Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460): Theme 3.7 – Environmental risks of economic development – 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 section 3.7 Environmental risks of economic development of the Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022). The section is assessed in Paper 1 Geographical Themes, where you answer three 25-mark questions, one from each section; Paper 2 Geographical Skills may also use data on the themes, as in Questions 5 and 6. All places, firms and figures in the sources are fictional unless a question asks for your own case study.

Revise first with the Environmental risks study guide and the Environmental risks revision notes. Track your progress on the Cambridge IGCSE Geography hub and checklist.

Questions

1. Define the term “sustainable development”. [2]

2. Define the term “desertification”. [2]

3. Explain the difference between the natural greenhouse effect and enhanced global warming. [3]

4. Explain how overgrazing can lead to desertification. [4]

5. Study the table. It shows soil loss measured on slopes of the same angle in the Tarvel Hills, a fictional area.

Land use	Soil loss (tonnes per hectare per year)
Natural forest	0.5
Grazed grassland	4.0
Maize, ploughed up and down the slope	36.0
Maize, contour ploughed	14.4
Maize on terraces	3.6

(a) Calculate how many times greater soil loss is under maize ploughed up and down the slope than under natural forest. Show your working. [2] (b) Calculate the percentage reduction in soil loss when maize is grown on terraces instead of being ploughed up and down the slope. [2] (c) A farmer grows maize on 12 hectares. Calculate how many more tonnes of soil are lost each year if the land is ploughed up and down the slope rather than terraced. [2] (d) Explain why contour ploughing and terraces reduce soil loss. [3]

6. A line graph shows dissolved oxygen in the River Sella, a fictional river, at five sites. A paper mill (fictional) discharges waste water at the 0 km point. The readings are: 2 km upstream, 9.2 mg per litre; 0.5 km downstream, 3.1; 2 km downstream, 4.4; 5 km downstream, 6.0; 10 km downstream, 7.9. Fish need at least 5 mg per litre to survive for long.

(a) Describe the changes in dissolved oxygen shown by the graph. Use data in your answer. [3] (b) Calculate the mean dissolved oxygen of the four downstream sites, and the range for all five sites. [2] (c) Suggest two reasons why dissolved oxygen rises again further downstream. [2] (d) Suggest how this pollution could affect people living along the river. [3]

7. Read the source.

Brennick Minerals (a fictional company) plans a limestone quarry and cement works on Ardmore Ridge, 2 km from the fictional village of Calder Bay. The village has 900 residents, a small tourist trade and a river used for fishing. The plan would create 150 jobs. There would be blasting each weekday, about 80 lorries a day on the village road, and a 60 m chimney for the cement kiln, which would burn coal.

(a) Identify two types of pollution that the plan could cause. [2] (b) Explain how the plan could threaten the environment and people, locally and globally. [5] (c) Suggest two ways in which the plan could be managed more sustainably. [4]

8. Explain why resource conservation is important. Use examples. [5]

9. Describe how noise and visual pollution from economic activities can affect people. [4]

10. Explain how economic activities in one country can harm the environment in other countries or globally. [4]

11. For a named area where economic development is putting the environment at risk, describe the threats and explain how far attempts to manage them have succeeded. [8]

12. “The benefits of economic development are greater than the environmental risks it causes.” To what extent do you agree? Refer to examples. [10]

Answers

1. Development that meets the needs of people today [1] without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, for example by not using up resources or damaging land [1]. [2] Examiner insight: The future-generations idea earns the second mark; “development that protects the environment” alone is too vague.

2. The degradation of land so that it becomes more like a desert [1], in arid or semi-arid areas, caused by human activity and drought [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Desertification is land being damaged, not a desert moving; answers that say “the desert spreads” without the idea of degradation score one mark at most.

3. The natural greenhouse effect is when gases such as carbon dioxide and methane trap heat in the atmosphere [1], keeping the Earth warm enough for life [1]. Enhanced global warming is the extra warming caused when human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, add more of these gases [1]. [3] Examiner insight: The key difference is the human cause; an answer that describes only one of the two processes cannot reach full marks.

