HASS

GEOGRAPHY

UNIT 2 ; Environmental Change and Management

Ecosystem Services: Benefits humans receive from natures ecosystems, can be classified according to the products they provide and functions they perform

4 categories of Ecosystem services

• Sources: Natural Products à mineral deposits such as coal which can be turned into fuel
• Sinks: Things that absorb waste à Microorganisms in the oceans that breakdown oil spills
• Services: Things that are down for   us by the environment à Wetlands filter water and slow floodwaters
• Spirituality: Relationships people have with the environment  à Activities people take part in as they feel a deep connection SURFING + BUSHWALKING

Importance of Ecosystem Services:  4 S’s as they’re the reasons we live on the earth as we wouldn’t be able to survive without them. They support animals with food and without them it would cost $46 million to manually do their jobs

Biodiversity: The variety of living organisms found in an environment à Importance: Makes an ecosystem more resilient + makes species more adaptable

Top 5 Human Impacts

• Deforestation à 8000 trees/day
• Desertification à Overgrazing and Overwatering
• Global Warming à CO2 warms Earth
• Overharvesting and Overfishing
• Introducing Species

Human Induced environment changes pose a challenge for sustainability every day. Global Warming is a primary factor due to the release of Greenhouse Gases which results in the depletion of the ozone layer which allows UV rays to enter which dries up water resources, so plants and animals won’t have a fresh water source to live off, this results as a challenge for future generations

Positive Impacts of human impacts on the environment

• Genetic engineering à increase in crop production and cloning
• Cure for diseases à animal and plant species
• Pesticides à producing more crops
• Satellites à monitoring crops
• Controlling temperatures

Negative Impacts of human impacts on the environment

• Deforestation
• Air, sound, water pollution
• Acid Rain
• Greenhouse effect

COMBUSTION OF FOSSILS CONTRIBUTES TO ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION THE MOST

Ways humans can reduce impact on environment

• Minimise use of fossil fuels à Equip catalytic convertors
• Increase the use of renewable energy  à hydropower
• Restrict public access to certain habitats à use of laws
• Educate people on importance of conserving the environment

How has the greenhouse effect been enhanced by humans: Been enhanced by humans due to the burning of fossil fuels in factories and the increased amount of CO2 in the air and the cutting of trees contributes to the warming

Environmental Change

• Land degradation à challenges sustainability as land becomes infertile
• Atmospheric pollution à challenges sustainability as ozone layer is affected, challenges rainfall causes global warming
• Water Pollution à challenges sustainability as there's no food for humans and marine life + biomes perish
• Damming Rivers à challenges sustainability by impacting movement of fish and disrupting flow causing flood, droughts

Factors causing loss of biodiversity:

• Habitat change à deforestation
• Overexploitation
• Pollution of land, water and air
• Invasive species spreading

Benefits humans receive from oceans

• Ocean plants produce half the oxygen we breathe
• Oceans produce 60% of protein in tropical developing countries
• Fisheries support more then 170 million jobs
• Oceans hold more then 80% of Earths mineral source

How do ocean currents regulate global temperature: Transports warm water and precipitation from the equator towards the poles and cold water back to tropics

Operation of the carbon cycle: Process in which carbon travels from the atmosphere into organisms and the Earth and then back into the atmosphere

Ocean Acidification and effects on the biosphere: Refers to the reduction in the pH of the ocean over a period of time, Reduces the amount of carbonate à key building block in seawater. Makes it harder for marine organisms such as coral and plankton to form shells and skeletons and existing shells and skeletons to dissolve à NOT THE SAME FOR ALL SPECIES

What’s the Great Pacific Garbage Dump: Collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. It’s the largest garbage dump located halfway between Hawaii and California à covers 1.6milliion square kilometres + weighs 87000 tonnes. 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and as its denser than water it stays predominately afloat and moves regularly

Where does the Rubbish come from: 54% comes from land-based activities à pollution in North America and Asia. Remaining 20% of debris comes from boaters, offshore oil rigs and cargo ships. Every year 2.41million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean and are transported through converging currents eventually ending up in GPGD

