# Master Study Guide

NSW Stage 6 Geography (NESA 2022) · Land cover change · Climate change · Bushfires · the whole focus area in one place
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this resource may contain names, images or references to people who have died.

## How this focus area fits together

Human–Environment Interactions has three linked parts, each a way humans use, modify and depend on environments:

- Part 12 — Land cover change: deforestation, desertification, retreating ice; the global response (30×30).
- Part 13 — Climate change: characteristics, causes, impacts and responses (Costa Rica).
- Part 14 — A contemporary hazard (bushfires): the hazard, mitigation, and the 2019–20 Black Summer case study.

They interconnect: land cover change drives climate change, which worsens hazards like bushfires — which in turn feed back into the climate.

### The seven key geographical concepts — your analytical toolkit

Concept | Ask…
--- | ---
Place | What is this place like? (Amazon, Sahel, Costa Rica, Australia)
Space | Where, and why there? (spatial patterns of warming, fire risk)
Environment | How do natural systems work & change?
Interconnection | How are things linked? (fire–climate feedback)
Scale | Local → global (a reef vs the Paris Agreement)
Sustainability | Can it continue? How do we manage it?
Change | How & how fast is it changing over time?

### Jump to a chapter

12.1 Natural & human change
study page
12.2 Land cover change
study page
13.1 Climate characteristics
study page
13.2 Climate causes
study page
13.3 Climate impacts
study page
13.4 Climate responses
study page
14.1 Bushfires
study page
14.2 Mitigation
study page
14.3 Black Summer
study page
📚 Also: each chapter has a revision deck, an activity handout and a teaching presentation — see the student index.

## Case, place & response studies

Every study below is a real, verified example you can quote. Match each to a dot point and a concept.

Land cover · deforestation
The Amazon rainforest

~17–20% cleared (mainly cattle & soy); a vast carbon store at risk of a dieback tipping point.

Deforestation's double blow (biodiversity + carbon).

environment interconnection sustainability
Land cover · desertification
The Sahel, Africa

Drought, overgrazing, fuel-wood & population growth degrade dryland; response = the Great Green Wall.

Desertification cycle + a management response.

environment change sustainability
Land cover · response
Kunming–Montreal Framework (30×30, 2022)

~196 countries; protect 30% of land & oceans by 2030; 23 targets. Voluntary — funding & enforcement are the test.

A global sustainability response to evaluate.

sustainability scale
Climate · spatial variation
Arctic amplification

The Arctic warms ~4× the global average via ice–albedo feedback.

Positive feedback; why a global average understates risk.

interconnection scale change
Climate · Australia
BoM/CSIRO State of the Climate (2022)

+1.47°C air (since 1910); SST +1.05°C (since 1900); SW-WA cool-season rainfall −15% (since 1970); more fire weather.

Verified Australian evidence of change.

place change
Climate · natural forcing
Mount Pinatubo (1991)

~20 Mt SO₂ cooled Earth ~0.5°C for 1–2 years — volcanoes cool & emit little CO₂, so can't drive warming.

Rules out a natural cause for recent warming.

environment change
Climate · environmental impact
Great Barrier Reef — coral bleaching

Warming SST → coral expels its algae (zooxanthellae) → bleaches; repeated mass events; monitored by AIMS.

Cause–effect impact with management links.

environment interconnection sustainability
Climate · economic impact
The ski industry (USA & Europe)

Warmer winters & less snow shorten seasons; adaptations (snowmaking, higher altitude) have costs & limits.

Contrast with the reef — a human/economic system.

change sustainability
Climate · global response
The Paris Agreement (2015)

Hold warming well below 2°C, pursue 1.5°C; near-universal but voluntary (USA withdrew 2017, rejoined 2021).

A mitigation strategy to evaluate.

sustainability scale
Climate · national response
Costa Rica

~99% renewable electricity (hydro, wind at Tilarán, geothermal); net-zero plan; reversed deforestation; ecotourism.

A multi-strand success — but small & hydro-rich.

sustainability environment change
Climate · limits of adaptation
Tuvalu

Low-lying Pacific nation losing land & freshwater; raises the prospect of climate refugees; needs global mitigation.

Adaptation limits + equity.

sustainability interconnection
Hazard · capstone case
Black Summer bushfires (2019–20)

~19M ha burnt; ~3 billion animals; $10B+; 33+ direct deaths; ~900 Mt CO₂. Fires: Gospers Mountain, Currowan, Mallacoota.

Causes, impacts & management of a contemporary hazard.

environment interconnection scale
Hazard · First Nations knowledge
Cultural burning

Cool, fine-grained, seasonal burning to care for Country; reduces fuel & catastrophic-fire risk; increasingly recognised. Handled per cultural protocols — endorsed sources, attribution, advisory.

Living Indigenous land management.

sustainability environment

## Study × concept matrix

A tick shows a study strongly illustrates a concept — use it to pick the right example for a question.

Study | Environment | Interconnection | Scale | Sustainability | Change
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Amazon | ✓ | ✓ |  | ✓ | ✓
Sahel | ✓ | ✓ |  | ✓ | ✓
30×30 |  | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Arctic amplification | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |  | ✓
Great Barrier Reef | ✓ | ✓ |  | ✓ | ✓
Ski industry |  | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓
Paris Agreement |  | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Costa Rica | ✓ | ✓ |  | ✓ | ✓
Tuvalu | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Black Summer | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓

## Geographical tools this focus area uses

Each links to a built skill in the geographical-skills suite — practise the tool, then apply it here.

