Outline the procedures in a laboratory-based method to find the gross productivity for a population of named aquatic animals in terms of biomass per day.
Explain how acid deposition falling on a forest may impact a nearby aquatic ecosystem.
When harvesting is limited to the sustainable yield, associated processes involved in a food production system may still make the production unsustainable.
In this context, to what extent can aquatic food production systems be truly sustainable?
Distinguish between two named biomes and the factors that cause their distribution.
Evaluate one method for measuring primary productivity in a named ecosystem.
Discuss how human activities impact the flows and stores in the nitrogen cycle.
To what extent can different environmental value systems contribute to both causing and resolving the problem of water scarcity?
Figure 3: Concentration of atmospheric pollutants associated
with photochemical smog
[Source: Reprinted from Environmental Pollution and Control, fourth edition, J. Jeffrey Peirce, Ruth F. Weiner and P. Aarne
Vesilind, Chapter 18 – Air Pollution, Page 253, Copyright 1998, with permission from Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com).]
Identify one primary pollutant from the pollutants shown in Figure 3.
Outline why the pollutant named in Question 3 (a)(i) is referred to as a primary pollutant.
Outline one reason why there is an increase in nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons early in the day.
Explain the changes in ozone concentration over the period shown in Figure 3.
State one environmental impact of the accumulation of ozone shown in Figure 3.
Outline two local conditions that may increase the severity of photochemical smog.
Outline the role of catalytic converters in reducing photochemical smog.
Outline the processes by which a species may evolve a greater tolerance to higher temperatures.
Explain how the atmosphere plays a role in maintaining life-supporting temperatures over the Earth’s surface.
In addressing environmental issues, mitigation strategies may be seen as primarily ecocentric and adaptation strategies as primarily technocentric.
To what extent is this view valid in the context of named strategies for addressing the issue of global warming?
Outline two factors that affect the frequency and severity of photochemical smog in an area.
Evaluate strategies to manage regional acid deposition using the pollution management model.
To what extent have international agreements been successful in solving atmospheric air pollution and climate change?
Figure 9: Annual mean oxides of nitrogen (NOx) concentrations measured in London air, 2016
[Source:Greater London Authority (GLA) https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/london-atmospheric-emissions-inventory--
laei--2016.]
With reference to Figure 9, explain why the highest levels of NOx are found in the centre of London.
Evaluate one strategy to reduce NOx emissions from transport.
Identify two potential impacts of improved air quality on London and its population.
Figure 6(b): Total annual sulphur dioxide and particulate emissions from smelting factories in Norilsk
The significant increase in emissions in the early 1980s is related to the opening of the third smelter, Nadezhda, in 1979.
[Source: Nyland, K., Shiklomanov, N. & Streletskiy, D., 2017. Climatic- and anthropogenic-induced land cover change around Norilsk, Russia. Polar Geography, 40:4, 257–272, DOI: 10.1080/1088937X.2017.1370503.]
Figure 6(c): Vegetation damage associated with smelting factories in Norilsk
[Source: Adapted from AMAP, 2007. Vegetation damage zones around Norilsk. [online] Available at: https://www.amap.no/documents/doc/vegetation-damage-zones-around-norilsk/647 [accessed 26 February 2019].]
With reference to Figure 6(b), identify one strategy that might have been used to achieve the trend in sulphur dioxide emissions since the early 1980s.
Explain the distribution of vegetation damage shown in Figure 6(c).
The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, discovered in the 1980s, was caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The Montreal Protocol requires the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) or hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) instead of CFCs (Figure 3). However, these two gases are also linked to environmental problems (Figure 4).
Figure 3: Comparison of the effects of CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs
[Source: Avipsa Mahapatra, Climate Lead, Environmental Investigation Agency, Washington D.C.]
Figure 4: HCFCs and HFCs cause less damage than CFCs but still
affect the environment
[Source: © 2016 Cognitive www.wearecognitive.com / Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) www.ciff.org\]
Identify two possible consequences for life on Earth resulting from the depletion of stratospheric ozone.
Outline why the Montreal Protocol may be considered the world’s most successful environmental treaty.
Outline why governments agreed to phase out the use of HFCs from 2019 in the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
Identify one advantage of staggered dates for the phasing out of HFCs for countries at different levels of economic development.
Identify one disadvantage of staggered dates for the phasing out of HFCs for countries at different levels of economic development.
With reference to processes occurring within the atmospheric systemidentify two transformations of matter.
With reference to processes occurring within the atmospheric systemidentify two transfers of energy.
Explain how regional differences in the hydrological cycle influence the formation ofdifferent biomes.
Climate can both influence, and be influenced by, terrestrial food production systems.
To what extent can terrestrial food production strategies contribute to a sustainableequilibrium in this relationship?