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Geography (Graphs - Graphs are another way of showing data. Some types of…

- - - - Land for Housing - The development of rural areas for housing is one example of competition for land use. Urban areas cover only about 2 per cent of the world’s total land area. They are often built, however, on the best land – flat, fertile and well watered. Farming areas on the edges of cities provide food to the city dwellers. As cities grow in population, however, they also grow in size, and farmland and rural spaces are taken over and developed into new suburbs for the growing population. The spread of a city outwards is known as urban sprawl. In this process, farmland is taken over for housing, and farmers are pushed further out onto land that may not be as suitable for growing crops. Their ability to produce food may fall, putting at risk the food security of the people in the city.The city of Asmara in Eritrea, for example, has tripled in size in the last 20 years and now sprawls across land that was previously prime farmland. maps the rapid growth of Asmara. This growth is expected to continue at its current rate, and may even accelerate in the next few decades, absorbing more productive farmland. This same process has been experienced in many places around the world, including Australia, where urban sprawl has seen productive farmland converted to suburban living spaces
      - Land for Tourism and Recreation - In some places, productive farmland is also being converted into tourism and recreation facilities. Many developing countries, for example, recognise that attracting tourists provides them with a reliable source of income. These tourists, most of them from developed countries such as Australia and the USA, are drawn to these countries for a range of factors including climate, stunning scenery and unique cultures. But tourists often also want a high standard of accommodation and recreation facilities like hotels, pools and golf courses. A study of the impact of golf course development in Thailand found that 250 courses in the country together consume about 200 square kilometres of land. About three-quarters of these courses were built on existing farmland, the rest on land that was previously forested. This area represents a loss of about 89 000 tonnes of rice every year. Furthermore, golf courses put great pressure on the freshwater resources of the local area. Each Thai golf course consumes the same amount of water as 60 000 Thai villagers would. This trend is not confined to Thailand. In other Asian countries such as Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as in island nations throughout the Caribbean, productive farmland and scarce fresh- water resources are being consumed by golf courses and other recreation facilities.
    - - Predicted Changes in food Production - The effects of climate change on food production will vary across the world. Some regions may even be able to increase food production with the changes in climate. However, for most parts of the world, and most significantly, for the most populated parts of the world, climate change will cause a decrease in potential food production.
    - - Biofuels as a Threat to Food Security - Although waste products of food crops such as corn and sugar cane can be used to provide some of the raw material for the production of biofuels, greater production of biofuel needs bigger crops. In some places, fuel crops are replacing food crops and this has raised concerns about food security in these countries.
        While the amount of biofuel produced and used has grown rapidly in recent years, it still provides only 3 per cent of the total energy used to power vehicles worldwide. Despite this, biofuel production threatens the food security of many communities, particularly in South American countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, that are boosting their biofuel production. iofuel production poses a threat to food security in two main ways. Firstly, marginal farming land (land that is situated on edges of arable land) is the land most likely to be converted for growing biofuel crops. This is often the land that poorer farmers use to grow the food needed to feed their families. Secondly, growing crops for fuel rather than food pushes up the price of food, making it less accessible. As people on lower incomes spend a much greater proportion of their income on food than wealthy people do, it is the poor who suffer most when food prices increase.
    - - International Aid - While international aid agencies such as the Red Cross and United Nations work hard to address the lack of food security in these war-torn areas, the environment can be very dangerous. In Somalia alone, 14 employees of the United Nations World Food Program were killed while distributing aid between 2008 and 2011. Corruption, theft and a lack of law enforcement all contributed to the terrible situation.Transporting food and farming supplies by road in these countries is risky, with aid often being seized by fighters for their own use. In Somalia, sacks of grain, peanut butter and other foodstuffs meant for starving Somali people were often stolen. Some families receiving aid were even forced to give it back after journalists taking photos of them with the food had left. With local food supply markets disrupted, food aid that has been stolen is often sold on in markets, taking relief efforts away from the starving and needy. Distributing food aid is also often complicated by difficulties in reaching war-torn areas. Groups in remote areas can be difficult to locate and delivery of food aid to these places may be slow. In such situations, hunger can be used as a weapon. The government can deliberately keep food away from opposition fighters and the local people who support them.
      - Impact on Local Farmers - During times of war, such as those experienced by Somalia, food shortages are common. There are many reasons for this. Some food shortages are caused by the disruption of food markets and food aid. Land mines are planted, causing lasting danger. Some are caused by the fact that apart from the conflict that is happening, there are ongoing harsh climate conditions to deal with. The effects of war combined with climate can go on for years. Crops cannot be planted, weeded or harvested. Farmers cannot plant new crops, which extends food insecurity even when the conflict is finished. Irrigation systems are destroyed and other water resources, such as wells, are sometimes poisoned as an act of war. Animals are killed and taken for food by armies and rebel fighters. As well as a food supply, farmers lose manure for their crops as well as animal power to work their fields. Crop stores are often raided by rebel fighters as well. Young men are often forced to fight. This seriously affects the agricultural output by reducing the available hands to work on farms. The amount of food and income for the family is diminished. Farms may also be completely destroyed by the armed forces. Native scrub is burnt, and wild sources of food, such as wild fruits and honey, are destroyed. Many farmers abandon their farms. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, at least 400 000 people were displaced from their fields during the harvest period. This affected not only their short-term food security, but their long-term food security as well. Particularly for countries that already experience other threats to their food security, such as weathering the effects of climate change or battling plagues of locusts, the effects of an armed conflict on their food security can result in life-or-death situations.