Threat to marine ecosystems

• Turtles mistaking plastic for jellyfish à choking on it causing them to die and population to decrease
• Affecting plant life as blocking light causing plants not to grow leaving species hungry
• Death trap as animals are getting caught in it

Why has little attention been paid to GPGS: People are beginning to be educated on it and that it is threatening the ecosystem and as it is mainly sharp pieces of objects constantly moving meaning its difficult to remove and there is nowhere to move the dump to

Solutions

• Floating barriers using natural movement of the natural movement of the ocean currents to passively concentrate plastic take 10 years to reduce half of the size
• Works as the current will flow underneath à Sea life won’t get caught. while lighter objects   will be collected in barriers

What is coral Bleaching: Coral bleaching occurs when the relationship between the coral host and zooxanthellae, which gives the coral its bright colour, breaks down.

UNIT 1; Geography – Wellbeing 

Wellbeing is a multidimensional term used to describe people’s quality of life and happiness

• Economic Wellbeing: Ability to maintain a minimum standard of living. biggest determinant of it is income determine on income
• Human & Wellbeing is the recognition that everyone around the world, regardless of geography, age, culture, religion or political environment, aspires to live well. Indicators are infant mortality rates (lower rates higher wellbeing), number of doctors per 10000 (higher doctors, higher wellbeing)
• Political: Application of democracy where everyone has a say. Indicators are representation in parliament, incidence of rallies, war affects wellbeing; more war lower wellbeing
• Social: Level of harmony & progress in society where you feel belonged and connected. Indicators are high migrant population (higher wellbeing), gender equality (if higher = higher wellbeing)
• Spiritual: Inner self & its relationship with the wider world includes relationship with environment, Integral with emotional & social health. Indicators are attendance at religious ceremonies (higher = higher wellbeing)

How to measure wellbeing

Quantitative Indicators Indicator which consists of definitive numerical scores and easily measured. However, quantitative data on its own cannot deliver a comprehensive picture of a person’s or country’s wellbeing, hence qualitative data must be used.

Qualitative Indicators Indicator which usually consists of a complex set of indices that measure a particular aspect of quality of life or describe living conditions – not easily calculated or measured

Gross Domestic Product: Total monetary value of G&S produced by a country over a time period (economic indicator)

• Advantages: allows geographers to make basic internal comparisons, compare countries economically
• Disadvantages: Could be happier in the other areas (not accurate), Could be happier in social + spiritual, only an average

WEALTH DOESN’T EQUAL WELLBEING

Human Development Index measures wellbeing according to 3 main indicators: education (measured by years of schooling/literacy rate); health (measured in life expectancy); and wealth (measured by GNP).

• Advantages: Education is put first leading to more jobs, higher employment rate
• Disadvantages: Doesn’t encompass all other areas as wellbeing is multidimensional + doesn’t mean they’re unhappy

Happy Planet Index HPI measures what matters: sustainable wellbeing for all. It tells us how well nations are doing at achieving long, happy, sustainable lives.

• Four Elements: Wellbeing: How residents say they are overall
• Life Expectancy: Number of years a person lives
• Inequality of Outcomes: Between people in the same country
• Ecological Footprint: Impact people have on towns environment

Why: Need it as reflects the qualities in material conditions between people in a country. Values things that matter to people

• Shortfalls: It’s only an average and isn’t available for all countries. It’s not the most accurate. It’s better than GDP as it can encompass younger ages. Doesn’t account for all aspects of wellbeing (income, economic)

Gross National Happiness: Worlds first measure of national happiness. Takes account for 33 indicators (psychological, living standards, education, health, ecological diversity, time use, resilience)

Fails to take account the social, environment, economic costs of progress

Reasons for variations in wellbeing’s

Environmental Factors:

• Climate
• Land quality and availability of fresh water
• Natural resources
• Relative location

Social factors:

• Population size and growth
• Cultural norms such as gender roles

Economic Factors:

• Trade laws
• Access to trade routes

Historic factors:

• Colonial past
• Past conflicts

Political factors:

• Political stability
• Level of corruption
• Wars and civil conflict

More Economically Developed Countries: way of determining countries wealth, characterised by high living standards, high per capita income, high access to clean water, high access to services to education + health

