Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696): Topic 12 – Environmental management – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover topic 12, Environmental management (sections 12.1 to 12.4), of the Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026. The topic is an Advanced Human Geography Option, assessed in Paper 4 with a structured question and a choice of essays. All countries, towns, rivers and data below are fictional.

Revise first with the study guide and revision notes. Track your progress on the Cambridge A Level Geography hub and checklist.

Questions

1. Define the term “energy security”. [2]

2. Distinguish between renewable and non-renewable energy resources, giving one example of each. [3]

3. The table shows electricity generation in Kestria, a fictional middle-income country.

Source	2005 (TWh)	2025 (TWh)
Coal	48	62
Natural gas	20	38
Oil	6	2
Nuclear	0	9
HEP	14	18
Wind	0.5	16
Solar	0	12
Biomass	1.5	3
Total	90	160

(a) Calculate the percentage of Kestria’s electricity generated from renewable sources in 2025. Show your working. [2] (b) Describe the changes in Kestria’s electricity generation between 2005 and 2025. [4] (c) Suggest two reasons why coal generation increased while coal’s share of the total fell. [4]

4. Explain how resource endowment and climate can influence a country’s energy mix. [4]

5. Outline two environmental impacts of transporting energy, one at the local scale and one at the global scale. [4]

6. The table shows water quality at five sites along the fictional River Tamsin, which flows through the fictional town of Harwick.

Site	Location	Dissolved oxygen (mg/l)	Nitrate (mg/l)
A	Upland pasture, 12 km above Harwick	9.6	4.1
B	Arable farmland, 4 km above Harwick	8.7	14.8
C	Outfall from Harwick industrial estate	5.2	16.2
D	Sewage works outfall, 2 km below Harwick	3.1	21.5
E	8 km below Harwick, after a reed-bed wetland	6.8	12.0

(a) Identify the site with the lowest dissolved oxygen and calculate the percentage fall from site A. [3] (b) Suggest reasons for the changes in nitrate and dissolved oxygen between sites A and D. [5] (c) Suggest why water quality has improved at site E. [2]

7. Explain two reasons why demand for water usually increases as a country develops. [4]

8. Explain how poor agricultural practices can lead to the degradation of rural environments. [5]

9. Lake Orvane is a fictional wetland on the edge of Dalmouth, a fictional city growing by 4% a year. Parts of the wetland are being drained for housing, and rubbish is dumped along its shore. It is a stopover for migrating birds and supplies fish to local families. Suggest the needs, possible measures and likely outcomes of a scheme to protect Lake Orvane. [6]

10. Evaluate the success of one country’s overall electrical energy strategy. [10]

11. “The benefits of a large electricity scheme go to distant users, while the costs fall on local people.” How far do you agree? Refer to one named located scheme. [12]

12. With reference to one degraded environment you have studied, assess the extent to which attempts to improve it have been successful. [12]

Answers

1. A reliable [1] supply of enough affordable energy for a country’s needs, without serious risk of disruption [1]. [2] Examiner insight: “having energy” earns little; the marks come from reliability and affordability.

2. Renewable resources are replenished naturally on a human time scale [1]; non-renewable resources form over geological time and are finite, so they run out [1]; one correct example of each, such as wind and coal [1]. [3] Examiner insight: both examples are needed for the third mark; a single list of sources is not a distinction.

3. (a) 18 + 16 + 12 + 3 = 49 TWh renewable [1]; 49 ÷ 160 × 100 = 30.6% [1]. (b) Total generation rose from 90 to 160 TWh, about 78% [1]. Renewables’ share rose from 17.8% to 30.6%, mostly from wind (0.5 to 16 TWh) and solar (0 to 12 TWh) [1]. Coal rose from 48 to 62 TWh but its share fell from 53.3% to 38.8% [1]. Nuclear appeared (9 TWh) and oil fell from 6 to 2 TWh [1]. (c) Demand grew fast, perhaps from industrialisation and rising incomes [1], so every source had to expand, including coal [1]. Kestria may have its own coal and existing coal plants, making coal cheap to expand [1], while policy or falling costs made wind and solar grow faster, so coal’s share fell [1]. Examiner insight: in “describe” parts, quote figures from the table with units; in “suggest” parts, link each reason to the data rather than writing a general essay.

4. Resource endowment: countries tend to use the fuels they have [1], for example a coal-rich country building coal power stations because the fuel is cheap and secure [1]. Climate: affects demand, as cold winters raise heating needs [1], and supply potential, as reliable winds, sunshine or high rainfall in uplands favour wind, solar or HEP [1]. [4] Examiner insight: each factor needs an explained link to the mix, not just a description of the factor.

5. Local: an oil tanker or pipeline spill [1] contaminates coastline or soil and harms wildlife [1]. Global: methane leaking from gas pipelines [1] adds a powerful greenhouse gas to the atmosphere, contributing to climate change [1]. [4] Examiner insight: the question asks for transport, so impacts of mining or burning fuel score nothing here.

