Key term
WJEC A-Level Geography 601-8455-3
Coastal Landscapes
Topic overviewThe coast as an open systemSediment sources and sediment cellsTides and coastal currentsConstructive and destructive wavesHigh energy coasts and erosional landscape systemsLow energy coasts and depositional landscape systemsFetch, wave refraction and wave energyLithology and structural geology at the coastSub-aerial weathering and mass movementMarine processes of erosionErosional landforms of rocky coastsCoastal transport and longshore driftDeposition, flocculation and sediment sortingDepositional landforms of sandy coastsSand dunes and aeolian processesEstuaries, tidal flats and salt marshesCoral reefs and mangrove coastlinesCoastal change over different timescalesCoastal processes and human activityHuman impact on coastal landscape systems
Glaciated Landscapes
Topic overviewThe glacier as an open systemClimate change and the glacier budgetGlacier movementTypes of ice mass and their distributionGlacial weathering and erosion processesMacro-scale erosional landformsGlacial transport and depositional landformsFluvioglacial landformsSuites of landforms in glacial landscapesPeriglacial processes and ground icePeriglacial action of water and windGlacial change over different timescalesGlacial environments and human activity
Tectonic Hazards
Topic overviewThe internal structure of the EarthMechanisms of plate movementDivergent and conservative plate marginsConvergent margins and subductionHot spots and the global distribution of tectonic hazardsThe hazard profile and measuring magnitudeTypes of volcano and styles of eruptionPrimary volcanic hazardsSecondary volcanic hazardsImpacts of volcanic activity at different scalesContrasting volcanic eruptionsEarthquake characteristics and seismic wavesEarthquake hazards and ground behaviourTsunami processes and impactsContrasting earthquake eventsRisk, vulnerability and human factorsMonitoring, prediction and warningMitigation, response and the hazard management cycle
Changing Places
Topic overviewWhat gives a place its characterFlows and connections that shape placesMeaning, perception and attachment to placeHow places are representedEconomic restructuring and the Clark Fisher modelDeindustrialisation and social inequalityThe service economy and its impactsThe knowledge economy and clustersRebranding rural placesManaging change in rural placesRebranding urban placesManaging change in urban placesComparing a home place with a contrasting placeHow place change affects people's lives
Water and Carbon Cycles
Topic overviewThe water cycle as a global system and mass balanceGlobal water stores and residence timesCryospheric processes and sea-level changeDrainage basin inputs, stores and outputsFlows within the drainage basinRiver regimes and their controlsStorm hydrographs and hydrograph shapeAir uplift, cloud formation and precipitationExcess runoff and floodingDeficit in the water cycle and aquifer rechargeThe global carbon cycle and its storesCarbon pathways between land and the atmosphereCarbon transfers involving the oceansCarbon stores in biomes and land-use changeChanging carbon stores in peatlandsRising atmospheric carbon and its impactsFeedback within and between the water and carbon cycles
Global Migration
Topic overviewGlobalisation and a shrinking worldClassifying and mapping migrationCauses of international economic migrationConsequences and management of economic migrationRefugee movements and internal displacementRural-urban migration in developing countriesSuperpowers and global hub citiesMigration policy and public debate in the UKManaging refugee crisesInformal settlements in developing cities
Global Governance of the Oceans
Topic overviewSupranational institutions and global governanceLaws and agreements governing the oceansStrategic value of the oceans and maritime securityShipping, cables and illicit flowsSovereignty over ocean resourcesManaging marine environmentsOcean pollution and its managementGovernance across scales: an ocean case study
EcosystemsContemporary theme
Topic overviewThe value of ecosystems to peopleThe distribution of global biomesEcosystem structure, energy flow and productivityNutrient cycling in contrasting biomesMeasuring and threatening biodiversityConserving biodiversitySuccession and local ecosystemsThe Arctic tundra biomeSustainable use of the Arctic tundra
Economic Growth and Challenge: IndiaContemporary theme
Economic Growth and Challenge: ChinaContemporary theme
Development in an African ContextContemporary theme
Energy Challenges and DilemmasContemporary theme
Weather and ClimateContemporary theme
Fieldwork and Geographical Skills
Energy Challenges and Dilemmas
- 7 subtopics
- 21 things to know
- A2 Unit 4
- A2 Unit 4, two contemporary themes chosen from four
What Energy Challenges and Dilemmas covers
Energy Challenges and Dilemmas is examined in A2 Unit 4, Contemporary Themes in Geography, where two optional themes are chosen from four. It covers Classifying and distributing energy resources, physical factors in energy supply, the changing demand for energy, managing oil and gas globally, problems of extraction, transport and use, energy mixes and development and sustainable solutions to energy demand.
