Key term
Edexcel A-Level Geography 9GE0
Tectonic Processes and Hazards
Topic overviewGlobal distribution of tectonic hazards and plate boundary processesThe structure of the Earth and mantle convectionRidge push, slab pull and sea-floor spreadingDestructive and constructive plate marginsCollision and transform marginsMagma composition and eruption styleThe Benioff zone and earthquake magnitudeSeismic waves and their effectsVolcanic hazards and tsunamisHazard, vulnerability, resilience and the risk equationThe Pressure and Release modelThe impacts of tectonic hazardsMeasuring hazards, and the hazard profileSpeed of onset, areal extent, duration and predictabilityWhy impacts differ between countriesEducation, buildings, healthcare and income as factors in vulnerabilityGovernance at local and national levelPopulation density, isolation and urbanisationHow development level shapes disaster outcomesTrends in tectonic disasters, data reliability and samplingMega-disasters and multiple-hazard zonesTheoretical frameworks for prediction, impact and managementLand-use zoning and hazard-resistant designMonitoring, prediction, preparedness and aid
Glaciated Landscapes and ChangeLandscape
Topic overviewThe cryosphere and the types of glacierGlacial chronology and the causes of climate changeEvidence for Pleistocene ice extentRelict glacial landscapes, and polar against temperate glaciersPermafrost, nivation, frost heave and solifluctionIce wedges, patterned ground, pingos and loessGlacial mass balance and the ice-albedo feedbackAccumulation and ablation processesThe equilibrium line and how glaciers moveWhat controls the rate of glacial movementBasal slip and internal deformationWhat speeds a glacier up or slows it downDebris entrainment, transport and the scale of glacial landformsGlacial erosion, corries, aretes and pyramidal peaksTroughs, hanging valleys, ribbon lakes and roches moutonneesMoraines: lateral, medial, recessional and terminalDrumlins, till plains and the two kinds of tillErratics and reconstructing former ice movementMeltwater pathways, and analysing fluvioglacial sedimentFluvio-glacial (meltwater) landformsThe value of glaciated landscapes to peopleNatural hazards and human threats to glaciated landscapesClimate change and the players who manage these landscapesManagement approaches, legislation and scale
Coastal Landscapes and ChangeLandscape
Topic overviewThe littoral zone and the influences that shape itConcordant and discordant coasts, and geological structureCoastal types and the influence of rock structureFaulting, folding and geological weaknessesRock type, permeability and cliff profilesPsammosere succession on sand dunesHalosere succession and rates of recessionWaves, beach profiles and marine erosionWave-cut notches, platforms and cliffsCaves, arches, stacks and stumpsLongshore drift and the transport of sedimentSpits, bars, tombolos and other depositional landformsSediment cells: sources, transfers and sinksWeathering on the coastMass movement and its landformsRapid coastal recession and variations in its rateCauses of sea level change, and emergent coastlinesSubmergent coastlines and contemporary sea level riseCoastal flooding as a significant and increasing riskLosses from coastal recession, and environmental refugeesHard and soft engineering on the coastIntegrated coastal zone management and shoreline policiesHow coastal management decisions are made, and by whomUsing GIS, photographs and crowd-sourced data in coastal management
Globalisation
Topic overviewWidening, deepening and the global flowsThe five global flows definedTransport, ICT and the shrinking worldPolitical and economic decision making in globalisationMeasuring globalisation: the AT Kearney and KOF indicesTNCs, glocalisation, outsourcing and switched-off placesThe global shift and who gains from itThe social and environmental costs of the global shiftDeindustrialised regions in developed countriesRural-urban migration and the growth of megacitiesGlobal hub cities and international migrationThe costs and benefits of economic migrationCultural diffusion and the spread of a global cultureCultural erosion and opposition to globalisationMeasuring development: GDP, HDI and the Gender Inequality IndexEnvironmental measures, the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curveGeographical skills: statistics, data and research ethicsWinners, losers and the widening development gapSocial, political and environmental tensions from global changeLocal sourcing and its costs and benefitsFair trade, ethical consumption and recycling
Regenerating PlacesPlaces