6. (a) Site D [1]; fall = 9.6 − 3.1 = 6.5 mg/l [1]; 6.5 ÷ 9.6 × 100 = 67.7% [1]. (b) Nitrate rises sharply from A to B (4.1 to 14.8 mg/l) as fertiliser runs off arable fields, a diffuse source [1]. Industrial effluent at C adds pollutants and may be warm, and warm water holds less oxygen [1]. Sewage at D adds organic matter and more nutrients, taking nitrate to 21.5 mg/l [1]. Bacteria decomposing sewage use up oxygen, so dissolved oxygen falls to 3.1 mg/l [1]. Nutrients can also cause algal growth whose decay lowers oxygen further (eutrophication) [1]. (c) The reed-bed wetland absorbs nutrients and filters pollutants [1], and distance downstream allows dilution and re-oxygenation, so dissolved oxygen recovers by 3.7 mg/l [1]. Examiner insight: use the site locations given – farmland, industry, sewage – to tie each change to a source.

7. Rising incomes increase domestic use through piped supply, flush toilets and appliances [1], so use per person goes up [1]. Industrialisation and irrigated commercial farming need large volumes of water [1], adding to demand alongside urban population growth [1]. [4] Examiner insight: “explain two reasons” needs two developed points; four undeveloped ones score less.

8. Overgrazing removes vegetation cover [1], exposing soil to wind and water erosion [1]. Overcultivation without fallow exhausts soil nutrients and structure [1]. Ploughing up and down slopes creates channels for runoff, causing gullying [1]. Irrigation without drainage raises water tables and leaves salts in the soil, causing salinisation [1]. [5] Examiner insight: name the practice and the process it triggers; “bad farming damages land” earns nothing.

9. Needs: the wetland is a stopover for migrating birds [1] and supplies fish to local families, so livelihoods depend on it [1]. Measures: legal designation that bans drainage and building [1], plus waste collection and fines for dumping, with clean-up days [1]. Outcomes: if enforced, habitat area and bird numbers could be kept up [1], but with Dalmouth growing by 4% a year, housing pressure may continue and enforcement may be weak [1]. [6] Examiner insight: answer all three parts – needs, measures, outcomes – and use the scenario’s details in each.

10. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these points show what a strong answer would contain.

Germany, the Energiewende. The Renewable Energy Sources Act of 2000 guaranteed payments for renewable electricity [1]. Nuclear power was phased out, with the last reactors closing on 15 April 2023 [1], and coal is to end by 2038 at the latest [1]. Production moved from large central stations to northern and offshore wind and dispersed solar [1]. Success: renewables met 54% of demand in 2024 [1], and 2023 emissions were the lowest since the 1950s [1]. Limits: part of that fall came from weaker industry [1]; the SuedLink north-south line slipped from 2022 to 2028 after protests [1]; prices have been high [1]. Judgement: a qualified success – the mix has changed greatly, but more slowly and expensively than planned [1]. [10] Examiner insight: the top marks need a clear judgement that weighs evidence of success against named problems.

11. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these points show what a strong answer would contain.

Scheme: Three Gorges Dam, on the Yangtze at Sandouping, Hubei [1]; 22,500 MW, fully running in 2012 [1]. Distant benefits: long high-voltage lines carry power to central, eastern and southern China [1]; output reached nearly 112 TWh in 2020 [1]; low-carbon electricity helps national emissions targets [1]. Local costs: about 1.13 to 1.4 million people displaced [1]; landslides on reservoir slopes, 97 significant ones in early 2010 [1]; altered river ecosystems and fish migration [1]. Counter-argument: flood control protects people downstream along the Yangtze [1], and the ship lift improves navigation for the region [1]. Sediment trapping affects the lower river and delta, so costs are not only local [1]. Judgement: largely agree, but benefits and costs both cross scales, so the statement is too simple [1]. [12] Examiner insight: “how far” demands both sides and a judgement on the quotation itself, not just a list of impacts.

12. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these points show what a strong answer would contain.

Case study: the Aral Sea, between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan [1]. Cause: the Amu Darya and Syr Darya were diverted from the early 1960s to irrigate cotton [1]. Problems: area down 60% and volume 80% between 1960 and 1998 [1]; salinity rose to about 30 g/L by 1990 [1]; Muynak is now 30-90 km from the shore [1]. Attempt: Dike Kokaral, completed in 2005 with World Bank loans [1]. Success: the North Aral rose 12 m to 42 m by 2008 [1], about 24 freshwater species returned and fish were exported again [1]. Failure: the South Aral’s eastern basin dried out in 2014 [1]. Constraints: the Amu Darya is shared by several countries [1], and cotton irrigation supports jobs and exports [1]. Judgement: successful in the north, where one affordable project worked, but unsuccessful overall [1]. [12] Examiner insight: separate the degree of success by area or group; one overall verdict without that split reads as description.

Where marks are usually lost

• Leaving out working in “calculate” parts, so a wrong final figure scores nothing.
• Describing data without quoting figures and units from the table.
• Explaining production impacts when the question asks only about transport or usage.
• Using a general definition instead of the scenario’s details in “suggest” questions.
• Answering a “named located scheme” question with a country-wide strategy.
• Missing one of needs, measures or outcomes in protection questions.
• Writing essays that describe a case study well but never reach a judgement.
• Giving invented or uncertain statistics; accurate qualitative detail is safer.

Next steps

Check your weaker areas against the study guide, then try our diagnostics to find gaps across your Geography course. For help with Paper 4 essays, Book a free trial class. The exam preparation guide explains how to choose your options.

Official syllabus

These questions follow the Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, topic 12, Environmental management (12.1-12.4).