Less Economically Developed Countries: Means it’s a developing country and is poor with low level per capita income according to worlds standards; low level of social and economic indicators; lower standards of democratic government; lower services such as health + education + less access to clean water

• Environmental factors are the suitability of land and agriculture, climate and whether there are natural resources in landscape. Could decrease wellbeing as you may not receive as much food from agriculture, when it gets too hot can’t grow crops causing wellbeing to decrease

Wellbeing in Bolivia:

POVERTY

• Major poverty mainly in rural areas.
• Due to different levels of employment, availability of resources, varying quality of infrastructure such as roads, schools, hospitals and electricity, and high levels of land degradation.
• People respond to poverty by migrating from rural areas to cities, and also migrate to live in other countries.

EDUCATION

• 1 million Bolivian adults are illiterate and 1 in 5 children never complete primary school
• Most of the children who do not attend school live in rural areas where they are needed to work with their parents to support their families. Therefore, rural children do not gain the education skills that could put their family out of poverty
• Indigenous children drop out of school due to language difficulties as they grow up with the indigenous language but are taught other languages, such as Spanish, in school.

HEALTH

• Many face chronic problems linked to food security
• Farm productivity is decreasing due to a wide range of environmental problems including land degradation, regular flooding and droughts, outdated farming technology and a lack of investment.
• Rates of diseases are high which can further lower farm productivity as ill farmers and workers are less able to work to produce food.
• Infant mortality rates are falling as health care is gradually improving
• HIV/aids rates are relatively low but are increasing

Australia has a higher wellbeing due to all the natural resources we have allowing for more jobs, lower levels of corruption, not large amounts of overpopulation, location being further away from the conflict. Allowing to have a higher population

• Rainfall is the most important resource as it is required to grow food & water and is used for agricultural purposes (irrigation) à Fertile soils and permeant rivers

Uneven distribution of resources helps explain variations in humans due to lack leading to infertile soil & some people rely on those for an income. Temperature areas rely on regular water supply & extreme weather have times when limited resources to grow food, access to water lowering wellbeing

• Heat stress, spread of serious diseases (malaria, dengue fever), good weather for disease carrying mosquitos
• Temperature rising and rainfall patterns changing
• Glaciers supply water to billions and the water supply will become less reliable, reducing ability of farmer to use this supply to irrigate crops as well as rising salt levels (salinity problems)

AIDS/ HIV IMPACTS ON LEVEL OF WELLBEING IN AFRICA

• Population: loss of life among age groups that would be the most productive; lower life expectancy across the globe, slowing population growth
• Food Security: loss of worker on farms affected productivity causing reduced farm output & shortages
• Economy: strain on economy from increased health costs & a fall in GDP increases inequalities + poverty: loss of ‘human capital’ (skilled + educated young people)
• Lower Education: Children stay home & won’t get educated leading to no jobs (higher unemployment rate)
• LESS EDUCATION, LESS DOCTORS, MORE MORTALITY RATES, LOWER POPULATION

Education is the key to higher levels of wellbeing: Provides individuals with opportunities to become more engaged with society, allows them to take proper care of themselves + children, participate in workforce, improve economy, live healthier lives, combat poverty and to reduce inequalities in wellbeing. If a person combats social barriers (language + religion) they will have future opportunities leading to higher wellbeing. Lower literacy rates mean lower wellbeing, literacy rates measure education

Difference between refugees + internally displaced person: Refugee is a person that crosses into another country whereas an internally displaced person is where a person moves from where they live but stay in same country

Why wellbeing amongst refugees is low: Wellbeing is low for refugees as they move from developed countries, so they don’t have access to supplies and have witnessed or been victims to persecution or sexual assault and countries are unable or unwilling to offer their assistance. All these factors contribute to low wellbeing amongst refugees due to stress and unhappiness.

The Sustainable Development Goals were established at a meeting at the United Nations in 2015 where representative of 193 countries present agreed to a set of goals designed to end poverty, protect the planes from unsustainable development and ensure all people have a higher wellbeing by 2030

Goals to reduce inequalities in human wellbeing

• End poverty for everyone
• End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• Ensure healthy lives to all and promote wellbeing to everyone
• Ensure inclusive learning and promote lifelong education
• Achieve gender equality and empower women
• Ensure accessible sanitation and water to all
• Reduce inequalities among and within countries

Some links between education and wellbeing are that Education gives people a chance to improve their lives and break the cycle of poverty to live longer, healthier lives. Educated men and women increase their earning capacity and contribute more to the economy.