Topic overviewEconomic classification and variation from place to placeThe functions of a place and why they changeMeasuring place change and deprivationPast and present connections shaping economic and social characteristicsEconomic and social inequalities changing perceptions of areasLived experience, attachment and conflict over placeEvidence, representations, Spearman's rank and significance testingMeasures of dispersion: range, interquartile range and standard deviationSuccessful regions and the spiral of declinePerceptions of the need for regenerationNational planning, transport and funding decisionsNational policy: Levelling Up, house-building targets and foreign investmentLocal government incentives and inward investmentWhat attracts investment, and the multiplier effectLocal interest groups and tourism, sport and rural regenerationRebranding to change public perception of placesRebranding deindustrialised cities and rural areasEconomic, social and environmental measures of successDeprivation domains and demographic changeHow different stakeholders judge regenerationUrban stakeholders and their criteria for successUrban regeneration: reality, image and contested decisionsRural stakeholders and their criteria for successRural regeneration: reality, image and contested decisions
Diverse PlacesPlaces
Topic overviewPopulation structure variation from place to place and over timePopulation characteristics variation from place to place and over timeGlobal, national and regional influences on placeHow places are represented in film, art, music and mediaContinuity and change in demographic and cultural characterUrban places viewed differently by different groupsIdyllic and negative perceptions of rural placesHow reputation, media and lived experience shape rural viewsEvidence about living spaces, and research ethicsMedia and creative sources, coding and samplingIncreasing cultural and social diversity in the UKWhat causes segregationSegregation along the rural-urban continuum, and migrationPerceptions of segregated places, and measuring segregationLand-use change and tension between residents and newcomersMeasuring integration, and community cohesion in SloughDiverse rural communities: the Lake District
The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity
Topic overviewThe processes of the hydrological cycleThe stores of water and their relative sizeFluxes, residence time, fossil water and the cryosphereThe drainage basin as an open systemWhat influences drainage basin processesWater budgets and river regimesWhat shapes a storm hydrographReading a storm hydrographMeteorological and hydrological drought, ENSO and human causesThe impacts of drought on wetlands and forestsThe physical causes of floodingHuman causes of floodingThe environmental and economic impacts of floodingSocial impacts, case studies and synoptic chartsHow climate change alters the hydrological cycleENSO, uncertainty and future projectionsWater stress, scarcity and the physical causes of insecurityHuman causes of water insecurity and rising demandPhysical and economic water scarcityWhy economic scarcity happens, and the price of waterHow water is used: industry, energy and agricultureThe consequences of water insecurityCompeting users and trans-boundary riversThe players in water conflict, and its causesWater transfers as a hard engineering solutionMega dams and their costsDesalination, and the case against the techno-fixThe value of more sustainable schemes of restoration of water supplies and water conservationIntegrated drainage basin management and water treatiesThe players in water management and the conflicts between them
The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security
Topic overviewCarbon stores and fluxesChemical weathering, carbonate rocks and the slow carbon cycleBiological processes sequestering carbon (fast carbon cycle)Balanced carbon cycle sustaining earth systemsEnergy security and measuring energy useWhat shapes a country's energy mixContrasting energy mixes, public perception and OPECThe players in energy security, and energy pathwaysEnergy pathways and the mismatch between supply and demandUnconventional fossil fuels and their environmental costRenewables and nuclear: the costs and benefitsBiofuels, carbon capture, hydrogen and the uncertaintiesLand-use change and its effect on the carbon and water cyclesOcean acidification and coral reefsClimate belts, Amazonian drought and ecosystem servicesForest loss, the Kuznets curve and consumer attitudesHow warming changes the hydrological cycleUncertainty, ocean health and vulnerable regionsUncertainty, feedback loops and tipping pointsAdaptation and mitigation strategiesWhy players disagree, and handling climate data
Superpowers
Topic overviewWhat makes a superpower: economy, politics and militaryCultural, demographic and resource characteristicsHard power, soft power and smart powerThe Belt and Road Initiative, and power indexesPatterns of power change over timeEmerging powers and how their strengths are assessedWorld systems, dependency and modernisation theoryIGOs and how superpowers dominate themTNCs, cultural influence and WesternisationHow superpowers and emerging nations act in global decisionsAlliances, IGOs and geostrategyThe environmental cost of superpower demandThe rising middle class in emerging superpowersContested resources and intellectual propertyContested political spheres and open conflictChina's ties with the developing worldTensions in Asia and the Middle EastChallenges to existing superpowers, and future power structures
Health, Human Rights and InterventionConnections
