IGCSE Geography / Fragile environments and climate change
Fragile environments
Edexcel International GCSE Geography (4GE1), chapter 7: Fragile environments and climate change, specification point 7.1a, 7.S1. Free lesson.
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A fragile environment is easily damaged and slow to recover. Knowing where fragile environments are and why they are vulnerable helps you describe their distribution and explain their risks.
What makes an environment fragile
A fragile environment is easily damaged by natural change or by the way people use it. It is also slow to recover. Both parts matter: a place is not fragile just because it has problems. For a full definition, include that it is easily damaged and slow to recover.
Where fragile environments are found
Use the Equator, the two Tropics, continents and compass directions to describe locations. The Tropics are at 23.5° north and 23.5° south. Tropical rainforest grows in a belt along the Equator, between the Tropics. Hot deserts are further out, around the Tropics, and drylands lie on and around deserts. The largest rainforest areas are the Amazon in South America, central Africa and South East Asia. The Sahara is the largest hot desert. The Sahel lies along its southern edge and is an example of dryland. Drylands cover over 40% of the land. Coral reefs occur in warm, shallow…
Why drylands and rainforests are fragile
Drylands and tropical rainforests are very different, but both can be damaged easily and take a long time to recover. In both environments, removing the plants can lead to the loss of soil. Drylands cover over 40% of the land and are home to over 2 billion people. Rainfall is low and unreliable, and the soil is thin and dry. Plants are sparse and grow back slowly. The main threat is desertification, when land becomes desert-like. Tropical rainforest covers a small share of the land but contains over half of all plant and animal species. It receives heavy rainfall all year, about 2,000…
How to answer distribution and explanation questions
A describe question asks where something is, not why it is there. An explain question needs a reason and its effect.
More lessons in Fragile environments and climate change
- What causes desertification
- Case study: desertification of the Sahel
- What causes deforestation
- Natural causes of climate change
- The enhanced greenhouse effect
- The impacts of desertification
- The impacts of deforestation
- How climate change is damaging fragile environments
- How climate change is affecting people
- Technology and water in drylands
- Managing rainforests sustainably
- Case study: conserving Brazil's rainforest
- Responding to climate change
- Case study: the UK's response to climate change
- Case study: China's response to climate change
- Case study: the Solomon Islands and rising seas