Analyse the consequences of one specific transboundary pollution event.

“The negative effects of globalization on cultural traits have been overstated.” Discuss this statement.

A transboundary pollution event is one which has damaging effects for more than one country. It is most likely that candidates will analyse a major oil spill or air pollution event. “Event” strongly suggests a single dated occurrence but some credit should still be given to an account of a more pervasive problem (such as acid rain). Thus, for band E, the account must clearly relate to transboundary pollution (thus the pollution type is named, for example, sulphur dioxide or crude oil; affected states are clearly identified). Further, the temporal aspect should be addressed: if not a single event (for example, an oil spill) then a period (year or decade) must be identified (giving us a broad interpretation of “event”). An account of acid rain that is not geographically or historically specific should not move beyond band C. If both are there, band E is possible.

It should be made explicit who is affected and why the event is “transboundary”. The consequences may include: immediate ecological and environmental harm; longer clear-up operations; subsequent changes in national and/or international legislature; implications for the polluter (such as poor publicity and “PR nightmare” for TNCs).

The best answers may have a range of varied consequences (such as political/governance response) and will not simply focus on ecological damage.

Pollution events such as the Bhopal incident are not transboundary but may achieve band C if the concept of transnational has been well explored (idea of TNCs moving their pollution/unsafe operations overseas). The movement of recycling wastes to China may be marked in the same way (it is hardly an event, but some limited credit for the transboundary/transnational aspects of the case study could be given if it has been well written).

Marks should be allocated according to the markbands.

Credit all content in line with the markbands. Credit unexpected approaches wherever relevant.

The negative effects candidates should be familiar with include the threat of cultural homogenization associated with the diffusion of western, and latterly Japanese, cultural traits and branded commodities. In extreme cases this can be described as cultural imperialism [Guide 5]. The cultural production of homogenized landscapes may be commented on [Guide 4].

The question invites discussion of whether this first viewpoint has been overstated. The strongest responses will recognize alternative responses exist and globalization can be challenged/contested. They may suggest a variety of alternative outcomes, for example, hybridization/glocalization of branded products [Guide 7], or growth of diaspora music and art that draws on global influences [Guide 5]. More extreme forms of rejection also exist, such as throwing out TNCs and the IMF [Guide 3] or the resistance of nationalist parties to MGO membership [Guide 6]. At a local level, people may “opt out” and pursue strategies such as local sourcing of food (food preferences being a cultural trait) [Guide 7].

The persistence of diaspora traits is also clear evidence of cultural resilience (that is, the idea that cultural traits can easily survive) [Guide 5]. Equally, it may be argued that some cultures have remained free of global influences by choice, for example, Bhutan [Guide 7].

The process of cultural homogenization – if it exists – can be very complex and alternative viewpoints should be credited on their merits.

At bands D and E, both sides of the argument should be addressed, although balance need not be expected if the candidate has a strong, evidenced argument that mostly agrees or disagrees with the title.

A wide variety of cultural traits can be accepted, including any that are not specifically mentioned in the syllabus. Answers that rely heavily on just one or two case studies (especially if their relevance to contemporary globalization is spurious, such as early encounters between westerners and the Dani tribe) are likely to be too narrow to receive much credit for assessment objective 3 and are unlikely to progress beyond band C.

Marks should be allocated according to the markbands.

A checklist for an appropriate example of a transboundary pollution event has three boxes to tick. Candidates should ask:

• Is it an example of human-induced pollution, such as sulphur emissions?
• Is the example transboundary? (While many used the recent BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, few were able to describe any legitimate transboundary effects.)
• Can they describe their case study as an "event" – something of a clearly stated duration? (This might be a single event such as a nuclear accident, but could be a longer-duration event such as Kuwaiti oil fires, or even acid rain during the1970s or possibly ozone depletion in the early 1980s, whereas "global warming" since 1750 is hard to justify as an "event".)

The examples that worked best were Chernobyl (although this is a slightly antiquated example, its effects are still felt today) and the far more recent Japanese tsunami (which quickly became a transboundary event, with nuclear radiation detected on the US Pacific coast within two weeks of the explosion).

A few more sketch maps would have been useful here, as some case studies were poorly located and the spatial extent of the pollution weakly understood. Among weaker candidates, the interpretation of "consequences" tended to be quite limited and almost entirely short-term and overwhelmingly negative, even for events that actually led to substantial improvements in practice, regulations and legislation.

The provocative statement forced weaker candidates to attempt some sort of evaluation and to therefore present conflicting evidence, which was pleasing to see. The most popular themes were the modernization of indigenous peoples and the glocalization concept. Urban landscapes were sometimes included too. A few tackled diaspora but not many. Given that this is a geography exam, there was a disappointing lack of attention to scale. What is happening at a planetary level (loss of languages etc.) is very different from what happens at a local scale in world cities/global hubs, where diversity has never been greater or richer in many cases.

Overly historical accounts should be discouraged as the focus is meant to be contemporary globalization (which is widely accepted as either a post-war or even post-1980s phenomenon). The best responses were synthetic and covered five or six themes; in contrast, many weaker answers devoted two pages to the trials and tribulations of the Dani tribe and one page to the contents of McDonald’s menus, resulting in a mediocre performance overall.