Key term
OCR A-Level Geography H481
Coastal Landscapes
Topic overviewThe coastal system: inputs, outputs and flows of energy and materialSediment cells, the sediment budget and the sources of coastal sedimentWinds, fetch and the generation of wavesConstructive and destructive waves, and how waves breakTides, tidal range and ocean currentsLithology, geological structure and the plan of the coastWeathering and mass movement on the coastMarine erosion, transport and depositionBays, headlands, cliffs and shore platformsGeos, blow holes, caves, arches, stacks and stumpsBeaches and the changing beach profileSpits, bars, tombolos and salt marshesHigh and low energy coastlines as characteristic landscapesEmergent coasts: raised beaches, marine terraces and abandoned cliffsSubmergent coasts: rias, fjords and shingle beachesCoastal management and its effect on the sediment budgetPorts, tourism and unintended change at the coast
Glaciated Landscapes
Topic overviewThe glacier system: inputs, stores, flows and outputsGlacier mass balance and the equilibrium lineClimate, latitude and altitude as controls on glaciationGeology, relief and aspect in glaciated landscapesFirn, glacier ice, valley glaciers and ice sheetsWarm-based and cold-based ice, and the mechanisms of glacier movementWeathering, mass movement and nivation in cold environmentsGlacial erosion and the marks it leaves on rockEntrainment, transport and deposition of glacial sedimentCorries, arêtes and pyramidal peaksGlacial troughs, hanging valleys and ribbon lakesMoraines, erratics, drumlins and till sheetsCharacteristic glaciated landscapes and how they change over timeGlacio-fluvial landforms of deglaciation: kames, eskers and outwash plainsPermafrost, patterned ground and pingosPeople in periglacial landscapes: resource extraction and thermokarstPeople in glaciated landscapes: dams, reservoirs and valley change
Dryland Landscapes
Topic overviewDryland landscape systems: inputs, stores, flows and outputsAridity, the water balance and the UNEP aridity indexRainfall, pressure belts and the global pattern of aridityRock type and structure in dryland landscapesRelief, aspect and desert microclimatesSediment supply and the dryland sediment budgetPolar drylands and the cold desertsHot deserts of the low and mid latitudesSemi-arid environments and the desert marginsWeathering and mass movement in dryland landscapesFluvial and aeolian processes in the desertWadis, canyons, pedestal rocks, ventifacts and desert pavementsBarchans, linear dunes, star dunes, alluvial fans and bajadasThe Mojave and the Sahara as desert landscape systemsInselbergs, pediments and relict landforms of past pluvialsFrost-shattered debris, nivation hollows and solifluction depositsWater supply, dams and landscape changeTourism, off-road vehicles and landscape change
Earth’s Life Support Systems
Topic overviewWater and carbon as the foundations of life on EarthOpen and closed systems, and the major global stores of water and carbonInputs and outputs of the water cycle: precipitation, snowmelt and evapotranspirationInputs and outputs of the carbon cycle, and the forms of chemical weatheringEvaporation, transpiration, condensation and the causes of rainfallInterception, runoff and catchment hydrologyPhotosynthesis, respiration, decomposition and combustion as carbon flowsNatural sequestration in oceans, vegetation, sediments and rockStores, flows and physical controls in the tropical rainforestDeforestation, farming and forest management in an Amazon drainage basinStores, flows and seasonal change in the Arctic tundraOil and gas development in the Arctic tundra, and its managementDynamic equilibrium, land use change and water extractionFossil fuel combustion, carbon sequestration and feedback loopsChange over time in the cycles, and the monitoring that records itLinks and interdependence between the water and carbon cyclesGlobal strategies to protect the carbon and water cycles
Changing Spaces; Making Places
Topic overviewThe characteristics that shape a place profileContrasting place profiles: Chelsea and BlackpoolPast and present connections, and the scales that embed a placeShifting flows of people, resources, money and ideasSpace, place and the effects of time-space compressionPerception, identity and emotional attachment to placeInformal representations of place in media and the artsFormal and statistical representations of placeMeasuring social inequality and its spatial patternsDeindustrialisation, globalisation and structural economic changeRecession, austerity and the government's role in inequalityLiving with inequality: Sparkbrook and Sutton ColdfieldPlayers driving economic change at different scalesThe Ruhr: a region reshaped by structural economic changePlacemaking and the marketing of places to investorsDesign, mixed use and community-led placemakingRebranding through reimaging and regenerationSalford Quays: from docks to MediaCityUK
Trade in the Contemporary World
