question

India: a mobile nation

answer

• 1998 India had 22 telephone landlines per 1,000 people • Since 2000, mobile phone use has grown from 3.5 mobile per 1,000 Indians to 230 • 2007, 7 million Indians were signing up for mobile phones each month and the number of users doubled from 100 million to 200 million in a year • Growth fuelled by: o Cheap handsets and sign up costs o Bottom-up innovation, such as villagers using car batteries to charge mobiles where electricity is absent • Benefits: o Families split up by rural-urban migration can stay in touch • Access to information they need to maximise their economic output and minimise their risks

question

Death by DDT

answer

• 1939 DDT was used to control malarial mosquitoes and was quickly adopted as a farm pesticide • 1955 the WHO started a global malaria eradication programme based on the use of DDT • DDT reliance began to appear in mosquitoes • 1962, DDT blamed for growing toll of wildlife deaths through the process of biomagnifications • DDT banned in USA in 1972 and UK in 1984

question

The ozone hole

answer

• CFCs developed in 1920s • CFCs used for: o As refrigerants- cooling equipment o Provided a good propellant for aerosol spray cans • Early 1970s concern growing that CFCs depleted stratospheric ozone • 1985- British scientists discovered the ozone hole in the stratosphere above the Antarctica • Actions: o Montreal Protocol of 1987 phased out the use of ozone-depleting CFCs

question

China: fixed on technology

answer

o Desire to quickly modernise the Chinese economy o China's leaders are trained engineers • China's drive to modernise has reaped enormous gains in terms of annual GDP growth of between 8% and 10% • Projects o Three Gorges Dam o Shanghai Maglev o South-North water transfer project

question

Energy Microgeneration

answer

• Households o Bottom-up projects o Small-scale • 2008, around 100,000 micro-generation systems were installed in the UK, compared with over 1 million in Germany o Energy from sunlight usually to heat water • Microgeneration in UK is low: o Initial costs are high o Many sites not suitable • Estimated that 10 million sites in UK can benefit from Microgeneration o Could cut carbon emissions by 5%, or 30 million tonnes per year • Solar thermal panel provides hot water. Most popular green technology in UK. Costs £3,000-4,500 • Micro-turbine costs £1,500-20,000 • Biomass burning system replaces heating boiler

question

A Green Revolution for Africa?

answer

• The Green Revolution of 1960s and 1970s bypassed Africa • Africa- 180 million farmers • Africa's population growth rate of 3% per annum since the 1960s has exceeded its agricultural production growth rate of 2% • The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), organisation funded by: o The Gates foundation o The Rockefeller Foundation • Successes: o The rice variety Nerica, which has a short growing cycle, resists weeds and doubles yields • Current research is focused on developing drought-resistant crops, such as maize and cassava o But needs Water for irrigation Fertilisers Education for crop management

question

Three Gorges Dam

answer

$25 billion 1994-2011 Multi-purpose navigation hydropower (23,000 MW) and flood control scheme on the Yangtze River 1,300 historic sites flooded 4 million people displaced Several species, such as the Chinese river dolphin and Siberian crane, are threatened and may become extinct

question

Shanghai Maglev

answer

$1.3 billion 2001-2004 World's first commercial magnetically levitating train • Capable of 435 km h-1 on a 30-km track between Shanghai's CBD and its airport Pollution-free Protests in 2007 based on health concerns over electromagnetic radiation

question

South-North water transfer project

answer

$62 billion 2002-2050 Divert up to 45 billion m3 of water from the Yangtze River to the Yellow and Hai rivers • For agricultural and industrial use Project displaces 250,000+ people Could damage biodiversity in the Yangtze drainage basin by low water levels Industrial pollution

question

Multiple use water systems

answer

• Set up by NGOs o Practical action • Class of technology o Bottom-up o Intermediate technology o Appropriate technology o Low-tech • Nepal • Gravity and a system of pipes, move water from springs and streams to supply agriculture and people • Previously carried by hand

