Unit 1 Exam Global Challenges: Revision session 2!

To see what you need to revise before Thursday!

To know how to be above average in Section A: January 2011

To understand that there is controversy surrounding global warming

Starter

•Smile or not....

•What do you know?

• You still have time to learn it!

Typical Section A Question

Stating key factual information• Questions worth 1 or 2 marks, test basic knowledge.

• Sometimes these are data stimulus questions:

• Seem like simple questions, easy to rush and get wrong:

• Guessing, because didn‟t look at Figure 4.• Finding the largest number on Figure 4

outside the UK (Thailand, 476),but not the „European Country‟

• This question marked low, despite seeming to be pretty straightforward

•The hazards listed in the specification, are:Earthquakes VolcanoesLandslidesFlood Drought Storms (hurricanes, depressions, cyclones etc)

:

Lessons to learn?

• No substitute for basic revision

• Some questions designed to be „easy‟

• Rushing them a mistake

• Know the specification e.g. „hydro-meteorological‟ is not everyday language, but it is in the specification and will therefore be used in the exam paper.

Listing reasons• These questions often have a mark tariff of 3.

• Best approach is to aim to write three differentreasons

• Numbered / bullet points OK

Many candidates:

• Give 1 or 2 reasons, but not three• Give 3, but actually repeat themselves

• Give too much background / generality

• Describe rather than give reasons especially if the Q relates to a Figure.

These are focussed questions: reason 1, reason 2, reason 3.

Both are saying the same point!

How might global warming increase disaster risk? (3)

• Warmer ocean = more energy/higher wind speed

• Temperature of 26-27C needed

• More evaporation = heavier rain

• Changes to tracks and could affect more populated areas

• Hurricanes may increase in magnitude (saffirsimpson scale) and frequency

• Could lead to more storm surges leading to more at risk.

• May affect ENSO

Lessons to learn?•Write to the mark allocation•Careful not to repeat the same point / reason•If it helps, use bullets / numbered points for these 3 mark questions (avoid bullets with only 1 or 2 words)

Same point!

Poverty

Structured short questions (2+2)• „structured answer space’.

• 4 marks, answer split into 2 parts.

• Awarded on a 2+2 basis.

They cause problems:

• Candidates write too briefly, get 1+1 but not 2+2

• Write the same thing twice

• Leave one „half‟ blank e.g. advantages, but not disadvantages or costs but not benefits.

The trick to getting 2 + 2 is to write two extendedpoints.

Describe the strength and weaknesses of adaptation as a way of managing climate change (4)

• Strengths

• Lives / property saved e.g. New Zealand accepting 75 Tuvaluans a year as environmental refugees

• Only option for poor societies e.g. Tuvalu has a GDP of $12 million.

• Necessary as some changes are now inevitable. China and India want economic growth, mitigation may no be achieved in time

• Will take a long time for all countries to agree to reduce emissions, let alone cease them

• Weaknesses

• Does not tackle underlying cause of climate change, do nothing to reduce GHG being released.

• Limited scale of many local strategies, meaning little protection in a high-emissions scenario

• Human lives may be saved but other losses still occur e.g. biodiversity

• Low lying countries e.g. Bangladesh do not have the money to build defences

• Not all countries can adapt due to conflict, disease, food shortages, poverty, unequal access to resources, water stress

Lessons to learn?

•MUST try and write either two extended points or two points, twice!•Try and use located / named examples as this will help get the 2 marks

-Torrential Rain-Storm Surges-Weather hazards-Death of vegetation: less interception

Overland flow, saturation, surface run off

Explanations• Longer questions worth 5 marks. (Jan 2011 - 6 of these, 30 marks)

• Normally use the command word explain, or suggest reasons.

• Can be complex questions, with more than one aspect to them.

• Can score quite poorly in some cases

You could be asked to use

named examples

There could be two key words

„raised‟ and„improved‟

There could be a narrow focus

There could be a need for balance

– physical and human

-Future trends in GHG emissions are hard to forecast. -how much ice will melt ?- how much thermal expansion ? -Difficulties in predicting economicgrowth e.g China· Science of sea-level rise still not fully understood e.g. operation of carbon sinks ?· Unexpected positive feedback events / tipping points e.g. albedo changes at Arctic · Mechanisms of ice melting not understood so IPCC ignored it in the scenario policy-makers use · Natural causes of change?

Suggest reasons why the economic impacts of climate change in the continent of Africa are complex (5)

• Nile delta: 1% rise in sea level could affect 15% of habitable land ( 7 million people) . Salt water affects crops.

• How to tackle dept: No money for mitigation of climate impacts and adaptive strategies?

• War in Darfur in Sudan (pastoralists fighting arable farmers). Political inertia.

• Animals may die so some farmers e.g. in semi-arid Sahel belt may have to abandon their way of life altogether

• Locust plagues could threaten growth of crops: No money!

• Crops may need to change / adopt more drought tolerant varieties which costs farmers money. Could face changing patterns of rainfall (E Africa wetter, W drier).

• Farmers face problems over subsistent farming / cash crops e.g. Kenya and roses.

• Positive benefits can be linked with increased rainfall

• Could see loss of tourism revenues if habitats are lost e.g. Coral bleaching in Zanzibar

• Movement of environmental migrants to coastal African areas puts added strain on local economies for jobs/food etc and areas often become overcrowded especially N and W e.g. Accra, Ghana; Lagos, Nigeria

Lessons to learn?•These questions are crucial if you want a high grade.

•They are NOT essay questions

•Bullets normally don’t work – the questions are too complex

•You should use examples (places, countries, organisation, companies, cities) as a matter of course – don‟t wait to be asked

•Watch out for difficult key words (ecological, post-colonial, vulnerability)

•Don‟t miss important words that don‟t look important (complex, recent years) these are often the difference between 4/5 and 5/5 marks.

•Be prepared to explain: “because” “this is why” “this causes” “the reason is that” i.e. the language of explanation.

Is the IPCC right?• You should be aware of some

of the controversysurrounding global warming

• Recognise that some people do not accept it is happening

• or do not believe anything should be done about it.

• E.g. Big business is often accused of „greenwashing‟ because drastic cuts in emissions do not fit their business model.

• On the other hand there are savings to be made by reducing energy consumption and waste production.

• Some people do not accept the Science e.g. the „Hockey Stick Graph‟ controversy over temperature reconstructions produced by Michael Mann among others.

• This graph cannot be „accurate‟ in the modern sense before about 1900

• It uses proxy data to reconstruct climate in the past

• this does not mean it is wrong however.

The IPCC has been criticised !• By the time its reports are published, the data is out of date because

the process of writing the reports is now so complex (2500 scientists)

• Political interference „softens‟ some of the conclusions – most notably in 2007 that sea levels will rise 19-59cm by 2100, whereas many scientists think a figure of 100cm is more likely.

• The huge nature of the reports (2007 report was in 4 volumes) making the message difficult to digest.

• IPCC Himalayan glaciers error - the IPCC report in 2007 quoted a WWF report which used the year 2035 rather then the correct date of 2050. • “Glaciers in the Himalaya are receding

faster than in any other part of the world (see Table 10.9) and, if the present rate continues, the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high if the Earth keeps warming at the current rate. Its total area will likely shrink from the present 500,000 to 100,000 km2 by the year 2035”

Last minute cramming!

• World at risk

• Thursday 1 and 2: U23

• Going Global

• Thursday 3 and 4: Sixth form

Unit 1 Exam Global Challenges: Revision session 2!

To see what you need to revise before Thursday!

To know how to be above average in Section A: January 2011

To understand that there is controversy surrounding global warming