Topic overviewMerchandise, services and capital flowsGlobal trade patterns: inter-regional and intra-regional flowsTrade, export value and human developmentTrade as a driver of growth, stability and developmentTrade inequalities, conflict and injusticeTransport, technology and the global supply chainMultinationals, outsourcing and the new international division of labourRegional trading blocs and the European UnionSouth–south trade and the growth of traded servicesIndia: trade patterns of an emerging economyThe United States: a core economy shaping world tradeEthiopia: trade on the periphery of the global system
Global Migration
Topic overviewThe global migrant population: size, composition and direction of flowInter-regional and intra-regional flows, and the world's major migration corridorsRemittances, the Human Development Index and the migration-development linkMigration as a driver of stability, growth and developmentInequality, conflict and injustice in the global migration systemEconomic globalisation and the emergence of new source and host areasYoung workers, women migrants and the growth of South-South movementConflict, persecution and the world's refugee movementsNational immigration and emigration policy, and how it is changingMexico: an emerging economy shaped by a migration corridorThe United Kingdom: an advanced country driving change in the migration systemNepal: a low-income country with little leverage over its migration
Human Rights
Topic overviewThe idea of human rights and its legal foundationsNorms, intervention and geopoliticsForced labour and modern slaveryMaternal mortality and access to safe childbirthCapital punishment and where it persistsPatterns of gender inequality: schooling, reproductive health and workWomen's rights in IndiaHuman rights abuse as a cause and a consequence of conflictInstitutions, treaties and laws that protect human rightsGlobal governance of human rights in eastern DR CongoShort-term relief and long-term change in DR Congo
Power and Borders
Topic overviewStates, nations and the sovereign control of territoryNorms, intervention and geopoliticsContested borders and the legacy of colonial boundariesTransnational corporations and economic sovereigntyTrading blocs, supranational institutions and pooled sovereigntyEthnic dominance, minority marginalisation and separatismUkraine: sovereignty and territorial integrity under challengeResources, conflict and the causes of geopolitical instabilityGlobal institutions, international law and the flows that carry interventionSouth Sudan: governing a conflict from global to localShort-term and long-term outcomes of intervention for people and placesThe Democratic Republic of the Congo: global governance in an LIDC
Climate Change
Topic overviewReconstructing past climates from natural archivesIcehouse and greenhouse Earth, from Cenozoic cooling to the HoloceneContinental drift and volcanic activity as drivers of climateMilankovitch cycles and changes in solar outputThe natural greenhouse effect and the atmosphere's greenhouse gasesWarming of the surface, atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th centuryRetreating ice, shrinking snow cover and rising sea levelWhy greenhouse gas emissions have risen since the pre-industrial eraThe changing global balance of emissions, from an AC to an EDCThe enhanced greenhouse effect and the global energy balanceThe evolution of the global warming debateGovernments, international organisations and the media in the climate debateClimate models, the carbon cycle and feedbackFuture emission scenarios and projected temperature and sea level riseImpacts on ecosystems, health and extreme weatherThe vulnerability of people and environments to climate changeMitigation through energy efficiency, fuel shifts and low-carbon energyCarbon capture and storage, forestry strategies and geoengineeringRetreat, accommodation and protection as adaptationAdapted homes, cities, transport and economiesContrasting countries: impacts, opportunities and the challenges of respondingThe IPCC, international agreements and policy from global to local
Disease Dilemmas
Topic overviewWays of classifying disease, and the epidemic to pandemic scaleMapping the burden of malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and heart diseaseDisease diffusion, the Hägerstrand model and the barriers that slow itTemperature, rainfall, relief and water supply as controls on diseaseMosquitoes, vectors and the seasonal rhythm of outbreaksClimate change, emerging infections and diseases that jump from animalsCholera in Haiti after the 2010 earthquakeRising living standards and the epidemiological transitionDiseases of poverty and diseases of affluenceAir pollution and lung cancer in ChinaMalaria in Nigeria: from causes to controlCardiovascular disease in the United KingdomThe World Health Organization and the surveillance of global outbreaksMédecins Sans Frontières and the West African Ebola epidemicPhysical barriers to treatment and the fight against HIV and AIDSMedicinal plants, their growing conditions and the trade that threatens themPharmaceutical transnationals and the global flow of medicinesEradication campaigns, grassroots education and the role of women
Exploring Oceans
