Year 10 Humanities Revision Semester 1

• Habitat


  Area of an environment in which an organism lives
• Atmosphere


  The mixture of gases that surround the Earth
• Lithosphere


  The mixture of rocks that make up an Earth's mass, including solid land mass on Earth's surface, the molten rocks beneath the crust and the mantle and the liquid rocks near the Earth's core
• Hydrosphere


  The water on Earth's surface, including water in gaseous, liquid and solid form
• Biosphere


  All living things on the Earth which rely on the other three spheres for survival
• Degradation


  Reduction in the quality and health of natural environment due to natural processes or human activities
• Climate


  Long-term trends in the weather conditions of place, for example average rainfall and temperature
• An environment is all the living and non-living things within and surround a place
• Ecosystem


  A community of living organism that interact with the non-living components within an environment
• Biodiversity


  The variety of living things within an environment, including plants, animals and microorganisms – the more types of living things in an environment, the higher its biodiversity
• How environments are classified

  Geographers' categories environments based on their combinations of geographic characteristics. In land-based environments, these include climate, elevation, topography, vegetation and soil types. In marine environments, characteristics include water quality and depth. The location of a place often plays a large role in determining its environment
• Land environment


  Forests, deserts, grasslands or ice environments. Inland water bodies, coastlines and highly modified rural or urban landscapes are also significant land environments
• Factors that determine land environments

  • Latitude
  • Proximity to coastline
  • Elevation
  • Presence of major landforms
• Land environments


  • Forests
  • Deserts
• Environmental worldview


  An opinion, belief, idea or way of thinking about the value of the environment
• Factors that determine environmental worldview

  Experiences of environmental issues, media and education. The value you place on the environment, ranging from a deep need to protect and preserve it, to utilising it for meeting our unlimited needs and wants
• Human-centred worldview


  Believe that humans are the most important species on Earth and the pursuit of economic growth is imperative
• Earth-centred worldview


  Think that humans are a part of nature
• Environmental worldview


  Affects our responses to environmental issues, including our behaviour towards recycling or managing water usage at home, and the degree to which the environment is managed at state or national scale
• Ways the environment can be changed

  • Human induced changes that can be direct or indirect
• Direct human-induced environmental change

  • Clearing a forest to use the land for agriculture
• Indirect human-induced environmental change

  • Increase in population leading to a subsequent increase in demand for food
• Climate change


  Changes in the pattern of weather over larger time scales. It is a natural process that is responsible for cycles of ice ages, with warmer interglacial periods when much of the ice melts and sea levels rise
• Anthropogenic climate change


  Climate change that has been caused by the activities of human beings, such as increases in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide
• Greenhouse effect


  An increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and other gases in atmosphere, that is believed to be the cause of a gradual warming of the surface of the Earth

  
• Greenhouse gases


  • Carbon Dioxide
  • Methane
  • Nitrous Oxide
• Enhanced greenhouse effect


  More radiation is trapped and re-emitted back down to Earth's surface compared to the natural greenhouse effect

  
• Factors that influence environmental change

  • Social
  • Historical
  • Economic
  • Environmental/physical
  • Political
  • Technological
• Sustainability


  Whether or not an environment is able to maintain current needs without compromising its ability to meet the need of future generations
• Social impacts of land degradation

  Land shortages, poverty and rapid population growth, forcing unsustainable cultivation and loss of livelihoods
• Environmental impacts of land degradation

  Soil erosion, increased salinity, desertification and decline in soil fertility
• Social impacts of habitat fragmentation

  Humans are more often responsible through activities like logging, urban development, and building roads and railways
• Environmental impacts of habitat fragmentation

  Reduction in habitat size, increased competition for resources, and reduced genetic diversity
• Social impacts of changing river flows and reducing water quality

  Flow regulation by dams to ensure reliable water supply for agriculture and urban uses
• Environmental impacts of changing river flows and reducing water quality

  Floods provide essential interconnection between river channels and floodplains, maintaining wetland health
• Environmental impacts of pest and weed infestation

  Extinction of native species, competition for food and habitat, reduced biodiversity and ecological imbalance
• Economic impacts of pest and weed infestation

  Decreased agricultural outputs and financial losses in rural areas
• Social impacts of overfishing

  Reduction in food supply as adult fish are caught at a high rate before they can breed
• Economic impacts of overfishing


  Unsustainable for many smaller fishing businesses
• Environmental impacts of overfishing


  Decreases the health of marine ecosystems as commercial fishing fleets harvest fish further down the food chain