Where it is assessed
A2 Unit 4
Contemporary Themes in Geography, where two optional themes are chosen from four.
Check the WJEC specification ↗The 7 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Classifying and distributing energy resourcesThree conventional fossil fuels, recyclable energy resource and give an example and global distribution of oil reserves.Open →
- Physical factors in energy supplyHow geology determines fossil fuel availability, country that generates a large share of its electricity geothermally and why offshore wind is favoured over onshore in the UK.Open →
- The changing demand for energyGlobal trend in energy demand, why energy demand rises with economic development and energy intensity.Open →
- Managing oil and gas globallyHow storage helps manage seasonal variation in gas demand, three factors that determine the world oil price and why oil prices are so volatile.Open →
- Problems of extraction, transport and useHow acid rain forms from fossil fuel combustion, how energy can be used as a political weapon and technological problem of intermittency.Open →
- Energy mixes and developmentCountry's energy mix, typical energy mix of a low-income country and appropriate technology.Open →
- Sustainable solutions to energy demandEnergy conservation, two national policies used to reduce energy demand and how building regulations reduce long-term demand.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
How does oil and gas reach the consumer, how is seasonal demand covered, and why does the price swing so hard?
Key term
What can a national government do to make its buildings and its transport consume less?
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Name the international framework, the long-term storage of carbon, two clean transport technologies, and the cheapest policy of all.
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Distinguish a renewable from a non-renewable energy resource.
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Name a country that generates a large share of its electricity geothermally.
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Give three environmental problems associated with coal.
Key term
Define a country's energy mix.
Key term
Name the three conventional fossil fuels.
Key term
Define insolation.
Key term
Describe the global trend in energy demand.
Key term
Explain why the supply of and demand for oil are geographically mismatched.
Key term
Explain how acid rain forms from fossil fuel combustion.
Key term
Describe the typical energy mix of a low-income country.
Key term
Define a recyclable energy resource and give an example.
Key term
Which locations are best suited to large-scale solar generation?
Key term
Explain why energy demand rises with economic development.
Key term
How is oil transferred from producer to consumer?
Key term
Give two environmental problems associated with oil transport.
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Give two consequences of dependence on traditional biomass.
Key term
Define energy conservation.
Take Energy Challenges and Dilemmas further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Resource vs Reserve
Resource: the total quantity of a material believed to exist, whether or not it can be got at. Reserve: the part of that quantity which can be extracted economically with current technology.
Primary energy vs Secondary energy
Primary energy: a source used in the form in which it is found in nature, such as coal or sunlight. Secondary energy: a form produced from one of those, such as electricity or refined petrol.
Energy conservation vs Energy efficiency
Energy conservation: reducing consumption by using less of the service itself. Energy efficiency: reducing consumption by delivering the same service with less input.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Distinguish a renewable from a non-renewable energy resource.
Model answer
A renewable resource is replenished naturally on a human timescale, while a non-renewable one exists in a fixed stock that is depleted by use.
- 2
Name the three conventional fossil fuels.
Model answer
Coal, oil and natural gas.
- 3
Define a recyclable energy resource and give an example.
Model answer
A recyclable resource can be reprocessed and used again, and nuclear fuel is the standard example because spent fuel can be reprocessed.
- 4
Distinguish a resource from a reserve.
Model answer
A resource is the total quantity of a material believed to exist, while a reserve is the part of it that can be extracted economically with current technology.
- 5
Explain why the size of a reserve can increase without any new discovery.
Model answer
A rise in price or an advance in extraction technology makes previously uneconomic deposits worth working, so they are reclassified as reserves.
- 6
Describe the global distribution of oil reserves.
Model answer
They are highly concentrated, with the largest holdings in the Middle East and further major reserves in Venezuela, Russia, Canada and the United States.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Energy Challenges and Dilemmas revision questions
- What does Energy Challenges and Dilemmas cover in WJEC A-Level Geography?
- 7 subtopics: classifying and distributing energy resources, physical factors in energy supply, the changing demand for energy, managing oil and gas globally, problems of extraction, transport and use, energy mixes and development and sustainable solutions to energy demand. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Energy Challenges and Dilemmas organised?
- By the WJEC 601-8455-3 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Energy Challenges and Dilemmas, 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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