question

Tekeze dam

answer

• Class of technology o Top-down o High-tech • Ethiopia • Water irrigation used for agriculture of coffee has contributed to 10% of Ethiopia's GDP • On the Tekeze River o Water conflicts Eritrea Sudan • Used to irrigate 60,000 hectares of land

question

Harvesting the rain

answer

• Class of technology o Top-down o Low-tech • Ethiopia • Water catchment that would hold 60m3 of water • Costs o Breeding grounds for mosquitoes o Cannot repay • Benefits o Helps water supply

question

Green revolution

answer

• 1960s and 1990s • Selective breeding (hybridised) • Yields up to 10 times those for traditional rice • HYV rice allowed India to become self-sufficient in rice 1980 • Increased food security • Problems o HYVs are vulnerable to new strains of disease, such as Ug99, a variety of black stem rust fungus discovered in Uganda in1999, to which no know wheat variety is resistant o Widespread use of agrochemicals has led to eutrophication o Increased use of machinery leads to unemployment and rural-urban migration

question

Gene revolution

answer

• Genetic make-up of crops (maize, cotton, soy) • Altered so they are resistant to pests, diseases and herbicides • Or tolerant to drought • Yields and food or income security increase • Farmers become dependent on seeds and chemicals from TNCs such as Monsanto • Public opinion in countries such as the UK, reject the technology • Deforestation in Latin America in order to increase the farmed area

question

Internet users

answer

• 44.8% are from Asia • 21.5% are from Europe • 11.4% are from North America

question

Subsistence farmers

answer

• Produce food primarily to eat, selling any surplus they manage to produce • Most use very basic technology and are not protected from the impact of drought or pest infestation

question

Farm technology

answer

• Irrigation • Pesticides • Fertilisers • Farm machinery • Hybridisation

question

Irrigation

answer

• To provide additional water for crops during dry periods • Otherwise drought could led to crop failure • Benefits o Helps to prevent crop failure and promote plant growth • Cost o Could cause water conflicts between different stakeholders

question

Pesticides

answer

• Sprayed on crops to kill pests and increase yields by decreasing crop losses • Crops are otherwise vulnerable to pest plagues • Benefits o Increases crop yield • Cost o Could accumulate in water and lead to eutrophication o Could damage wildlife

question

Fertilisers

answer

• Added to soil to provide additional nutrients for growth • Otherwise yields are restricted by the natural nutrients available in the soil • Benefits o Increase crop yield • Cost o To be effective often requires irrigation o Could accumulate in water and lead to eutrophication

question

Farm machinery

answer

• Used to replace human labour and increase efficiency and farmed area • Otherwise, size of farmed area is determined by population and distance they can travel • Benefits o More time efficient o Can increase amount of crops • Cost o Expensive machinery

question

Hybridisation

answer

• Inter-breeding of crop varieties under controlled conditions to produce disease or pest resistance, and higher yields • Otherwise crops could become vulnerable to a pest or disease with no viable replacement • Benefits o Get crop of desired properties • Cost o Public perception

question

Barriers to access technology

answer

• Physical reasons • Political reasons • Environmental reasons • Religious reasons • Military reasons

question

Physical reasons

answer

• Some renewable technologies are only suited to certain physical locations

question

Political reasons

answer

• In North Korea internet access is not available to ordinary citizens • In order to control the flow of information that people receive and also to ensure the 'correct' political message is maintained, the government prevents internet use

question

Environmental reasons

answer

• Organic farmers do not use pesticides or cattle antibiotics because of their supposed negative environmental and health impacts

question

Religious reasons

answer

• Contraceptive technology is rejected by some religions, such as the Roman Catholic Church

question

Military reasons

answer

• Nuclear technology has been controlled by the international Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which aims to prevent nuclear weapons falling into the 'wrong' hands

question

Growth of knowledge economy

answer

• Promoted by o Globalisation of markets and free trade o Information and communications technology o Networking using internet technology o High-tech products and services

question

Patents

answer

• 2007 o 51% from USA o 20% from Japan o 16% from EU

question

Technological leapfrogging

answer

• This is when a technology is adapted without a precursor technology • One-laptop-per child • Mobile telephones • Water purification