Tool | Used for…
--- | ---
Line & climate graphs | Temperature anomaly, CO₂ and SST graphs (13.1–13.2)
Statistics | Rates (per decade), percentages, comparing datasets
Maps & choropleths | Spatial patterns of warming, fire risk zones
Topographic maps | Slope & aspect and bushfire behaviour (14.1)
Photo & image interpretation | Satellite imagery of ice loss, deforestation, smoke plumes
Spatial technologies (GIS) | Monitoring change & modelling fire spread (12.2, 14.2)
Fieldwork | Local land-cover change & urban heat investigations

📏 Find these in the built Geographical Skills suite (`OneDrive/Geo/Skills/`).

## Essay & extended-response practice

“Explain,” “analyse” and especially “evaluate” questions dominate this focus area. Band 6 responses use specific studies, correct terminology, and a clear judgement.

Worked example — a fully-scaffolded plan

Q: “Evaluate the effectiveness of responses to climate change, referring to at least one case study.”

Intro: define mitigation (reduce the cause) vs adaptation (reduce the harm); thesis on where responses succeed and fall short.
Body 1 — mitigation: the Paris Agreement (near-universal but voluntary) + the toolkit (renewables, EVs, sinks). Evaluate: ambitious, delivery-dependent.
Body 2 — adaptation & limits: the Netherlands (flood defences) vs Tuvalu (physical limits; equity).
Body 3 — case study: Costa Rica (~99% renewable, reforestation, ecotourism) — a success, but small & hydro-rich, so not fully transferable.
Conclusion: a weighed judgement — real progress, but effectiveness hinges on delivery, scale and equity.

### Other practice questions

- Explain how natural processes and human activities interact to change Earth's natural systems.
- Explain the causes and impacts of land cover change, and evaluate ONE response.
- Explain how we know recent climate change is human-caused rather than natural.
- Examine the environmental and human impacts of climate change, using specific examples.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies used to mitigate the bushfire hazard.
- Using Black Summer, analyse the causes, impacts and management of a contemporary hazard.

## HSC-style questions & what answers could include

Question | Answers could include…
--- | ---
Describe the spatial and temporal characteristics of recent climate change. (4) | Temporal: ~1.1°C since 1880, accelerating, datasets agree. Spatial: near-global, Arctic fastest. A figure + a source.
Explain the enhanced greenhouse effect. (4) | Natural vs enhanced; extra CO₂/methane/N₂O trap more outgoing heat → warming; the human increase is the problem.
Assess the effectiveness of an international agreement in managing an environmental issue. (6) | 30×30 or Paris: strengths (universal, measurable) vs limits (voluntary, enforcement); a clear judgement.
Analyse the factors affecting the ignition and spread of bushfires. (6) | Ignition (lightning/human); the big three (fuel, weather, topography); climate change; correct terminology.
Evaluate the management of a contemporary hazard, using a case study. (8) | Black Summer: mitigation limits, multi-agency response, Recovery Agency, cultural burning; weighed verdict.

## Self-test

Click an answer for instant feedback. One attempt each.

1. Roughly how much has global average temperature warmed since the late 1800s?
Correct: ~1.1–1.2°C above pre-industrial — small-sounding but climatically huge.
2. Which is the single strongest evidence that recent CO₂ rise is human-caused?
Correct: ice cores show CO₂ never exceeded ~300 ppm in 800,000 years — today it's over 420 ppm.
3. Coral bleaching happens when…
Correct: warming sea temperatures make coral expel its zooxanthellae, turning white and starving.
4. At a CATASTROPHIC fire danger rating, the advice is to…
Correct: at Catastrophic, homes are not designed to survive — leaving early is the only safe option.
5. Approximately how much land burned in the 2019–20 Black Summer fires?
Correct: ~19 million hectares, with ~3 billion animals killed or displaced.
6. Costa Rica generates roughly what share of its electricity from renewables?
Correct: around 99% (hydro, wind, geothermal) — though its small size & geography help.

## Glossary — the whole focus area

Term | Meaning
--- | ---
Anthropogenic | Caused or accelerated by human activity.
Anthropocene | Proposed epoch of human dominance over Earth's systems.
Land cover change | Alteration of Earth's land surface (deforestation, desertification, ice loss).
Desertification | Land degradation in dry areas — a persistent loss of productivity.
Carbon sink | A store that absorbs more carbon than it releases (forests, oceans).
Temperature anomaly | The difference from a long-term average (not the absolute temperature).
Enhanced greenhouse effect | The human-caused increase in trapped heat that drives warming.
Ice–albedo feedback | Melting ice lowers reflectivity → more heat absorbed → more melting.
Ocean acidification | Falling seawater pH as it absorbs CO₂ — harms shell-builders.
Mitigation / adaptation | Reduce the cause / reduce the harm.
Net-zero | Emissions balanced by an equal amount of carbon removal.
Fuel load | Accumulated dry vegetation available to burn.
Hazard reduction | Managing fuel to reduce fire intensity & spread.
Cultural burning | First Nations cool, fine-grained, seasonal fire management of Country.
Megafire | An extraordinarily large, intense fire (often >100,000 ha).

### Reputable media & sources

- BoM/CSIRO State of the Climate · NASA Climate · NOAA CO₂
- AIMS (Great Barrier Reef) · IPCC · UN CBD (30×30)
- NSW RFS · Bushfire Royal Commission
- First Nations (endorsed): AIATSIS · NITV · ABC Education

Rose Bay Secondary College · HSC Geography · Human–Environment Interactions — Master study guide · NESA Stage 6 (2022) · HSC 2026
Aligned to the NESA Geography Stage 6 Syllabus (2022); facts verified to public sources; First Nations content handled per cultural protocols; figures redrawn (no textbook images reproduced).