Topic overviewConcepts of human developmentWhat causes variations in health and life expectancyHealth variations within countriesGovernments and IGOs defining development targets and policiesHuman rights in international law and agreementsDifferences between countries in definitions and protection of human rightsVariations in rights within countriesProgress towards equality, and the case studiesForms of geopolitical interventionDevelopment aid and the arguments about itEconomic development projects and military aidDevelopment focused on human rights and welfareHealth and life expectancy variation between and within countriesWelfare states, neo-liberalism and IGO programmesThe Responsibility to Protect and UN authorisationMilitary alliances, war crimes and the cost of military powerMeasuring the success of geopolitical interventionsThe mixed record of development aidWhy superpowers give aid, and the Gini coefficientMilitary interventions, both direct and indirect, have a mixed record of success
Migration, Identity and SovereigntyConnections
Topic overviewGlobalisation and the growth of migrationWhat changes migration patterns, and flow-line mapsVaried and complex causes of migrationConsequences of international migrationNation states and their varied historiesNationalism in the development of the modern worldTax havens, new state forms and alternatives to capitalismThe UN and its interventionsThe IMF, World Bank, WTO and other IGOsMigration in a globalised worldOpen borders, deregulation and migrant integrationNation states, borders and contested territoryNationalism, decolonisation and low-tax regimesIGOs managing environmental problemsNational identity as an elusive and contested conceptChallenges to national identityConsequences of disunity within nations
Globalisation
- 21 subtopics
- 61 things to know
- Papers 2 and 3
What Globalisation covers
Covers how the world became connected and who has gained and lost by it: the flows and technologies behind globalisation, the global shift in production, migration, cultural change, and the widening gaps it has left.
Where it is assessed
Papers 2 and 3
Human Geography, then the synoptic investigation.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 21 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Widening, deepening and the global flowsRecall questions on what widening and deepening mean, interdependence, and the flows that carry it.Open →
- The five global flows definedRecall questions on capital, commodities, information, migrants and tourists as distinct global flows.Open →
- Transport, ICT and the shrinking worldRecall questions on railways, steam-ships, jet aircraft and containerisation, and on the internet, mobiles and fibre optics.Open →
- Political and economic decision making in globalisationRecall questions on the WTO, IMF and World Bank, free trade, privatisation, special economic zones and China's Open Door policy.Open →
- Measuring globalisation: the AT Kearney and KOF indicesWhether globalisation is experienced equally, the economic integration, personal contact, technological connectivity and political engagement dimensions of the AT Kearney Globalisation Index, the economic, social and political dimensions of the KOF Globalisation Index, and how such indices are built from raw data.Open →
- TNCs, glocalisation, outsourcing and switched-off placesHow TNCs spread globalisation through production networks, glocalisation, new markets, outsourcing and offshoring, and the historical, physical, political, economic and environmental reasons some places stay switched off, with North Korea and rural Niger as examples and maps used to explain them.Open →
- The global shift and who gains from itThe shift of world economic output towards Asia, China as a receiver of manufacturing and India of outsourced services, and the infrastructure investment, waged work, poverty reduction and education and training that receiving countries gain.Open →
- The social and environmental costs of the global shiftGrowing inequalities, loss of productive land and unplanned settlements in countries receiving the global shift, and the environmental and resource pressures it brings, including air and water pollution, land degradation, over-exploitation of resources, loss of biodiversity and harm to people's health.Open →
- Deindustrialised regions in developed countriesRecall questions on dereliction, contamination, depopulation, crime and unemployment where industry has left.Open →
- Rural-urban migration and the growth of megacitiesPush and pull factors in rural-urban migration, megacities and the 10 million threshold, growth through migration and natural increase in Mumbai and Karachi, and the social and environmental challenges of rapid urban growth, from informal settlements to pollution and the urban heat island.Open →
- Global hub cities and international migrationWhat a global hub city is and why international migration to such places has increased, with Singapore and London attracting high-wage migrants and the UAE and Saudi Arabia attracting low-wage migrants.Open →
- The costs and benefits of economic migrationRecall questions on remittances, brain drain, and the economic, social, political and environmental effects on both ends.Open →
- Cultural diffusion and the spread of a global cultureCultural diffusion through TNCs, global media, tourism and migration, changing diets in Asia and the decline of local food cultures, and the opportunities a global culture opens up, with the Paralympic movement as an example.Open →
