be a priority
• In 2000 the percentage connected is generally very low; the USA stands out as being highly connected but is still less than 60%
• Some developing countries are basically not using the internet at all in 2000
• There is much more variation in 2016, with N Korea still virtually 0 but over 80% in USA and Singapore
• Developing countries have increased hugely between 2000 and 2016, especially in China and Kenya, although Ethiopia still has a low percentage connection
• In 2000 the internet was a new, expensive technology


  So was not affordable in the developing world; it required an electricity grid and landline grid which was only found in developed countries
• The rise of mobile phones


  Is a major reason for the growth in developing/emerging world internet use
• The expansion of the global submarine fibre-optic cable network


  Has connected developing/emerging countries cheaply – and led to a huge expansion; poverty can be used as an argument for the lower % in some developing countries
• Some countries are politically cut off, e.g. N Korea


  Internet still viewed as politically dangerous so banned
• Physical reasons, i.e. mountainous, rural isolation, extreme climate

  May be used as explanations for Ethiopia's still low %
• Role of globalisation, TNCs and outsourcing in China

  I.e. companies demand internet connections which are then used by the wider population
• Global population is projected to grow in the future, but the exact level is unknown; by 2050 9 billion is widely expected but by 2100 predictions range from 9 – 11 billion
• Some commentators believe that population will peak mid-Century while others think it will continue to grow
• Resources


  • Water
  • Food
  • Energy resources particularly fossil fuels
• Theoretical relationships between population and resources

  • Malthus
  • Boserup
  • Club of Rome
• A key variable is global population


  This cannot be known and depends on present and future BR/DR; higher rates of growth may increase the likelihood of shortages but there is uncertainty
• The Malthusian argument can be applied to food production


  I.e. too many mouths to feed; against this is lack of evidence of widespread famine and Boserupian developments in farming technology (drip irrigation, green revolution, GM crops) which mean so far food production has kept pace
• The Boserupian argument can be applied to fossil fuels as well


  I.e. renewable technology is increasingly replacing fossil fuels so that shortages are unlikely to be an issue because replacements have been found
• The Club of Rome position is a 'resource crisis' one


  (not just about food) where population, pollution, energy, water and food all combine at crisis levels – this is often seen as very pessimistic and doom-laden – however, it does allow for global environmental issues (global warming) to play a role in the equation
• Some might argue that global warming will degrade the resource base


  So that there will be fewer resources in the future than today, e.g. water resources – making shortages much more likely (but the cause is not really population growth)
• When analysing markets, a range of assumptions are made about the rationality of economic agents involved in the transactions
• The Wealth of Nations was written in 1776
• Rational


  (in classical economic theory) economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
• Rational agents will select the choice which presents the highest benefits
• Producers act rationally by


  Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits
• Workers act rationally by


  Balancing welfare at work with consideration of both pay and benefits
• Governments act rationally by


  Placing the interests of the people they serve first in order to maximise their welfare
• Groups assumed to act rationally


  • Consumers
  • Producers
  • Workers
  • Governments