    - - Economic Factors - Greater prosperity and socioeconomic development also places greater demands on water supplies. Industrial development and an increase in the number of individual households means increased water consumption. At current usage rates, water needed for industry around the world is predicted to at least double by 2025. Rapid economic growth and Westernisation in countries such as China and India are also affecting water usage. According to environmentalists and academics, water scarcity and quality are the most pressing environmental issues facing China today. Currently water is being used at an unsustainable rate. Changing tastes in places like China are also increasing the demand for certain foods, such as meat, which requires more water to produce than traditional rainfed crops. This is putting an added strain on water resources.
      - Environmental Factors - Environment factors also affect the amounts of water used for growing food. Changing rainfall patterns and warmer temperatures as a result of climate change are seriously affecting water supply in some regions of the world. The rapid melting of glaciers in places such as South America and Central Asia is of particular concern.Glaciers have historically acted like reservoirs. As the glaciers have slowly melted, water has flowed down the mountains into the rivers, providing water to millions of people. This water has been used to grow a significant amount of the food to meet the requirements of 2.5 billion people in Asia, and 53 million people in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. As the glaciers shrink, however, this water flow is declining. A lack of water to grow crucial crops is predicted to have a severe impact on food security for people in these region.
- - - - spatial distribution – the shapes and patterns in which things are arranged on the Earth’s surface
      - organisation – how and why things are arranged and managed on the Earth’s surface by people
      - location – where things are located on the Earth’s surface
- - - - Boreal Forest Biome - The largest biome on land is the b oreal f orest biome. Boreal forest, sometimes called coniferous forest, is made up of evergreen trees that have needle-like leaves and cones, such as pine cones. This biome is home to a low number of species of plants when compared to other forests in more temperate regions or in the tropics. T he boreal forest biome covers vast areas in the northern hemisphere, between the Arctic tundra and the north of Europe, Asia and North America. While the climate in these regions is not as harsh as that experienced in the polar lands or on the tundra, it is still cold enough to limit the number of plant and animal species that can survive, and winter is long. In fact, the boreal forest’s longest season is winter. Average temperatures fall to about –15°C and snow is common. In summer, which lasts only one to three months, temperatures climb towards 20°C and humidity is relatively high. The plants and animals that survive in this biome must be able to handle great variations in rainfall and temperature, as well as large areas of permanently frozen ground and poor soils.
        
        Threats to Food Security - Boreal forests have provided many important resources for people both in the past and the present. Historically, wood for construction, heating and cooking came from boreal forest trees. More recently, boreal forests have supplied the increased global demand for cheap wood and paper, spurred by population growth and a change in global markets.However, many boreal forests are under threat. One of the main threats to the boreal forest biome is the clearing of trees to make way for oil and gas exploration. It is estimated that huge reserves of petroleum products lie under the forests, and the ever-increasing demand is pushing exploration into these areas.
      - Temperate Forest Biomes - Between the tropics and the cold polar regions is a large zone that is neither excessively hot nor excessively cold. For this reason it is called the temperate zone. The forests that grow in the temperate zone experience a range of seasonal climate conditions. In winter, temperatures may fall below freezing and in summer they can climb above 40°C. In some temperate forests, rain falls reliably throughout the year. In others, there are more distinct wet and dry seasons. Most of the world’s population lives in the temperate zone and this has had a huge impact on the temperate forest biome over time. As the world’s population spread and grew, temperate forest biome areas gradually became smaller. Cities were formed on land that was once covered in forest, and trees were cut down to clear land and to provide fuel and building materials. The forests gradually disappeared from these places. This happened in Europe, then in Western Asia and North America. Currently, little temperate forest remains in some of these places. However, as explorers set out from Europe to colonise new lands, they often carried with them seeds and saplings of the trees with which they were familiar. They planted these in the places they travelled to, such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and in this way temperate forest trees were spread around the world.
    - - Changes in the rainforest - The heavy rain washes the nutrients of the soil deep into the ground where the roots of the plants cannot access them. The rainforest trees are able to survive in these soils because they have developed wide-spreading roots and because the warm temperatures in the tropics allow leaf litter – dead plant material that has fallen to the ground – to be quickly recycled into plant nutrients. When the rainforest plants are cleared to make way for farms, these nutrients are quickly lost and the soil becomes exposed to the heavy rain and tropical sun. Farmers often find, contrary to expectation, that their plants do not thrive in these conditions as the soil provides few nutrients which the plants need.