Date | May 2022 | Marks available | 10 | Reference code | 22M.1.bp.6 |
Level | SL and HL | Paper | 1 | Time zone | |
Command term | Examine | Question number | 6 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
Examine the possible long-term challenges associated with tourism in one or more types of cold environment.
Examine the importance of wind in the development of two or more hot, arid landscape features.
Markscheme
Marks should be allocated according to the Paper 1 markbands (available under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials).
The focus of the response should be on tourism in different types of cold environment: including ice sheets, glaciers and permafrost in high altitude mountain regions, and high latitudes. Some long-term challenges will be similar for different types of environment, while others might be unique. Challenges might be physical, economic and social. Local and global stakeholders may be involved in the management of these long-term challenges for a sustainable future.
Possible applied themes (AO2) demonstrating knowledge and understanding (AO1):
- Challenges might include pressure on local resources, such as landscapes, water supply, and timber: exceeding carrying capacities and environmental degradation.
- Pressures on fragile ecosystems in cold environments: destruction of natural vegetation, wildlife and habitats.
- Environmental pollution by tourist activities, e.g. waste disposal in oceans and on land; air, noise and visual pollution.
- Economic challenges include: accessibility, isolation and difficult terrain; land ownership; conflicts between national/international tour operators and local people — economic leakage.
- Social challenges might include conflicts between locals and tourists.
- Climate change (and associated warming) is a long term challenge.
- Consideration could be given as to how these challenges might be managed by different stakeholders for a sustainable future.
- There may be international and local agreements regarding the creation of protected areas and national parks, the development of “green tourism” and ecotourism.
Good answers may be well structured (AO4) and may additionally offer a critical evaluation (AO3) of the statement in a way that examines the variety of long-term challenges in different places and scales. Another approach might be to examine the varying perspectives and varying power of stakeholders for possibilities of future management.
For 5–6 marks, expect weakly-evidenced outlining of one or more challenges associated with tourism in a cold environment.
For 7–8 marks, expect a structured account that includes:
- either an evidenced explanation of a variety of long-term challenges associated with tourism in one or more types of cold environment
- or a discursive conclusion (or ongoing evaluation) grounded in geographical concepts and/or perspectives.
For 9–10 marks, expect both of these traits.
Marks should be allocated according to the Paper 1 markbands (available under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials).
Both wind and water are involved in the formation of desert landscapes, although their relative importance varies from place to place and over different time scales, including the effects of possible climatic change on processes. Despite the popular image of deserts as being dominated by extensive sand seas and dunes, wind often plays a relatively minor role in landform development in many desert regions.
Possible applied themes (AO2) demonstrating knowledge and understanding (AO1):
- Understanding of the relative importance of processes of wind erosion, transportation and deposition in the formation of landscape features.
- These include: different dune systems, rock pedestals, yardangs, zeugen, deflation hollows and desert pavements.
- Wind processes are important where there is little vegetation cover, very little water, and a plentiful supply of sand.
- Wind is only able to transport fine particles, mainly very close to the ground surface, in suspension in the air, or close to the ground by saltation and creep.
- Wind deposition may lead to the formation of different types of dune systems, such as barchans and seifs, which may form part of large sand seas.
- Wind erosion is most effective close to the ground, as abrasion and sand blasting. This may result in the formation of distinctive rock pedestals, yardangs and zeugen. However, water may also be important in their formation.
- Wind erosion in the development of large deflation hollows, and desert pavements, where the selective removal of sand leaves larger rock fragments as a lag deposit.
- On a smaller scale, wind abrasion may result in polished and pitted rock surfaces, forming features such as ventifacts.
- The relative importance of wind and water in the formation of arid landscapes should be considered, especially in the formation of many large features, such as wadis, mesas and buttes, and inselbergs.
Good answers may be well-structured (AO4) and may additionally offer a critical evaluation (AO3) of the statement in a way that reaches an evidenced judgment regarding the importance of wind processes in landscape development. Another approach might be to examine the relative importance of different processes over varying time scales and places.
For 5–6 marks, expect weakly-evidenced outlining of the importance / relative importance of wind in the formation of at least two landscape features.
For 7–8 marks, expect a structured account that includes:
- either an evidenced explanation of the importance / relative importance of wind in the development of two or more landscape features
- or a discursive conclusion (or ongoing evaluation) grounded in geographical concepts and/or perspectives, perhaps considering the relative importance of wind compared to other processes.
For 9–10 marks, expect both of these traits.
Examiners report
Most candidates were able to consider some challenges with tourism in cold environments but relatively few focused on the term 'long-term'. Weaker candidates just wrote a list of challenges which were poorly applied to the question.
There was much confusion here with only a few realizing that it was a question about the formation of landscape features. Those that did often restricted their answers to simplistic accounts of dune systems. The relative importance of wind was recognized by only a few candidates. Good candidates also recognized the importance of climate change and past wetter climates in the formation of relict landscapes in arid areas.