Topic overviewThe size and spread of the world's oceansThe shape of the sea floor, from shelf to trenchSalinity and temperature through the water columnSurface currents and the great ocean gyresThe North Atlantic conveyor, from Gulf Stream to deep return flowLight, warmth and nutrients as limits on ocean lifeFood webs in the inter-tidal zone and the deep seaHarvesting Southern Ocean krillWhaling, stakeholder conflict and resource thresholdsOcean energy: oil, gas, waves and tidesMining the deep sea bed for metalsThe global commons, maritime zones and ocean governanceThe major sources of marine pollutionThe Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its aftermathDrifting plastic and the North Pacific garbage patchOcean acidification, warming seas and coral bleachingRising sea level and low-lying island communitiesSea ice, the albedo feedback and irreversible thresholdsThe changing Arctic: peoples, politics and new sea routesShipping lanes, container ships and seaborne tradeNaval power and contested seasPiracy and migration by sea
Future of Food
Topic overviewFood security and its three pillarsMeasuring hunger: undernourishment data and food security indicesShifting patterns of food security between and within countriesClimate, soil, water and relief as controls on where food can be grownThe journey of food from farm to plate, and the waste it leavesTypes of farming: intensive, extensive, subsistence and commercialGlobalisation, rising demand and global tastesThe issues and opportunities of a globalised food industryLand ownership, competition and land grabbingMalthus, Boserup and the population–resource debateYemen: conflict, aridity and the collapse of food accessVulnerable people and the pinchpoints in global food distributionDesertification and the drylands of the SahelExtreme weather, water scarcity and tectonic shocks to food productionInuit hunting and food security in the ArcticSalinisation, deforestation and agrochemical pollution from farmingThe Aral Sea: a landscape remade by irrigationHealth effects of hunger, over-nutrition and agrochemical exposureMalawi and the United States: contrasting experiences of food insecurityTrade policy, the World Trade Organization and appropriate aidAgribusiness, food TNCs, supermarkets and fair tradeFrom emergency relief to capacity building and system redesign
Hazardous Earth
Topic overviewThe Earth's internal structure and the global pattern of platesContinental drift and the evidence from fossils, rocks and ancient glaciationsSea-floor spreading, palaeomagnetism and the age of the ocean floorDivergent boundaries and the landforms of the mid-ocean ridgesSubduction at oceanic-continental and oceanic-oceanic boundariesContinental collision and conservative boundariesMagma chemistry, viscosity and explosive volcanism at subduction zonesEffusive eruptions, shield volcanoes and hot-spot volcanismVolcano size and shape, super-volcanoes and the Volcanic Explosivity IndexLava flows, pyroclastic flows and volcanic gasesTephra, ashfall, lahars and volcanic tsunamisEarthquake focus, depth and the seismic waves releasedMeasuring earthquakes: Richter, moment magnitude and Mercalli intensityFault scarps, rift valleys and the landscapes faulting createsGround shaking, ground displacement and liquefactionEarthquake-triggered landslides, avalanches and floodingTsunamis from sea-bed uplift and underwater landslidesWhy people choose to live in tectonically active placesThe impacts of volcanic eruptions in countries at contrasting levels of developmentThe impacts of earthquakes in countries at contrasting levels of developmentPredicting, monitoring and managing volcanic hazardsLand-use zoning, building design and managing earthquake riskChanging risk over time and the disaster risk equationThe Park model of disaster response
Geographical Skills
Topic overviewGeographical data, its types and the ethics of using itCollecting data: sampling, measurement error and digital devicesQualitative methods, sources and drawing conclusionsMeasures of central tendency and dispersionCorrelation, lines of best fit and Spearman's rankSignificance tests: chi-squared, Mann-Whitney U and the t-testClimate graphs, maps and graphical techniques
Trade in the Contemporary World
- 12 subtopics
- 36 things to know
- Component 02
What Trade in the Contemporary World covers
Trade in the Contemporary World is examined in Component 02, Human interactions. It covers merchandise, services and capital flows and the global pattern of trade within and between regions; the link between export value and human development; trade as a driver of growth, stability and development, and as a source of inequality, conflict and injustice; transport, technology and global supply chains; multinationals, outsourcing and the new international division of labour; regional trading blocs and the European Union; and south–south trade and the growth of traded services. It also covers three contrasting countries: India, an emerging economy; the United States, a core economy shaping world trade; and Ethiopia, trading on the periphery of the global system.