If girls are education it gives people a chance to improve their lives and break the cycle of poverty to live longer, healthier lives. Educated men and women increase their earning capacity and contribute more to the economy.

The Initial aim of the UN was to encourage countries to work together and maintain peace

UN is used to eliminate discrimination against women protecting rites of children, indigenous people

Australia provides aids to overseas communities and countries as not only does the aid help improve wellbeing in the region it also supports Australia’s economic and security interests. All wealthy nations give aid and help other countries in need. As part of the international community, Australia has a commitment to improve the lives of others.

3 Concerns that are addressed by aid programs

•to improve the lives of those living in poverty

•to support countries to remain stable for better security

•to help in humanitarian disasters, emergency aid is usually in the form of food supplies, fresh water and medical teams.

It doesn’t send money to each leader as the Australian government wants to be able to monitor how the money is spent so the money doesn’t just ‘disappear’. Money must be given to reputable organisations to be distributed and it is normally given as ‘tied aid’ to be used in certain projects.

United Nation

Why was the Sustainable Development Goals formed?

At a meeting of the United Nations in 2015, representatives of all 193 member countries present, agreed to a set of goals designed to end poverty, protect the planet from unsustainable development and ensure that all people on Earth enjoy a high level of wellbeing by 2030.

What are the 7 goals that will reduce inequalities in human wellbeing?

• End Poverty
• End Hunger
• Ensure Healthy Lives
• Ensure Inclusive and Quality Education
• Achieve Gender Equality
• Ensure Access to Water
• Reduce Inequalities

Improving access to education:

United Nations goal:

Improve the political profile of education around the world

Benefits of education:

• Studies show that the key to improving human wellbeing, especially in poorer countries, is to improve participation rates in education. The studies show that education allows individuals to break the cycle of poverty and live healthier, longer lives.
• Educating girls can help improve wellbeing because studies have been shown that mothers who have attended school have a lowered risk of their babies falling victim to infant mortality, can earn more than mothers who are less educated, have fewer children, can have a lower risk of HIV infection and have healthier children who live longer. It can also boost the economy by helping increase economic growth.

Successful schools: The United Nations Global Education First Initiative is also interested in improving the standard of schooling that children receive and creating a positive environment.

Teachers:

• Poorly trained
• Not enough books or other resources to teach with

Children:

• Go to school hungry, which affects their ability to learn

Improving the wellbeing of indigenous Australians:

Improvements in Health:

• Encourage Indigenous people to have regular health checks
• Make medicines and treatments more affordable to Indigenous patients
• Increase the number of Indigenous Australians working in the health sector
• Build more hospitals and health centres in Indigenous communities
• Improve the quality and range of food available in shops in Indigenous communities
• Provide mobile health facilities that visit remote communities and target dental, eye, and ear problems
• Increase Participation of Indigenous children in sport and recreation
• Strengthen Cultural ties within communities through the support of language and the arts
• Upgrade and maintain airstrips in remote communities to provide better access to emergency health care

Organisations working to improve wellbeing:

United Nations:

• Initial aim: work together to promote peace and security among the nations of the world
• Peace and security: provide disarmament, mine clearance, counterterrorism, also have peacekeeping forces
• Development: reduce poverty, improve wellbeing, promote trade, build stable governments
• Human rights: Universal Declaration of Human Rights try end discrimination against women, protect the rights of children and indigenous people. Also end violence against children, human trafficking, and sexual violence.
• Humanitarian aid: improve farm productivity and provide food in times of famine in areas where food security is an issue, provide refuge for people fleeing conflict, and aid for those impacted by disasters.

Economics is the study of how society uses is limited resources 

Microeconomics focuses on single factors and the effects of individual decisions and individual sectors of the economy

Macroeconomics looks at the behaviour of the whole economy

Difference: microeconomics focuses on the behaviour of individual consumers and producers. Macroeconomics examines overall economies on a regional, national, or international scale

Needs are required in order to survive and provide a ‘minimum standard of living’ All members of the economy should have access to these basic needs: food, water, clothing, shelter.