- Cultural erosion and opposition to globalisationCultural erosion of indigenous languages, food, music, clothing and social relations, Papua New Guinea as an example, how it devalues local and larger-scale ecosystems, the cultural, economic and environmental grounds for opposing globalisation, pro- and anti-globalisation arguments, and brand value data as a measure of westernisation.Open →
- Measuring development: GDP, HDI and the Gender Inequality IndexRecall questions on GDP and GNI per capita, the three HDI dimensions, and what the Gender Inequality Index measures.Open →
- Environmental measures, the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curveRecall questions on pollution indices, and on reading a Lorenz curve and interpreting a Gini coefficient.Open →
- Geographical skills: statistics, data and research ethicsThe skills examined across every topic: null hypotheses and significance, t-tests and a worked chi-squared test, Lorenz curves and the Gini coefficient, logarithmic scales, kite and dispersion diagrams, coding, research ethics and big data.Open →
- Winners, losers and the widening development gapRecall questions on which countries and environments have gained, and on how globalisation has changed the gap.Open →
- Social, political and environmental tensions from global changeHow open borders, deregulation and foreign investment created culturally mixed societies and migrant diasporas, the social, political and environmental tensions of rapid change such as extreme nationalism in Europe, censorship, immigration limits and trade protectionism as controls, and groups such as First Nations in Canada retaining their culture and resources.Open →
- Local sourcing and its costs and benefitsTransition towns and local pressure groups promoting local sourcing for sustainability, and its economic, social and environmental costs and benefits, from higher prices and less variety to local jobs, stronger communities and fewer food miles.Open →
- Fair trade, ethical consumption and recyclingHow fair trade aims to reduce inequalities in global trade and improve working conditions, ethical consumption and the role of NGOs and pressure groups, recycling and why its use varies by material and place, local authorities and Keep Britain Tidy, and how concern about consumption has encouraged localism.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
What three dimensions make up the Human Development Index?
Key term
Distinguish between migrants and tourists as global flows.
Evaluation
What does the concept of a 'shrinking world' describe?
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What cartographic technique is used to represent networks of global flows such as commodities, capital and migrants?
Process
How does the International Monetary Fund (IMF) contribute to globalisation?
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Define free-market liberalisation.
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Is globalisation experienced equally by all countries around the world?
Evaluation
Define offshoring.
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What physical factors can cause locations to remain detached from globalisation?
Evaluation
How does the global shift contribute to poverty reduction in receiving countries?
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How does the global shift cause air pollution in some developing country communities?
Evaluation
Why does depopulation occur in deindustrialised regions?
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Why is high unemployment a persistent problem in deindustrialised regions?
Evaluation
Identify four pull factors that attract people to urban areas.
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Explain how remittances create interdependence between source and host regions.
Evaluation
What is brain drain and why is it an economic cost for source locations?
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Explain how tourism facilitates cultural diffusion.
Process
How does Papua New Guinea exemplify deliberate cultural erosion?
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Why does cultural erosion contribute to de-valuing of larger-scale ecosystems?
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What does GDP per capita measure?
Process
How do environmental measures of development differ from economic and social measures?
Evaluation
What does it mean to say globalisation has created 'winners and losers'?
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How have physical environments experienced winners and losers from globalisation?
Study
Give an example of a political tension in Europe that has resulted from changes caused by globalisation.
Key term
Name two countries that have used censorship to control the spread of globalisation.
Evaluation
What social benefit can result from communities buying locally sourced products?
Evaluation
Why might shorter supply chains reduce environmental impacts related to product distribution?
Key term
Name a UK-based NGO involved in recycling and resource management.
