land cover change

Question 1

Define environment

Answer 1

the living and the non-living elements of earths surface.
-includes human changes to earths surface (croplands, planted forests, buildings and roads).
-eg: 75% of earths terrestrial surface has been altered by human activity

Question 2

define natural biomes

Answer 2

biomes (communities of life forms adapted to a large natural area) that has not had sustained, direct human interactions
-aquatic, desert, forest, grassland, tundra
-eg: temperate grasslands include Eurasian steppe, extending from Hungary to China. receive up to 25 to 50cm of rainfall each year.

Question 3

define anthropogenic biomes

Answer 3

biomes that are the result of sustained direct human interactions with ecosystems. (human biomes)
-urban, rural or villages, croplands, and rangelands
-eg: nearly 3/4 of the earths land is made up of anthropogenic biomes. by 2000, more than half of the earths surface has been transformed into croplands, villages and settlements.

Question 4

define land cover change

Answer 4

changes that have taken place in natural places due to a variety of natural and/or human induced causes.
-natural: cyclones, bushfires, tsunamis
-human: agriculture, urban areas, mining, forestry
-eg: every year, around 10 million hectares of forests are removed with land use changes affecting nearly 1/3 of global land area between 1960 and 2019.

Question 5

define ecosystem structures and dynamics

Answer 5

structure made up of the abiotic and biotic elements within a hierarchy of organisms, trophic levels (producer and consumer) and relationships between them- the flow of energy through food chains and food webs

Question 6

define biodiversity loss

Answer 6

extinction of species worldwide, and local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat.
-loss in variety of life can lead to the breakdown of functioning ecosystems
-eg: average abundance of native species in terrestrial habitats has fallen by 20% since 1900.

Question 7

define climate change

Answer 7

long term change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over the years (decades-millions of years)
-eg: since 1980 green house gas emissions have doubled, resulting in 0.7% global temp increase.
-increased sea level rise, loss of biodiversity, increase in both the occurance and strenth of natural hazards as a result.

Question 8

define sustainability

Answer 8

meeting the needs of current and future generations through simulataneous environmental, social and economic adaptraion and improvement.
-eg: adapting power generation strategies to ensure protection of the environment while maintaining a benefit to people in terms of economic growth and standard of living.

Question 9

deforestation

Answer 9

the removal or clearing of forests generaly for uses such as agriculture and urban development
-increased population has increased deforestation as more urban settlement is required.
-eg: in 2020, Brazil lost 8000km^2 of amazon rainforest making a 9.5% increase from pervious years. for illegal logging, agriculture and mining.

Question 10

expansion of agriculture

Answer 10

the conversion of more land to the growing of crops and raising of livestock.
-eg: between 2000 and 2015, expamnsion of soybnean cultivation and cattle ranching lef to the clearing of over 120,000 km^2 of amazon rainforest (60% of total deforestation)

Question 11

intestification of agriculture

Answer 11

the increase in the outpout of exisitng farmland
-higher crop yield, more livestock
-eg: from 1990 to 2015, brazils soybean production rose by nearly 300% in amazon rainforest. advanced farming technologies has made this more accessible such as the use of genetically modified crops, pesticides and fertilizers, greater yield per hectare.

Question 12

growth of urban settlement

Answer 12

the expansion of land through clearing of natural vegetation and habitats, so infrasturcutre supporting urban areas can be built.
-eg: by 2018, the capital of the amazon rainforest has a population of 2.1million, where in 2010, it was 1.8million, contributing to land conversion of forested areas into roads and houses.

Question 13

mining

Answer 13

obtaining coal or other minerals from a mine
-eg: gold mining sector has expanded rapidly in amazon. resulting in direct forest clearing for infrasturcture. in 2017, mining accounted for 10% of deforestation in Brazil, will illagal gold mining.