Wants are not necessary for survival, however they improve material living standards. Often referred to as luxury items.

Scarcity is the economic problem of having unlimited needs and wants with limited resources available. Because of scarcity, we have to make choices.

Choice is the act of choosing between two or more possibilities

Opportunity cost is the next best alternative foregone. When there is a choice between two products of similar value, and the consumer selects option A, the value and enjoyment out of option B is the opportunity cost.

Resources are referred to as the factors of production. They include: Land, Capital, Labour, Enterprise

• Land: anything that comes from nature. Lan is often referred to as natural resources. Land includes: minerals from the ground, water, fish, soil.
• Capital: person made items used In the production process. Capital is normally associated with machinery as well as vehicles and buildings.
• Labour: The physical and mental skills required to produce goods and services. Labour is a human resource. Examples of labour include doctors, lawyers, teachers, cleaners, ect.
• Enterprise is also a human resource. Enterprise coordinates the other factors of production when producing goods and services. Has the most risk associated with it

Goods are physical objects, tangible. Services are activities of performing work for others, intangible.

Demand is the amount that consumers are both willing and able to consume at a given price point in time.

The law of demand: as the price of a good or service increases quantity demanded will fall, other things being equal (ceteris paribus)

Any change in the price of the good in question will result in movement along the demand curve. This movement can either be a contraction (fall) in quantity demanded or an expansion (rise) in quantity demanded

Factors affecting demand

• Real Disposable Income: Most important factor. Distinct positive relationship between RDI and income If your income increases you can buy more goods and services. Parallel shift. Increase income means increasing consumer spending. Consumer durables
• Substitute Goods: Can perform the same function of another good
• Complementary Goods: Aid in the satisfaction of the good or service in question. They help the consumer further enjoy consuming the good. Positive relationship between the complementary goods and demand for the good in question
• Advertising: Informative or persuasive. A successful advertisement convinces the consumer to purchase the good or service or to avoid the good or service. A negative advertising will influence the consumer to avoid purchasing the good or service
• Demographic goods: Age can influence the spending of consumers, younger consumers tend to be influenced by fashion and trends, the older the consumer the more specific their tastes become, producers target their specific tastes. Gender is a factor influencing demand, producers target consumers based on their gender
• Confidence/ Expectations: If confidence increases, demand for goods and services increase. Confidence is the positive perception that you can afford to purchase and enjoy the consumption of the good or service. If consumers expect the price to change (before it occurs), or that a new product will be released, this can alter the entire demand curve for that good or service
• Other Factors: Seasonal can influence demand for food

Supply is the producers willingness and ability to produce a given good or service at various different prices, holding all else constant

The law of supply: as the price of a good increases, quantity supplied will also rise, other things being equal (ceteris paribus)

Any change in the price of a the good in question will result in a movement along the supply curve. This movement can either be a contraction (fall) in quantity supplied or an expansion (rise) in quantity supplied

Factors affecting supply

• Change in the cost of inputs: inputs are resources used in the production process; land, capital, labour, enterprise.
• Favourable/unfavourable weather conditions: Favourable weather conditions lead to increase In supply because it could mean it is easier to make or grow e.g agriculture
• Government taxes: taxation is payment to the government for which nothing is directly received. Causes a decrease in supply if tax rates increase
• Government subsidies: a form of assistance from the government to firms. Subsidies can be in a number of forms including; payments, grans and discounts. Government subsidies lower production costs, when the cost of production falls supply increases

Graph of Demand and Supply

Equilibrium: where demand and supply are balanced. There is no tendency to change

Surplus: when there is higher demand than supply

Shortage: where there is higher supply than demand. Increase price to get to equilibrium

Equilibrium price and quantity are determined by the intersection of supply and demand. A change in supply, or demand will change the equilibrium price or quantity.