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Is globalisation a recent phenomenon, or does it have a longer history?
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How does globalisation create interdependence between countries?
Process
Which way has the balance of world economic output moved, and what two processes drove it?
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Explain how the global shift can lead to growing inequalities within receiving countries.
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What are push factors in the context of rural-urban migration?
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What is a global hub city?
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What type of economic migration does Singapore primarily attract as a global hub city?
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What is cultural diffusion?
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What do pollution indices measure?
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Why do recycling rates differ between materials such as aluminium and plastics?
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What would happen to global interdependence if a major disruption occurred to international shipping routes?
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Define commodity flows.
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What type of technological development has dominated the 21st century acceleration of globalisation?
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What is the main role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in promoting globalisation?
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How do transnational corporations contribute to the spread of globalisation through their production arrangements?
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What type of economic activity has India particularly benefited from receiving as part of the global shift?
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Why does the global shift cause a loss of productive land in receiving countries?
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What problems are left behind when industry leaves a region in a rich country?
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Identify four push factors that drive rural-urban migration.
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What type of economic migration characterises Saudi Arabia?
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What does the distinction between high-wage and low-wage economic migration reflect?
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In what ways does migration contribute to the spread of westernised culture?
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Define cultural erosion.
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What is the difference between GDP per capita and GNI per capita?
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How do pollution indices contrast with economic or social development measures?
Process
How is a logarithmic scale read?
Process
Two samples of 10 have means 12.0 and 9.5 with standard deviations 2.0 and 2.5. Is the difference significant at p = 0.05 (critical value 2.10, 18 degrees of freedom)?
Process
How are expected frequencies calculated for a chi-squared contingency table?
Key term
What contrasting trends in economic development have different global regions shown since 1970?
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Explain how globalisation policies have led to the development of thriving migrant diasporas.
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What is one potential economic cost of local sourcing for consumers?
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Why might recycling rates differ between countries or regions?
Take Globalisation further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Globalisation vs Westernisation
Globalisation: increasing international interconnectedness of flows and systems. Westernisation: adoption of cultural practices associated with Western societies.
Foreign direct investment vs Portfolio investment
Foreign direct investment: cross-border investment establishing lasting control of an enterprise. Portfolio investment: purchase of financial assets without managerial control.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Is globalisation a recent phenomenon, or does it have a longer history?
Model answer
Globalisation is a long-standing process, not a recent phenomenon, that has accelerated due to developments in transport, communications and business practices.
- 2
What does the 'widening' of global connections mean in the context of globalisation?
Model answer
It means more places and people are becoming interconnected across the world.
- 3
What does the 'deepening' of global connections refer to?
Model answer
It refers to the increasing intensity and significance of connections between places and people.
- 4
How does globalisation create interdependence between countries?
Model answer
Economies and societies become mutually reliant on one another through global connections.
- 5
What would happen to global interdependence if a major disruption occurred to international shipping routes?
Model answer
Countries and regions would struggle to access goods and raw materials they depend on, demonstrating their mutual reliance on commodity flows.
- 6
Name the five key global flows that characterise globalisation.
Model answer
Commodities, capital, information, migrants, and tourists.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Globalisation revision questions
- What does Globalisation cover in Edexcel A-Level Geography?
- 21 subtopics: widening, deepening and the global flows, the five global flows defined, transport, ict and the shrinking world, political and economic decision making in globalisation, measuring globalisation: the at kearney and kof indices, tncs, glocalisation, outsourcing and switched-off places, the global shift and who gains from it, the social and environmental costs of the global shift, deindustrialised regions in developed countries, rural-urban migration and the growth of megacities, global hub cities and international migration, the costs and benefits of economic migration, cultural diffusion and the spread of a global culture, cultural erosion and opposition to globalisation, measuring development: gdp, hdi and the gender inequality index, environmental measures, the gini coefficient and the lorenz curve, geographical skills: statistics, data and research ethics, winners, losers and the widening development gap, social, political and environmental tensions from global change, local sourcing and its costs and benefits and fair trade, ethical consumption and recycling. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Globalisation organised?
- By the Edexcel 9GE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Globalisation, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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