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WalesGeographyQuick questions
Global Systems and Global Governance (A2 Unit 3)
Quick questions on The water cycle and water insecurity - WJEC A-Level Geography
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the global water cycle?Show answer
About per cent of water is saline ocean; most of the remaining freshwater is locked in ice and deep groundwater, leaving under per cent as accessible surface freshwater. Flows include evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, cryospheric processes and runoff. Stores have very different residence times, from days in the atmosphere to millennia in deep ice and aquifers, which matters because slowly recharging stores cannot be exploited sustainably at high rates.
What is causes of water insecurity?Show answer
Physical causes include climate variability, drought, seasonal and unreliable rainfall, and salinisation. Human causes include population and economic growth, irrigation demand (agriculture uses around per cent of freshwater withdrawals globally), industrial and domestic pollution, and over-abstraction of rivers and aquifers faster than they recharge. Water stress is uneven, so some regions face chronic water insecurity while others have surplus, and the gap between supply and demand defines a country's water security.
What is q1?Show answer
Define the water balance of a drainage basin. [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain one human cause of water insecurity. [3 marks]
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