AQA Paper 1 - Cold Environments

What does  the word tundra mean?

• Cold wilderness
• Finnish for treeless land
• flat land
• plantless

What is the Law of the Sea?

• That a countries rules doesn't count at sea.
• A country is in charge of the 200 nautical miles off your coast

_{^{If the number of humpback whales increased what would happen to phytoplankton?}}

• increase
• decrease

fishing quotas are

• the number of fish in the sea
• how much fish you can catch
• the government limits the amount of fish that can be caught.

What are the characteristics of a polar region? 

• Winter temperatures are often below -50 and soils are permanently frozen. 
• Plants are low growing, such as bearberry, Artic moss and saxifrage
• Animals include the Artic fox and the Artic hare
• Soils are water-logged as water is trapped by permafrost

Cold environments have low bio-diversity because...

• global warming causes more animals and plants to migrate further north and south where it is colder as temperature rises elsewhere
• The soils are low in nutrients (infertile) and cannot support many plants
• permafrost means few plants and therefore few animals can survive

Svalbard is a Norwegian territory in the Arctic Ocean. Which statement is false? 

• Svalbard experiences a polar climate with 60% of the land covered by glaciers
• People work as subsistence farmers to provide enough food for their village
• The main source of power is from coal, but geothermal energy is being developed
• Cruise passengers accounted for nearly half the number of tourists in 2011

How does coal mining benefit the people of Svalbard?

• Burning fossil fuels is a major source of greenhouse gases
• Coal mining supports jobs for 300 people
• The only coal-fired power station is located in Longyearbyen to support Svalbard's energy needs, but this is controversial due to environmental damage 
• due to a decline in demand for coal jobs have been lost

How does Svalbard benefit from the abundant fish stocks in the Barents Sea? 

• The cold waters are rich in many varieties of fish including Herring, Haddock and Cod
• The Barents Sea provides a breeding ground for 150 species of fish  
• Fish are exported to EU countries
• Fishing is strictly controlled by Norway and Russia 

Living and working in Svalbard is difficult. Why are water and sewage pipes constructed above ground? 

•  The weight of the earth would damage the pipes
• It is cheaper 
• It is better to be able to see the pipes in case of damage in the harsh environment 
• Permafrost means that burying pipes and maintaining them is very difficult and hot pipes will damage the permafrost