Possible SAC questions- desertification PDF

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possible SAC/exam questions for desertification, Geography unit 3 VCE...

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Possible SAC questions- desertification 1. Define land degradation and list two of its causes (3 marks) Land degradation is a decrease in quality or condition of the land due to over-exploitation or unsustainable use of it. Two causes of land degradation can be overgrazing and over cultivation.

2. Define drylands and state 2 of their characteristics (3 marks) Drylands are defined as having a growing season between 1-59 days and can be arid, semiarid or subhumid. 3 characteristics can be water and soil pollution, unreliable precipitation.

3. Using appendix 1, describe the regions facing desertification the most (5 marks) There is a general pattern seen of counties relatively in a near proximity to the equator to be experiencing high levels of desertification with the exception of some regions south and north of the uator experiencing high levels too. The Sahel is a region near the equator facing serious levels of deforestation which lso extends upto the very top of Africa. Central and Northern Asia are regions facing high levels of desertification which also fits this trend. Australia and Southern America are wuite a far distance south from the equator but experiences high levels of deforestation. Some parts of the USA experience high levels of desertification which are also far from the equator.

4. Provide 3 factors causing desertification and rank them in relative importance (6 marks) Based on relative importance, three factors causing desertification are environmental uses, social issues and over grazing. Environmental uses are ranked first as there is a wide range of ways that the use of the environment in a negative way can cause desertification. Firstly, 50-90% of energy used in Africa is derived from deforestation, which would expose more bare land to the possibility of desertidication. The irrigation of places where there is an abundant source of water can lead to desertification. The Aral Sea has been decreased by 90% and has now formed the Aralkum desert due to a cotton plantation nearby which required lots of water. By 2005, the Sea level of the Aral Sea had dropped by 23 metres. Social issues are ranked second because there is still many issues but n0t a many as environmental. One being the fact that population leveks keep rising and this puts more pressure on food sources, which is slowly leading to a vicious cycle of famine whch then rewuire sus to over cultivate the land. The FAO predicts a 60% increase in food production by 2050 which is only create more food insecurity. Overgrazing is becoming increasingly serious as the world needs more and more products to satiy themselves. In Mongolia, they have seen an 80% loss in vegetation cover due to the higher frequency of overgrazing goats they use fir their cashmere wool industry.

5. What are some impacts of desertification? (4 marks) Desertification can impact on many areas of life from social to environmental. Desertification can lead to serious soil erosion which then leaves the ground dry and unable to sustain crops. This vicious cycle of not leaving land fallow in countries where they are in desperate need of food, puts further pressure on the land, weakening its ability to be a producer of food. Desertification can affect human wellbeing as the deterioration of the land may send people to look for migration. 80% of the Sahelian population relies on the land for a living, thus making them highly vulnerable to humaninduced land degradation.

6. Give and evaluate a local response to desertification (5 marks) A ocal response to desertification is the FMNR method or, Farmer Managed Natural Regenration method. This is a local based program in Niger which includes planting, revegetation and ‘food for work’ schemes, all which include the people of the land. This may be seen successful as has 80000 to 100000 people involved and 90% of the trees planted were successfully used for food. However, it can be seen unsuccessful as it is hard to manage as it is self-based and some of the farmers didn’t understand that the coppice shoots must be left alone in order for the trees to regenerate. All in all, this was seen as a good method appropriate and necessary to start the response to desertification in Niger.

7. Give and evaluate a national response to desertification (5 marks) A national response to desertification is the Great Green Wall of China (GGW). China undertook one of the world’s lagest reforestation schemes and wsa able to restore 10% of their orignianlly lost land to land degradation. China suffers from large-scale desertificiton through their many dust and sand storms and declining rainfall. This was not seen as a ‘wall’ as such but rather a zone of native vegetation that 3as put in place to recreate much of the lnd cover that had been lost. This was effective as over 50 billion trees were planted from 1978 to 2014 and it had lots of government funding but was also helped by locals which gave them ob opportunities. The downside to this scheme however, was that it was a monoculture band of trees, so in Ningxia, in the space of 12 months, 1 billion trees were wiped out.

8. Give and evaluate a global response to desertification (5 marks) A global response to desertificantion is the UNCCD which stands for the United Nations Convention for Combating Desertification. Sinc 1994, the UNCCD developed an action plan for preventing dryland degradation and encouraged many countries, in fact 194 to do the same. They set up a number of goals such as the goal of having a zero net land degradation by 2030. The UNCCD can be seen as an effective response as it was the first of many and has encouraged many countries to take initiative towards combating desertification and to put some action plans in place. They also have a world desertification day once a year which can be seen as further spreading the word. However, the UNCCD can be seen as a failure in reponse to combating or reducing the effects of desertification due to the fact that dince the 1990s, the number of countries facing desertification has increased rom 110 to 168 in 2013. Also, many government sre invved in this scheme, so the many conflsicting views makes it hard to figure out how best to operate this scheme.

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