The 12 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Merchandise, services and capital flowsRecall questions on merchandise, services and capital as components of trade, visible and invisible trade, foreign direct and portfolio investment, remittances, the balance of trade with a worked deficit calculation, services surpluses, and the terms of trade.Open →
- Global trade patterns: inter-regional and intra-regional flowsRecall questions on inter-regional and intra-regional trade, Europe's high intra-regional share, China and the United States as the largest exporter and importer, East Asia to North America flows, the triad, distance and the gravity model, oil flows, seaborne trade, Asian supply chains, and Africa's small share of exports.Open →
- Trade, export value and human developmentRecall questions on the Human Development Index and its dimensions, the link between export value and human development, why export earnings may not raise development, as in Equatorial Guinea, commodity dependence, the Prebisch–Singer hypothesis, and trade openness with a worked calculation.Open →
- Trade as a driver of growth, stability and developmentRecall questions on comparative advantage and David Ricardo, specialisation, lower consumer prices, the multiplier effect of export industries, technology transfer, remittances, trade and political stability through the European Coal and Steel Community, export earnings, export processing zones, the spread of ideas, and global trade rules.Open →
- Trade inequalities, conflict and injusticeRecall questions on the core–periphery model and dependency theory, tariff escalation, commodity price volatility, the race to the bottom and the Rana Plaza collapse, conflict minerals and cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, land grabbing, export crops and food insecurity, carbon leakage, trade rules, Fairtrade, and resource booms.Open →
- Transport, technology and the global supply chainRecall questions on global supply chains, containerisation, TEUs and economies of scale in shipping, East Asian container ports, submarine cables and air freight, just-in-time production and its risks, the 2021 blockage of the Suez Canal, tradeable services, and why supply chains have lengthened.Open →
- Multinationals, outsourcing and the new international division of labourRecall questions on multinational corporations, outsourcing and offshoring, why firms locate in emerging economies, the benefits and drawbacks for host countries, transfer pricing, the new international division of labour and the smile curve, call centres in India and the Philippines, labour mobility, the brain drain, the kafala system, and reshoring.Open →
- Regional trading blocs and the European UnionRecall questions on trading blocs, free trade areas, customs unions, common markets and economic unions, the four freedoms of the European single market, trade creation and diversion, ASEAN, Mercosur and the USMCA that replaced NAFTA, the African Continental Free Trade Area, and low trade between African countries.Open →
- South–south trade and the growth of traded servicesRecall questions on the growth and share of south–south trade, China as Africa's largest trading partner and the composition of that trade, the Belt and Road Initiative and its critics, the advantages and inequalities of south–south trade, and the share, types and development benefits of traded services, including tourism.Open →
- India: trade patterns of an emerging economyRecall questions on India as an emerging economy, its main export markets and import sources, merchandise and IT service exports, its goods deficit and remittances, the 1991 liberalisation and its changing export mix, Bengaluru, generic medicines, environmental and political interdependence, withdrawal from RCEP, and the economic and social effects of trade-led growth.Open →
- The United States: a core economy shaping world tradeRecall questions on the United States as a core economy, its main trading partners, exports and imports, its persistent goods deficit and services surplus, the dollar as reserve currency, the World Trade Organization and blocked dispute settlement, tariffs on China, bilateral deals, agricultural subsidies, and the challenges and opportunities of its trade position.Open →
- Ethiopia: trade on the periphery of the global systemRecall questions on Ethiopia as a low income developing country, coffee, gold, oilseeds and cut flowers, its trading partners, dependence on coffee and the value added abroad, being landlocked and reliant on Djibouti, its weak negotiating position and WTO status, AGOA and its loss, instability, Ethiopian Airlines, the Hawassa industrial park, and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Explain how specialisation between countries raises total world output.
