NYJC Prelim_H2_GEO_9751_P1_Answer

NYJC H2 Geog Paper 1 Prelims 2018 Mark scheme Section A – Tropical Environments 1 (a) Explain why tropical climates vary spatially. [12] Indicative content: Students will be able to explain why tropical climat es (humid and arid tropics) differ from place to place in terms of temperature and pr ecipitation even though the region is located in an area of insolation surplus. Slight diffe rences in temperature patterns can be made to the effects of long term factors like lati tude, height above sea level, land and sea, geographic position and ocean currents as well as local ones like cloud cover. In explaining the greater variations in precipit ation patterns, students will explain the role of the Hadley cell (factor of latitude in affecti ng primary pressure cell s), topographic features resulting in differences between windward and leeward slopes, continentality effects and ocean currents. A higher level response will include students’ ability to finely differentiate between the humid and seasonally humid tropics’ (A m and Aw) with regard to rainfall patterns (A m being coastal will have more rainfall from onshore winds during summer monsoon than Aw being continental interiors for same latitude loca tions). Top marks will be awarded to students who are able to bring in the ro le of humans in affecting clim ates via the ur ban heat island effects i.e. cities as contrasted to surrounding rural areas. Levels marked using H2 generic level descriptors for 12m SEQ sub-part (a). 1 (b) To what extent can the successful management of the impacts of a flood result from the immediate response to such an event? [20] Indicative content: To begin with, students should provide the definit ion of flooding. The focus of the question lies in the ‘immediate response’ to a fl ood event and whether it led to successful management with support from case studies i. e. alleviating the negative impacts of flooding. So, what constitutes an immediate response? A clear description of ‘immediate response’ which is indeed ‘search and rescue’ often in helicopters and boats is required. Having dealt with the immediate, then short term responses like water supplies, housing, shelter and aid in the form of food and blankets etc. can be discussed. Mid-term response measures will include re-housing, insurance payouts and repair of infrastructure. However, for su ccessful management, it is necessary to mention the need for longer-term responses like hard and soft engineering techniques, community preparedness and insurance schemes . Countries that are deemed as well prepared would have also invested time and money to do flood prediction as this not only provides time for evacuation efforts but al so aid in the evaluation of the adequacy of current flood protection structur es in