PAPER 3: UK CHALLENGES Flashcards
(22 cards)
How is the UK’s population expected to change in the next 50 years?
Projected to be an extra 13 million people in the UK by 2050 (77 mil)
How is the UK’s growing population impacting resource consumption?
Extra people all require housing, education, employment, power, food and water. This will put strain on resources and needs to be planned for.
What are the pressures of a growing population on the UK’s ecosystems?
- Increased food production required. So, land needs to be cleared for space for crops resulting in destruction of animal habitats.
- Need for more housing leads to building on greenfield sites. This affects habitats and increases flood risk as more impermeable surfaces prevent drainage.
- Increase in greenhouse gas emmissions due to increased use of fossil fuels as more people require energy/goods made in factories. This leads to climate change.
What are some of the sustainable transport options in the UK?
- Improving public transport encourages people to not drive their cars, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- Cycle paths encourage people to cycle rather than drive
- Car-sharing schemes
- Use of electric cars
- The congestion charge reduced congestion and pollution in London.
What’s the ‘Two-Speed Economy’?
The idea that economic growth within the UK is not uniform across the whole country.
What are some solutions for the ‘Two-Speed Economy’?
- ‘HS2’ railway between London and northern cities.
- Improvements in connections to northern airports e.g. Manchester encourages travel and investment from abroad
- Investing in better transport makes it easier for new businesses in the north to set up and move their goods
Advantages and Disadvantages of Greenfield sites
Advantages:
- Relatively cheap
- Attractive environment to live in
- Easy to build on as there are not many houses there
Disadvantages:
- Valuable farm land lost
- Wildlife and their habitats lost/disturbed
- Often far from work and services, increasing traffic
Advantages and Disadvantages of Brownfield sites
Advantages:
- Reduces loss of countryside and land that could be used for agriculture and recreation
- Services like water, electricity, gas and sewerage already in place
- Commuting reduced as they are located nearer to main areas of employment
Disadvantages:
- Often more expensive because old buildings have to be cleared
- Sometimes surrounded by rundown areas, so not always appealing to more wealthy people
- Higher levels of pollution is less healthy
Define net migration
The difference between the number of people entering and leaving a country.
Define migrant
A person that moves house within and between countries
What is the government and businesses’ view on migration?
- Immigration offers an increase in workers who help the economy grow and pay their taxes
- Many bring useful skills to the UK and are hard workers
What is local governments’ view on migration?
- Puts pressure on local services like health, school and housing
- Some economic migrants take jobs that would have gone to British workers
Emigrate vs immigrate
Emigrate = to leave a country to live in another
Immigrate = to move into a country to live
What are some approaches to conservation of UK national parks?
- ‘Conservation apprentices’
- Encouraging people to change their transport habits e.g. cycle/walk/ELECTRIC CARS to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from tourists
- Encouraging local businesses to use sustainable energy sources like wind and solar power
- Converting old farm buildings into new business premises like art galleries and offices to provide more employment for national parks
What are the approaches to managing river flood risk in the UK?
The Environment Agency:
- Controls development in flood plains
- Builds hard engineering flood defences
- Manages rivers and land use with soft engineering
- Helps people prepare for flooding and gives flood warnings
Why is the flood risk increasing in the UK?
- Increasing population means more people are affected and new developments are being built on flood plains (high risk)
- urban development creates more impermeable surfaces, increasing surface runoff
- Climate change = more extreme rainfall events
What are the approaches to managing coastal flooding risks in the UK?
- Sea walls
- Managed retreat forms salt marshes that act as natural defences and habitats for wildlife
How will global climate change affect the UK’s climate?
- Summer and winter temperatures will increase
- Wetter winders and drier summers
- Extreme rainfall will become more frequent and intense
What are the impacts of climate change on people in the UK?
- increased flood hazard
- increased coastal flooding risk (rising sea levels)
- increased drought risk = water deficits and threat to water security due to increasing population
What are the impacts of climate change on landscapes in the UK?
- Some species will migrate to cooler areas
- Drought in other parts of the world will increase food prices
- Some species may become extinct due to new conditions
- Crop failures?
What are the responses to climate change in the UK at a local scale?
- Walking/cycling instead of driving to reduce CO2 emissions
- Install solar panels to generate energy in your home
- Purchase locally produced food to reduce fuel being used to import food
What are the responses to climate change in the UK at a national scale?
- Governments launch campaigns to encourage people to recycle and reduce resource consumption + limit carbon emissions from industry/agriculture