question

One-laptop-per child

answer

• USA o 95,000 laptops • China o 1,000 laptops • Uganda o 300 laptops

question

Mobile telephones

answer

• Leapfrogged landline telephones • Requires installation of mass networks and electricity for charging • Allows people to keep in touch • Can be used to warn of natural hazards

question

Lifestraw

answer

• Water purification • Leapfrogged a water purification and distribution network • 30cm long tube (straw),which purifies water using filters, iodine-coated beads and active carbon • Can be used anywhere and last about 1 year • Kills virtually all bacteria and parasites • Does raise iodine levels in users, although many are iodine deficient anyway

question

GM

answer

• Genetic modification • As in organisms whose characteristics are altered by bioengineering of their DNA

question

Energy efficient cars

answer

...

question

PPP

answer

• Polluter Pays Principle • The person or organisation causing pollution should pay for it • Often as a tax, or by paying for the technology to clean material before it is released into the environment

question

Discouraged technology

answer

• Landmines • Chemical weapons • CFC's • Genetic Modification

question

Classes of technology

answer

• Bottom-up • Top-down • Intermediate technology • Appropriate technology • High-tech • Low-tech • Alternative technology • renewable

question

Bottom-up

answer

• Management and problem-solving which comes from within a community, often using local skills and resources

question

Top-down

answer

• Management solutions and other measures imposed from above • E.g. by national governments

question

Intermediate technology

answer

• Low-technology solutions which are often cheap, easy to build and maintain • Adaptable to local conditions and labour-intensive. • Many are environmental friendly

question

Appropriate technology

answer

• Technology that is adapted to suit local conditions • Could be high-tech or low-tech

question

Alternative technology

answer

• Technology designed to be environmentally sustainable and to maintain resource consumption

question

High-tech

answer

• Often expensive and large technology

question

Low-tech

answer

• Often cheap and small scale technology

question

Renewable technology

answer

• Is able to use the technology multiple times

question

Small dams

answer

• Class of technology o Bottom-up o High-tech o Intermediate technology • Ethiopia • The Royal Society of Tigray

question

Geo-engineering

answer

• Refers to regional- or global-scale technology the re-engineers the way the planet works • It is often transboundary, so if one country implemented it, this could lead to conflict with other nations opposed to it.

question

Precautionary principle

answer

• Arguing against technology on the basis of possible unknown outcomes

question

Ecosystem and human health wellbeing

answer

• USA has a high GDP per capita, and quality of life, but poor environmental sustainability index. • Ghana has a low GDP per capita, and quality of life, but also the same environmental sustainability index score as USA

question

Technology and sustainability

answer

• Factors to be considered for technology and sustainability o Economic o Environmental o Social o Resources

question

Environmental sustainability

answer

• The maintenance of the factors and practices that contribute to the quality of environment on a long-term basis.

question

Research and Development

answer

• China is approaching Japan in R&D spending, which grew by 23% between 2001 and 2006 compared to only 1-2% in the USA • In South Korea, companies spend about 6.5% of their annual budgets on R&D compared to only 5% in Europe

question

Technology futures

answer

• Divergent • Convergent • Renewable

question

Divergent

answer

• Technology advances in the developed world • Lack of access to technology in developing world o Reliance on aid • Widen technology gap

question

Convergent

answer

• Increase transfer of technology to the developing world • Begin to bridge technology gap • Could intensify global warming if energy sources follow business as usual model

question

Renewable

answer

• Switch towards renewable resources for making and powering technology • Help avoid environmental disasters and economic uncertainty of fuels

question

GEF

answer

• Global Environmental Facility • Given responsibility for technology transfer to the developing world • To move developing world from polluting technologies such as coal • To transfer tech such as: o Energy efficient lighting and appliances o Efficient and renewable power generation o Fuel-cell busses • Support of 180 countries • US$3 billion annual budget

Geography- The Technological Fix (CASE STUDIES) – Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards