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Flashcards

World at Risk: KEY WORDS

Joanna Griffith Geography A level English 5.0Average rating 5.0 out of 5 (1 rating) 42 cards

Cards in this deck (42)

  1. 1Context hazarda global threat due to environmental factors such as climate change
  2. 2Geophysical hazardhazard formed by tectonic/geological (e.g. earthquakes/volcanoes/tsunamis) and geomorphological processes
  3. 3HazardA perceived natural event which has the potential to threaten both life and property
  4. 4Hydro-meteorological hazardA hazard formed by hydrological (water/floods) and atmospheric (storms/droughts) processes
  5. 5VulnerabilityA high risk combined with a low capacity for an individual/community to cope
  6. 6DisasterA hazard becoming reality in an event that causes death, damage to property and the environment
  7. 7Riskthe probability of a hazard event occurring and creating loss of lives and livelihoods
  8. 8Albedohow much solar radiation a surface reflects
  9. 9Climate changeAny long-term trend of shift in climate (average weather over 30 years) detected by a sustained shift in the average value of a climatic element (eg. rainfall, drought and storminess)
  10. 10Enhanced greenhouse effectwhen levels of GHG in the atmosphere increase due to human activity
  11. 11Fossil fuelsenergy sources that are rich in carbon and release CO2 when burnt (coal, oil, gas)
  12. 12Global warminga recently measured rise in the average surface temperature of the planet
  13. 13Greenhouse effectthe warming of the Earth’s atmosphere due to the trapping of heat that would otherwise be radiated back into space - it enables the survival of life on Earth
  14. 14Tipping pointThe point at which a system switches from one state to another
  15. 15Feedback mechanismwhere the output of a system amplifies (positive) or reduces (negative) further output (eg. the melting of Arctic permafrost releases trapped methane, which leads to further global warming - positive feedback)
  16. 16Frequencyhow often an event of a certain size (magnitude) occurs. For example, a flood of 1m height may occur, on average, every year on a particular river, while a 2m flood may only occur about every 10 years. The frequency is called the recurrence interval.
  17. 17Magnitudethe size of the event (e.g. force of a gale on the Beaufort scale or size of an earthquake on the Richter Scale)
  18. 18Asthenospherea semi-molten zone of rock underlying the Earth's crust
  19. 19Conservative boundarya boundary between tectonic plates where the movement of the plates is parallel to the plate margin and the plates slide past each other
  20. 20Constructive boundarya boundary between plates where the plates are diverging (moving apart)
  21. 21Destructive boundarya boundary between plates where the plates are converging (moving together)
  22. 22Lithospherethe crust of the earth, around 80-90 km thick
  23. 23Magmamolten material that rises towards the earth’s surface when hotspots with the asthenosphere generate convection currents
  24. 24Platesrigid, less dense “slabs” of rock floating on the asthenosphere
  25. 25Hotspota localised area of the earth’s crust with an unusually high temperature
  26. 26Plumean upwelling of abnormally hot rock within the earth’s mantle
  27. 27Inter-tropical convergence zonea zone of low atmospheric pressure near the equator, which migrates seasonally
  28. 28Climatethe average conditions of precipitation (rainfall), temperature, pressure and wind over a 30 year period
  29. 29Thermohaline circulationa global system of surface and deep ocean currents, driven by differences in temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline) between areas of the ocean. Also called the ocean conveyor.
  30. 30Little Ice Agea cool period in Europe when many Alpine glaciers advanced (1400-1850)
  31. 31Medieval Warm Periodan unusually warm period in the North Atlantic climate (800-1400)
  32. 32Thermal expansionan increased volume of the oceans as it heats up leading to sea level rise. Accounted for 60% sea level rise in the 20th century (1900s).
  33. 33Climate forcingany mechanism that alters the global energy balance and forces the climate to change in response
  34. 34Habitatthe environment of plants and animals, in which they live, feed and reproduce
  35. 35Permafrostpermanently frozen ground
  36. 36Indigenousnative/endemic
  37. 37Eustatic changechange in sea level due to change in the amount of water in the oceans
  38. 38Isostatic changemovement of land in response to loss or gain of mass (e.g. melting ice sheets leads to uplift)
  39. 39Adaptive capacitythe extent to which a system can cope with climate change. In human systems it depends on available human, physical, and financial resources.
  40. 40Climate vulnerabilitythe degree to which a natural or human system lacks the ability to cope with climate change. Vulnerability is a result of the magnitude of the change, its speed of onset, the sensitivity of the system and its adaptive capacity.
  41. 41BiofuelsFuels such as ethanol, extracted from plants
  42. 42Sustainable development’Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (Brundtland Report, 1987)

Information

Description
A series of key words directly taken from the 'World at Risk' section of the Edexcel AS Geography textbook.
Created by
Joanna Griffith
Views
98
Rating
Average rating 5.0 out of 5 (1 rating)

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