Key Concepts

Responces to environmental change to modify human behavior and economic systems permenantly

For example:

Reduced rainfall causes farmers to use more effective irrigation and draught resistant crops

The idea that a cause will create an effect

For example:

Storm waves (a cause) leads to more coastal erosion (an effect)

In a system, inputs and outputs are balanced, meaning there is very little change

For example:

The amount of sediment being deposited on a beach is equal to the amount of sediment leaving, so the beach stays roughly the same size

An automatic internal response to changes in a system

Negative feedback - the response reduces the change, bringing the system back to equilibrium

For example:

After removal of sediment during storm conditions, an offshore bar forms which reduces erosion and helps sediment return to the beach, restoring equilibrium

Positive feedback - the response amplifies the change, moving the system further away from equlibrium

For example:

If the sediment on a beach is transported away, the cliff is unprotected and therefore subject to increased erosion and more coastal retreat

Increase in connections between nations, businesses and people that make the modern world

For example:

Due to increased connectivity, a new method of coastal management might be shared around the world

What a place or person is recognised and known for

For example:

A place identity can be affected by past characteristics (e.g. Toxteth being a major port town in the past has meant it has diversity as part of its identity) 

An inbalance of resources, opportunities, respect...etc within a society

For example:

There is inequality between Toxteth and Lympstone in ability to outright own a house

A mutual reliance between two or more things (e.g. countries, people, abiotic and biotic factors in a system...etc)

For example:

Flora is reliant on soil to provide nutrience, whilst the soil needs decomposed flora to form nutrience

An action taken to lessen the impacts of a hazard for humans

For example:

Aeseismic buildings mitigate the damage earthquakes cause to property

The portrayal of something in a way the individual understands

For example:

Someone from a wealthy area is likely to represent the world in a different way to someone from a poor area

The ability of countries, individuals, environmental systems...etc to recover or resist a negative event

For example:

A coastal envirnonment might be more resiliant to storm conditions through negative feedback (e.g. formation of off-shore bars)

How likely a variety of possible outcomes from one event is

For example:

There is risk involved with living in a coastal environment because erosional processes may damage property

The use of resources to ensure long-term use whilst maintaining environmental and economic health

For example:

Removing as littlle sand from coastlines for construction to maintain the sediment budget

A group of interrelated objects and the relationship between them

For example:

A coastal system has many interrelated elements, such as sediment and energy (all inputs, outputs and throughputs)

A point at which the situation is irreversable

For example:

If enough sediment is removed from a coastline, the cliff will have no protection and so erosion will occur at an accelated rate