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What are conflict minerals?
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Explain how the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency gives the United States trading power.
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Why is Ethiopia classed as a low income developing country?
Process
Explain why processing more of its coffee before export would benefit Ethiopia, and what makes it hard to do.
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What is meant by merchandise trade?
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What does the Human Development Index measure?
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How did containerisation change international trade?
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What is a multinational corporation?
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What is a regional trading bloc?
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What is meant by south–south trade?
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Name India's largest single export market.
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Define the term services in the context of international trade.
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What is meant by inter-regional trade?
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State the range of possible Human Development Index values.
Evaluation
Which economist first set out the theory of comparative advantage?
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Which theory argues that poorer countries stay poor because trade drains their wealth towards richer ones?
Numbers
In which decade did container shipping begin?
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Explain how a multinational's arrival can create a local multiplier effect.
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What feature does a customs union have that a free trade area does not?
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Explain why south–south trade has grown so rapidly this century.
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Which country is India's largest source of imports?
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Name the three largest trading partners of the United States.
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What does capital refer to as a component of international trade?
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Define intra-regional trade.
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Name the three dimensions combined in the Human Development Index.
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How does international trade lower prices for consumers?
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What is tariff escalation, and why does it damage developing countries?
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What does TEU stand for in shipping?
Evaluation
Give two disadvantages for a country that becomes heavily dependent on foreign firms.
Key term
Describe what a common market allows beyond a customs union.
Numbers
Since when has China been Africa's largest single trading partner?
Key term
Describe the main components of India's merchandise exports.
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Describe the main components of United States merchandise exports.
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Which crop is Ethiopia's leading export earner?
Take Trade in the Contemporary World further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Merchandise trade vs Services trade
Merchandise trade: the international exchange of tangible physical goods such as food, fuels, raw materials and manufactured products, which are counted as they clear customs. Services trade: Cross-border sales of intangible products such as banking, insurance, tourism and transport, which never pass through customs and have to be estimated rather than counted.
Foreign direct investment vs Portfolio investment
Foreign direct investment: buying, building or taking a lasting controlling stake in a productive business or asset in another country. Portfolio investment: Buying shares and bonds abroad without taking control, money that can be pulled out again almost overnight.
Outsourcing vs Offshoring
Outsourcing: handing part of a firm's work to a separate company rather than doing it in-house, which changes who carries the work out. Offshoring: Moving an activity to another country while keeping it inside the same firm, which changes only where the work is done.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is meant by merchandise trade?
Model answer
Merchandise trade is the international exchange of tangible, physical goods such as food, fuels, raw materials and manufactured products.
- 2
Define the term services in the context of international trade.
Model answer
Services are intangible products sold across borders, such as banking, insurance, tourism, transport, education and information technology work.
- 3
What does capital refer to as a component of international trade?
Model answer
Capital refers to flows of money between countries, including foreign direct investment, portfolio investment, bank loans, aid and remittances.
- 4
Why are service exports harder to measure than merchandise exports?
Model answer
Services are intangible and cross borders without passing through customs, so they are never physically counted and have to be estimated from company accounts and balance of payments records.
- 5
Distinguish between visible and invisible trade.
Model answer
Visible trade is trade in physical goods, while invisible trade is trade in services and other intangible earnings such as interest and profits.
- 6
What is foreign direct investment?
Model answer
Foreign direct investment is when a firm based in one country buys, builds or takes a lasting controlling stake in a business or asset in another country.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Trade in the Contemporary World revision questions
- What does Trade in the Contemporary World cover in OCR A-Level Geography?
- 12 subtopics: merchandise, services and capital flows, global trade patterns: inter-regional and intra-regional flows, trade, export value and human development, trade as a driver of growth, stability and development, trade inequalities, conflict and injustice, transport, technology and the global supply chain, multinationals, outsourcing and the new international division of labour, regional trading blocs and the european union, south–south trade and the growth of traded services, india: trade patterns of an emerging economy, the united states: a core economy shaping world trade and ethiopia: trade on the periphery of the global system. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Trade in the Contemporary World organised?
- By the OCR H481 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Trade in the Contemporary World, on a schedule.
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