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Test 10 Feedback

Issues in GCSE Geography
1.

You are asked to write a letter. This answer shows how the letter could answer each part of the question.

Dear customers

Acid rain is a problem which faces many people in the industrialised world. It is caused when pollutants from industry, transport and power stations get into the air and are washed out by the rain. They cause the rain to be acidic, containing dilute sulphuric and nitric acid.

Acid rain causes many problems including damaging trees and lakes. Trees can be killed when acid rain affects their roots. It makes them unable to take up nutrients from the soil. It affects many forests in Scandinavia. Lakes there have been polluted too. The water can become so acid that it kills fish, and can even pollute drinking water.

Unfortunately our company may have made the acid rain problem worse. We burn coal in our power station. In the past there has been no way of stopping sulphur from the coal escaping into the atmosphere. Now, though, we can stop this pollution almost completely using new technology. We can fit ‘scrubbers’ to the station’s gas outlets. These take the sulphur out of the gas before it is released.

I am afraid that this new technology is expensive. It will mean that electricity prices will have to rise. Of course we will meet some of the cost through increased efficiency and reducing the profits paid to shareholders, so price rises will be kept to a minimum. We assure you that, if we do not take this action we will make ourselves liable to having to meet our share of repairing the damage done by acid rain, and that would probably be far greater than stopping the pollution at its source.

An answer on a Foundation Level paper would probably read:

 
 
(i)

Acid rain forms when pollution from burning fossil fuels gets into the rain causing dilute sulphuric and nitric acid to form.
 
(ii)

1 – trees can be destroyed when acid rain falls on them and damages their root systems.

2 – lakes can be made acidic by acid rain. This can kill fishes and even make the water unfit for human drinking water.
 
(iii)

Coal often contains impurities of sulphur. When coal is burned sulphur is released into the air, by way of waste gases.
 
(iv)

Now ‘scrubbers’ can be fitted to power station chimneys. These wash the sulphur out of the gases before the gases are released.
 
(v) ‘The polluter must pay’ is a good idea. If the power stations continue to pollute the atmosphere the power companies will have to pay to clear up the damage. It is probably cheaper to stop polluting than to clear up after pollution. Power companies have to pass the cost on to their customers, because they are the people who need the power.


2.

(i)


 

1 – They can reduce the production of carbon dioxide. This will help reduce the greenhouse effect. That is good for everyone, and also helps the country to meet its promises under the Kyoto agreement to reduce CO2 emissions.

2 – They can reduce acid rain, because they reduce the demand for coal-fired power stations. Acid rain can kill trees, pollute lakes and corrode stone buildings.

3 – By reducing demand for coal they help to conserve supplies. If coal is burnt in power stations it is not available to make organic chemicals, which may be a more valuable use of coal in the long run

     
  (ii) 1 – If the farm is built near the bird sanctuary it may kill swans who may not be able to see the rotating blades as they approach their traditional resting area. The noise and sight may also disturb nesting birds.

2 – People in the village will be able to see the turbines all the time, and they may find this disturbing. Some people also think that the noise from the turbines is a nuisance. It may not be loud but it goes on all the time.

3 – Wind turbines need to be built in a site with regular, strong winds. most of them have been built in mountainous areas, or on coasts where the winds are strongest. The fens are flat, so there are no real wind breaks, but a hilly or coastal site would probably be better.
     
  (iii) Speaking for the RSPB I have to put the birds first. These days there are fewer and fewer sites where birds can breed and rest. This is described as the most important site in Europe for migrating swans. If they are driven away from here there is nowhere else for them to go, because intensive farming has led to the draining of so much wet land. Not only would this area suffer if the birds stopped coming, so would the areas at either end of the migration routes, because the total number of swans would fall. In addition I can sympathise with people who live in the village, even though I do not. In such a flat area they would be unable to escape from the sight and sound of the turbines.

I know that the country must develop wind power. I support wind farms in general and do not want to sound like a NIMBY (not in my back yard). However, I think that a better site could be chosen, which does not threaten our important sanctuary. I have heard that wind turbines are likely to be built off the coast, in shallow seas, in the future. This should be considered more carefully before this lovely site for birds and humans is destroyed for ever.