Question 14

remote sensing (rs)

Answer 14

science of obtaining information. about objects or areas from a distance- aircraft or satellites
-identifies, measures and monitors the extent and rate of LCC

Question 15

satellite

Answer 15

a body that revolves around a planet to allow people to make international phone calls, watch TV, whilst gathering info from a far distance

Question 16

rs- location

Answer 16

a time-series analysis of satellite images can reveal deforestation hot sports in the amaxon or urban development in major cities

Question 17

rs- type

Answer 17

infrared imagery can differentiate between healthy vegetation and cleared land helping detect deforestation, expansion of agricutlure or wetland loss

Question 18

rs- rate

Answer 18

lands at satelite data can track the annual rate of glacier retreat or the pace of desertification in arid regions

Question 19

rs- extent

Answer 19

total area affected; satellite images calculate total hectares of forests lost due to wildfires or illegal logging

Question 20

world population impacts (wp)

Answer 20

since 1970, world population has grown from 3.7 to over 7.9 billion. estimated to reach 9billion by 2050.
-slowing down gradually
-influenced by lifespan increasing (life expectancy is 72.6years), majority of population being in urban areas and fertility declining (approx 2 children per woman- halved since 1950)

Question 21

wp- type

Answer 21

population increase results in demand for housing and commercial space increase= increaseing conversion of land
-eg: mumbai-housing shortages-slums like dharavi (affecting standard of living)

Question 22

wp- extent

Answer 22

large scale transformation of forests, widespread environmental degradation due to pollution/lack of sanitation facilities
-eg: kibera slums- 2009 had a population of 200000 led to unregulated land use changes (43.5% increase in settlement areas)

Question 23

wp- rate

Answer 23

exponential increase in population results in rapid urbanisation in order to accomodate needs of a larger group

Question 24

growing affluence (ga)

Answer 24

increase in wealth, rises in more economically developed countries compared to lower economically developed countries. industrial revolution allowed for more large scalled production, more profit, urban settlement- in MEDC

Question 25

ga- type

Answer 25

wealthier, higher abaility to ourchase goods and services, meaning more materials required -eg: icnreased consumption of meat= increased demand for cattle farming and increased amount of forests being converted into farmlands for expansion of agriculture

Question 26

ga- rate

Answer 26

increased consumerism means extraction of more raw materials, faster

Question 27

ga- extent

Answer 27

increased need for materals via mining results in resourse in mines to be used up quickly = more mines, more habitats destroyed and more population

Question 28

advances in tenchology (at)

Answer 28

technology and machine development in industrial revolution allowed large scale production

Question 29

at- type

Answer 29

through machinery and tech (trackter) development, land clearing became much more accessible

Question 30

at- rate

Answer 30

improvements in farming increased the rate at which land was cleared

Question 31

at- extent

Answer 31

descreased size of land needed- agriculture can be intensified instand using tech- geneticallyy modified canola cropts since 2010 (wa) increased yields 6-25%

Question 32

LCC in australia

Answer 32

-strict government policies for rehabilitation of mines and forested areas -wa forest management plan from 2024-2033 includes restriction of forestry clearing to preserve around 400,000 hectares of jarrah, wandoo and karri forests. -doesnt prevent clearning of native lands fir mining completely - shows changing attitudes towards LCC from the government

Question 33

LCC in brazil

Answer 33

throughout time, the government encouraged economic growth through the productivity of the amazon rainforest -since major loss to natural forestry, up to 20,000 square kilometres remoded from 1978 to 1988, government implemented the Forest Code- protection- 83% declines of deforestioaiton between 2004 and 2014 -eventually weakened by goverbnment change and pressure from lobbyists

Question 34

mosaic burning

Answer 34

-firestick farming -use of cool burns (controlled) to clear vegetation -system of patchwork burnings to clear undergrowth, rpodivde pathrs for travel -ensures forest werent destroyed

Question 35

decline in evapotranspiration

Answer 35

-raingall decreased by 50 5 due to decline in evapotranspiration -eg: currently 1/3 of rain from amazon baisin is from transpiring trees and moisture generated by basin. if 20-25% of amazon is cleared, rainfall will struggle to exist.

Question 36

urban heat island

Answer 36

-clearing of lands to accomodate growing urban areas results in creation of UHI -less vegetaion= less amount of heat absorbed -materials built in environment are non-reflective and water resistamt radiating more heat. resuslts in creation of heat waves and stress on plants. -eg: penrith, NSW, hottest place on earth (4th jan 2020) reaching 48.9 degrees, caused mainly by materials used in built enviornment which are non-reflective and water resistant -radiate more heat -roads and buildings covering 80% of suburbs, lack of shade from vegetation reduction.