Economic growth: increasing capacity of an economy to satisfy the material needs and wants of its population. Most commonly measured by real GDP per capita

Gross domestic product is the total value of final goods and services produced within an economy over a specific period, usually 1 yea

Real GDP takes into account the rate of inflation

Real GDP per capita takes into account the rate of inflation and population

Causes of economic growth

• Demand led growth: caused by increase in aggregate expenditure (total level of expenditure in the economy)
• Supply led growth: caused by increases in the quantity and/or quality or resourced

Net exports is the difference between exports: gods made in Australia and sold overseas and imports: goods produced overseas and purchased by the Australian economy

Net exports can fluctuate between -2% and 2%. If its negative imports exceed exports. If its positive exports exceed imports

If economic growth is too high it leads to demand pull inflation and cost push inflation. If economic growth is too low it will cause issues with unemployment an eventually lead to a recession.

Economic recession is where economic growth falls for 2 or more quarters in a row

Economic depression is an extreme recession lasting 2 or more years

Benefits associated with economic growth

• Increased employment which leads to increased incomes
• Improved standard of living with a greater amount of goods and services available
• Increased leisure time- workers become more efficient and producers are able to utilise resources more efficiently

Costs associated with economic growth

• Depletion of natural resources
• Pollution-noise, soil and air pollution can occur if producers increase production
• Increased gap between wealthy and poor

Reasons for differences between economic growth in different countries:

• Population
• Level of development of the country
• food security of the country

Faster growth in gross domestic product (GDP) expands the overall size of the economy and strengthens financial conditions. Broadly shared growth in per capita GDP increases material standard of living

Unemployment is a situation whereby someone who is willing and able to work, is unable to find employment

Employment is the state of having paid work

Unemployment could be reduced if the government place more infrastructure to create more job opportunities such as hospitals, stadiums.

Types of unemployment

• Seasonal: Some jobs are dictated by the time crops are harvested or demand is at its peak e.g fruit picking, festive/holiday jobs. Long term employment is these areas are difficult to secure due to the seasonal nature of the job.
• Structural: involves the mismatch of skills. This can be caused by skills becoming obsolete, or simply a lack of qualifications based on current production techniques.
• Frictional: short term based on confidence in the economy. It is the period of time between when someone stops working and begins their new job.
• Cyclical: related to demand for labour caused by lack of aggregate demand in production to solve money. This means less demand for the resource of labour. If the level of aggregate demand increased, firms would demand for more labour to help increase levels of production to match changes in demand.

Living standards are the material and non-material wellbeing of citizens in a country

Material living standards refer to our access to physical goods and services. Material living standards of a nation are measured by the quantity of goods and services available each year as measured by GDP

Why living standards vary from one country to another

• Natural resources
• Trade with other countries
• The stability of government

Unemployment rate = number of unemployed/ (total number in the workforce) x100

Trends in unemployment; when there is a boom in the economy unemployment is low and when there is a bust unemployment is high

Effects of unemployment on living standards; living standards will decrease as people don’t have money for high living standards

Inflation: the persistence and appreciable in the general level of prices

Inflation is measured by consumer price index (CPI) which is a metaphorical basket of the most commonly consumed goods and services, weighted according to patterns of expenditure

Demand pull inflation: when the level of aggregate expenditure cannot be matched by current kevels of domestic production. Too many dollars chasing too few goods.

Cost push inflation: Increases in the cost of production which are passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices. The number one cost for the vast majority of firms is labour

Marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market researching and advertising

4 Ps of marketing

• Product
• price
• place
• promoting strategy

Marketing is all about developing a demand for a product and fulfilling the consumers needs

Advertising is the communication of information about a product or service to people in general, or to a particular group of people

Mediums for advertisements (places that show/play advertisements)

• National newspapers- most popular, is available to wide audience
• Television- consumers can see the product working, can choose the time it is shown
• Radio- can be long or short, advertiser can choose the time it is shown at
• Outdoor- in the form of billboards
• Other- magazines, leaflets, carrier bags, shop windows in store promotion, soccer jerseys

An effective advertisement is where consumers are informed and excited about the product being sold

Factors that influence a consumer’s decision to buy

• Price: Consumers are not always interested in paying the lowest price because price is associated with quality. If price is to low consumers become suspicious of the quality, and if the price is too high the product is viewed not worth the price.
• Availability credit: credit is an agreement where money is lent to a borrower and must be repaid at a later date.