Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment
Section C: The challenge of resource management
What you need to know – the UK section
Specification content / You should be able to…Resource Management
The significance of food, water and energy to economic and social well-being. / Use your homework tasks to help you revise.
Define these key terms:
- Resource
- Quality of life
- Standard of living
- Food
- Water
- Energy
An overview of global inequalities in the supply and consumption of resources. / Use your homework tasks to revise this section:
From your homework: The consumption (use) of resources varies greatly throughout the world. Generally High Income Countries (HICs) consume more resources than Low Income Countries (LICs). We have enough essential resources in the world but they are unevenly distributed.As wealth of LICs grows, the demand for resources also grows. Therefore there is a shortage or scarcity of these essential resources.
Practise your describing skills using the maps in your homework – use the main latitude lines (Equator, Tropic of Cancer/Capricorn), continents and compass directions.
Describe how the following resources are distributed (spread out) unevenly in the world:
-Food supply
-Food consumption (eating)
-Water supply
-Water consumption (use)
-Energy supply
-Energy consumption (use)
An overview of resources in relation to the UK.
UK Food:
•• the growing demand for high-value food exports from low incomecountries and all-year demand for seasonal food and organicproduce.
•• larger carbon footprints due to the increasing number of ‘foodmiles’ travelled, and moves towards local sourcing of food.
•• the trend towards agribusiness. / Explain why 40% of UK food is now imported (mainly from LICs).
Explain the impact of an LIC like Kenya exporting high value food to HICs like the UK – positive and negative.
Give reasons why people demand (want) organic produce now.
Define key terms food mile and carbon footprint.
Explain how importing food increases the UK’s carbon footprint.
Explain why people want to eat food sourced from their local area – Produced within 30 miles of where it is sold; Encourages a varied and seasonal diet of fresh food; Reconnects communities with farmers through farmers markets etc (revitalises town centres); Reduces traffic congestion, noise and pollution from food miles
Describe what an agribusiness is.
UK Water:
•• the changing demand for water
•• water quality and pollution management
•• matching supply and demand – areas of deficit and surplus
•• the need for transfer to maintain supplies. / Explain why there has been a 70% increase in demand for UK water since 1985.
Describe at least one form of water pollution in the UK. Explain how this water pollution has an effect on people and/or the environment.
Describe and explain one way water pollution is managed in the UK.
Define key terms: water surplus areas, water deficit areas, water stress.
Explain why the NW of the UK has a water surplus and the SE of the UK has a water deficit.
Give one example of a water transfer scheme (water being from an area of surplus to an area of deficit).
UK Energy:
•• the changing energy mix – reliance on fossil fuels, growing significance of renewables
•• reduced domestic supplies of coal, gas and oil
•• economic and environmental issues associated with exploitation of energy sources. / Define the key terms energy mix, fossil fuels and renewable energy (give examples).
Describe how the UK’s energy mix has changed since 1990 – are we more or less reliant on fossil fuels now?
Explain why the average UK household uses 12% less energy compared to 1970.
Explain how industrial change has led to changes in energy consumption (use).
Give reasons why the UK’s energy mix has changed (LH’s group can use the quick on the draw question/answers).
Describe at least one positive and negative economic effect of exploiting the following energy sources: (Be able to explain why it is a positive or negative effect)
-Fossil fuels
-Nuclear
-Renewables
-Fracking
Do the same as above but this time for environmental effects.
Water - use your homework tasks to help you with this part of your revision
Areas of surplus (security) and deficit (insecurity):
•• global patterns of water surplus and deficit / Define key terms: water surplus, water deficit, water security and water insecurity.
Know the main areas of water surplus and deficit. Practise using a map to help you describe.
•• reasons for increasing water consumption: economicdevelopment, rising population / Explain how economic development leads to increasing water consumption.
Explain how rising population leads to increasing water consumption.
•• factors affecting water availability: climate, geology, pollution of supply, over-abstraction, limited infrastructure, poverty. / Explain how each of the following either increases or decreases water availability:
- Climate
- Geology (rock type)
- Pollution of water supply
- Over abstraction (removing water)
- Limited infrastructure (e.g. pumping stations, water pipes)
- Poverty
Impacts of water insecurity – waterborne disease and water pollution, food production, industrial output, potential for conflict where demand exceeds supply. / Define water insecurity.
Describe and explain how the following affect people:
-Waterborne disease
-Water pollution
Describe how water insecurity affects food production and industrial output.
Explain how water insecurity can lead to conflict (use an example of a river that crosses more than one country).
Overview of strategies to increase water supply:
•• diverting supplies and increasing storage, dams and reservoirs,water transfers and desalination / Explain how each of the following strategies increases water supply (and know the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies). You could use a table like this:
Strategy / How it increases water supply: / Advantages (benefits): / Disadvantages (costs):
Diverting supplies and increasing storage
Dams and reservoirs
Water transfers
Desalination
•• an example of a large scale water transfer scheme to show howits development has both advantages and disadvantages. / Explain how the South North Water Transfer Project in China transfers water.
Explain the SNWTP advantages and disadvantages.
Moving towards a sustainable resource future:
•• water conservation, groundwater management, recycling, ‘grey’water / Define sustainable water supply.
Describe each strategy and explain how it should lead to a more sustainable water supply. You could use a table like this:
Strategy / Description of how it works / Explanation of how it leads to a more sustainable water supply
Water conservation
Groundwater management
Recycling
Grey water
•• An example of a local scheme in an LIC or NEE to increase sustainable supplies of water. / Explain why a local water scheme was needed in Hitosa, Ethiopia (LIC).
It is an example of appropriate technology (technology suited to the needs, skills, knowledge and wealth of the local people and their environment).
Draw a diagram to show how this simple system supplies water sustainably.
Explain the benefits of this simple scheme.
Explain how there might be problems in the future for this supply of water to continue to be sustainable.