Summary Notes: AQA A-Level Physical and Human Geography
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Course
Unit 1 GEOG1 - Physical and Human Geography
Institution
AQA
Overview of both physical and human geography for A-Level including topics of: Hazards, Glaciers, Water and Carbon Cycles, Changing Places, Population and Environment and Global Systems and Governance.
Population and the Environment - 48 marks - 16% of the A-Level
One 4 mark question
One 6 mark question
Two 9 mark questions
One 20 mark essay question
Changing Places - 36 marks - 12% of the A-Level
One 4 mark question
Two 6 mark questions
One 20 mark essay question
Global Systems & Governance - 36marks - 12% of the A-Level
One 4 mark question
Two 6 mark questions
One 20 mark essay question
, Population and the Environment
Population: the amount of people in a defined area e.g. world population is 7.8bn (2021)
Factors affecting population: climate (which affects agriculture/food to support population), soil
(water, nutrient content, quality to be agriculturally productive) and natural resources (clean water
supply- needed for hygiene, sanitation, agriculture and drinking).
Global population density: urbanised areas = most densely populated (55% of the population
currently live in urban areas, expected to rise ⅔ of the population by 2050).
- The majority of the world population live in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Sparsely populated areas e.g. Sahara, Central Australia, Canada, often have uninhabitable
conditions e.g. lack of food to accommodate the population/
- There has been a shift from rapid population growth in richer countries to rapid population
growth in poorer countries.
- Urban areas have higher growth rates; mostly down to migration/opportunities.
Main contributors to population growth: Better healthcare, better job opportunities and better
living standards accelerated birth rates and lowered death rates/infant mortality.
Growth today -
- HICs have the lowest population growth rates e.g. due to more contraception available, the
emancipation of women, urbanisation and changes in society etc.
- LICs have the highest growth rates, mostly due to these countries ‘catching-up’.
Food Production and Consumption
Food production has tripled globally in the past 50 years:
- Largely as a result of growing population and the Green Revolution (process of using
technology and more efficient farming practices in agriculture to maximise yields in the 50s
and 60s). Increased use in farming machinery - combine harvesters, farming resources -
herbicides and pesticides and better farming management.
However, food production is unevenly distributed with lower income countries producing the least
amount of crops. The richest countries have the largest food supplies, thus more calories for their
population.
Countries’ varying crop yields:
1. Eastern Asia + North America + Western Europe = these areas have consistent high yields
due to the availability of resources e.g. nutrients and water.
2. India + South America + Western Africa = these areas have moderate yields, but at risk of
environmental limitations e.g. droughts and flooding (especially climate change).
3. Central Australia + Saharan Africa + Eastern Russia = Extreme environmental limitations
such as extreme temperatures and droughts make these places unsuitable for crop growth.
Consumption:
, - Africa consumes the least calories out of every continent (27% of their population suffers
from severe food insecurity).
- North America has the highest consumption rate, followed by Europe.
- Asia’s consumption rate has had the quickest growth: especially in China.
Agricultural Systems and Productivity:
Agricultural productivity is the amount of useful outputs (yield) in proportion to the amount of inputs,
showing the efficiency of the farm.
PHYSICAL INPUTS PROCESSES USEFUL OUTPUTS
Climatic factors - sun/rain Arable Farming (plants) Food crops (cereals, fruit and
Soil - mineral content and veg)
saturation. Planting seeds Other crops: cotton, silk etc.
Location: altitude, relief etc. Tending to land Animal produce: milk, meat
Pollination Harvesting Excess products to sell/trade
HUMAN INPUTS LOSSES + OTHER OUTPUTS
Farming machinery- Pastoral Farming (animals) Losses in natural disasters such as
maintenance and harvesting. droughts and floods.
Fertilisers and pesticides Tending to livestock Waste e.g. manure
Seeds and livestock Breeding Unused/wasted food
Labour Collecting produce
Intensive farming: high inputs in relation to agricultural land to produce the highest output. High
amounts of labour or capital inputs - to maximise yields. However; overly extensive farming or not
carefully managed without replenishment of soil nutrients may damage future food-producing
potential.
Extensive farming: Low labour, fertilisers and capital inputs in relation to agricultural land, thus
usually producing lower outputs.
Commercial farming: Agriculture with the intention of providing yields that can be sold
commercially, making a profit. This is usually associated with intensive farming.
Subsistence farming: Self-sufficient farming, where crops are grown only to support those growing
for their family or community with little or no profit.
Climate change impact on agriculture:
Tropical Monsoon Climates: (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Laos etc)
Located within the tropics and subtropics. They are very warm/humid with temperatures constantly
above 18degrees celsius. Persists of dry seasons and wet reasons. 60% of the world's population is
affected by this climate. Wet seasons bring waterlogged land that is perfect for growing rice in Asia.
This environment provides many farming opportunities. Precipitation rates can vary, so wheat, rice,
tea and farm animals can suffer from floods and droughts.
, Agriculture is massively impacted by the monsoon, rainfall levels make rice growth possible and the
green revolution has added a 2nd artificial monsoon to allow double cropping each year. Notably as
the production of rice shows a long term increasing trend, but also fluctuates year to year according to
the strength of the monsoon.
Monsoon impact upon human health: 2 types of disease peak during the rainy season. They are
diseases spread by mosquitoes and water borne infections. Mosquitoes breed in the ephemeral water
bodies created by the rains and malaria and dengue fever cases increase. Typhoid is rare during the
dry seasons but increases during the monsoon as foul drains and tanks overflow into fresh water.
When the monsoon fails, it can have catastrophic impacts upon the people of India. A weak or bad
monsoon is always considered as a big setback to India’s economy and always results in a big loss in
the country's GDP levels. 2013 extreme monsoon resulted in 300 deaths in India/Pakistan
The Asian drought of 1987 was, in terms of temperature and precipitation anomalies, one of the worst
of this century from Afghanistan to the Philippines.
Polar Climates: located at the poles (high latitudes) of the Earth within the Arctic and Antarctic
circle. In the hottest months - temperatures stay below 10 degrees celsius.
- 4 million live here
- There is little precipitation and temperatures otherwise are constantly below freezing, thus
few plants and animals can thrive due to the undernourished frozen soils and harsh climate.
Population numbers in these regions are low, due to the cold and dry climate making it
difficult to build infrastructure amongst the permafrost.
The increase in extreme weather events (floods, droughts, tropical storms, wildfires) is likely to
decrease productivity, as these events can devastate large areas of arable and pastoral land.
- Temperature rises and precipitation changes will cause agricultural land to decrease in many
areas. In Asia it is predicted that per 1degrees temp rise, rice yields will decrease by 20%.
- In East Africa in parts of Kenya and Somalia, the worsening effects of global warming and
scarce unpredictable rainfall has had effects on production in these areas.
- Could argue melting of permafrost is good as it allows new vegetation to grow seen in Serbia
MEWAT DISTRICT
100km south of Delhi
Increase in mean minimum temperature at the rate of 0.18oC
every 10 years during the monsoon season
Increase in mean minimum temperature at the rate of 0.18oC every 10 years during the dry season
This is expected to accelerate between 2020 and 2050,
minimum temperatures will increase by 1.87oC (monsoon) and 2.73oC (dry season)
- They use HYV’s - high yielding varieties and ‘superior seeds’
One example is the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) who carried out Climate
Change Adaptation Projects to test out technologies and strategies.
Soil Problems and Management:
Agricultural productivity is dependent on the quality of the soil- with different soils suited to different
types of agriculture.
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