Examine the severity of the impacts of different types of mass movement on human well-being.

Examine the effectiveness of technology and planning strategies in reducing human vulnerability to volcanic hazards.

Marks should be allocated according to the Paper 1 markbands (available under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials).

Human well-being is a broad concept, which can be measured in a variety of different ways. It includes social factors, morbidity and mortality rates, health, education, human rights, access to resources (food, shelter, water) and employment, and quality of life. Different types of mass movement include fast/slow, solid/loose: such as landslides, rockslides, debris or mud flows.

Possible applied themes (AO2) demonstrating knowledge and understanding (AO1):

• Human well-being is a broad concept, including social factors, such as health, education, access to resources and quality of life, economic and political factors.
• Different types of mass movement include: landslides, rockslides, debris or mud flows.
• Mass movement can have significant economic, social and health impacts, including — morbidity and mortality rates, deaths and injuries.
• The severity of the impact on human well-being will partly depend on the type of mass movement and will vary spatially between different places.
• The severity may be considered in terms of long and short-term impacts.

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 different types and processes of mass movement in affecting human well-being in different places. Another approach might be to examine the severity of the impacts in terms of different time scales (long and short term).

For 5–6 marks, expect weakly-evidenced outlining of the impact of at least one type of mass movement on human well-being.

For 7–8 marks, expect a well-structured account that includes:

• either an evidenced explanation of the severity of impacts of two or more types of mass movement on human well-being
• or a discursive conclusion (or ongoing evaluation) grounded in geographical concepts and/or perspectives, perhaps considering severity at different time scales.

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).

Increasing numbers of people are living in areas of hazardous volcanic activity, especially near destructive plate margins associated with violent, explosive volcanoes. People may be especially vulnerable to the destructive effects of rapid flows of lava and pyroclastics, and large-scale ash falls. Management strategies involving the use of planning and technology might contribute to the reduction of human vulnerability to volcanic hazards.

Possible applied themes (AO2) demonstrating knowledge and understanding (AO1):

• Technologies might be used to predict future volcanic eruptions, including monitoring of volcanic activity, seismic and crater monitoring surveys; GPS surveys to measure changes in shape of volcanoes, and monitoring of movements in the magma chamber.
• Other technological strategies might include: improving telecommunications (SMS messages) to give warnings of possible eruptions.
• Planning strategies could include mapping of volcanic areas to produce hazard-zone maps; land use zoning.
• Education and drills to warn and inform people what to do in case of an eruption; evacuation plans.
• Planning and technologies to locate and rescue survivors, and rehabilitation plans for the aftermath of an eruption.
• The effectiveness of these strategies will depend partly on levels of economic development, and on the perception of the hazard by local people and other stakeholders.

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 effectiveness of different strategies, and the power of different stakeholders in reducing vulnerability. Another approach might be to consider effectiveness in terms of the scale of hazard events in different places.

For 5–6 marks, expect weakly-evidenced outlining of technological and/or planning strategies.

For 7–8 marks, expect a well-structured account that includes:

• either an evidenced explanation of the effectiveness of technology and planning strategies in reducing human vulnerability
• or a discursive conclusion (or ongoing evaluation) grounded in geographical concepts and/or perspectives, discussing the relative effectiveness of strategies.

For 9–10 marks, expect both of these traits.

It was disturbing that so many candidates appeared to be unaware of the meaning of the term mass movement and this essay was generally poorly answered. Many related the term to earthquakes or even population migration. There were, however, some excellent answers which were well structured and exemplified.

This question was popular and generally well answered, with both terms technology and planning understood and good use of case studies. In some there was limited understanding of what different methods of technology eg tiltmeter, actually measured. Weaker answers were very general with no examples and very basic content and many giving historic examples eg Vesuvius. There was often a lack of discussion regarding effectiveness of strategies and writing everything they knew about their case study.