4. Too many animals eat the grass and shrubs faster than they can regrow [1]. The bare soil is exposed to wind and heavy rain, so topsoil is eroded [1]. Hooves trample and compact the soil, so water runs off instead of soaking in [1]. With fewer plants and less fertile soil, the land can no longer support farming and becomes more desert-like [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Build a chain of linked steps from animals to bare soil to erosion to desert-like land; four separate facts with no links score lower.

5. (a) 36.0 ÷ 0.5 [1] = 72 times greater [1]. [2] (b) (36.0 − 3.6) ÷ 36.0 × 100 [1] = 90% reduction [1]. [2] (c) Up and down: 36.0 × 12 = 432 tonnes; terraces: 3.6 × 12 = 43.2 tonnes [1]. Difference: 432 − 43.2 = 388.8 tonnes [1]. [2] (d) Contour ploughing makes furrows along the slope, which trap water instead of channelling it downhill [1]. Terraces break the slope into flat steps, so running water slows down [1]. Slower water has less energy to carry soil, and more water soaks into the ground, so less soil is washed away [1]. [3] Examiner insight: In part (c) show both totals before subtracting; a final answer with no working gets nothing if it is wrong.

6. (a) Dissolved oxygen falls sharply from 9.2 mg per litre upstream to 3.1 mg per litre 0.5 km below the mill, a fall of 6.1 [1]. It then rises steadily with distance downstream, to 7.9 mg per litre at 10 km [1]. It stays below the 5 mg per litre fish need until somewhere between 2 and 5 km downstream, and by 10 km it has still not returned to the upstream level [1]. [3] (b) Mean: (3.1 + 4.4 + 6.0 + 7.9) ÷ 4 = 5.35 mg per litre [1]. Range: 9.2 − 3.1 = 6.1 mg per litre [1]. [2] (c) Tributaries bring in clean water that dilutes the waste [1]. Turbulent flow over rapids mixes oxygen from the air into the water, and bacteria finish breaking down the waste, so they use less oxygen [1]. [2] (d) Fish die near the mill, so people who fish lose food and income [1]. River water may be unsafe to drink or need costly treatment [1]. The polluted river may smell and look unpleasant, reducing its use for washing or recreation [1]. [3] Examiner insight: “Describe” with “use data” needs figures with units and a reference to distance; a general statement that oxygen “goes down then up” earns one mark.

7. (a) Noise pollution from blasting or lorries [1]; air pollution from the chimney or dust [1]. (Visual pollution from the quarry is also acceptable.) [2] (b) Dust from blasting could settle on homes and cause breathing problems for the 900 residents [1]. Eighty lorries a day would add noise, fumes and danger on the village road [1]. Silt or dust washed into the river could harm fish and the fishing that villagers rely on [1]. A large scar on Ardmore Ridge would spoil the view and could reduce the tourist trade [1]. Globally, burning coal in the kiln releases carbon dioxide, adding to enhanced global warming [1]. [5] (c) Limit blasting to set hours and build earth banks or plant trees as screens [1], which reduce noise and visual impact for villagers [1]. Use settling ponds to trap silt and fit filters on the chimney [1], which protect the river’s fish and reduce dust in the air [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Use the source’s own details, such as the 80 lorries or the fishing river; a generic list of quarry impacts does not reach the top marks.

8. Non-renewable resources such as oil and coal are finite, so conserving them makes them last longer for future generations [1]. Renewable resources can still run out if used too fast; for example, overfishing can collapse fish stocks [1]. Using less fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions and so slows enhanced global warming [1]. Recycling metals means fewer new mines, which reduces visual pollution and habitat loss [1]. Using resources efficiently saves money for households, firms and governments [1]. [5] Examiner insight: Each reason needs an example or a consequence; “so we do not run out” repeated in different words earns one mark.

9. Noise from airports, motorways or factories can disturb sleep [1] and cause stress, affecting people’s health and work [1]. Visual pollution such as quarries, spoil heaps or pylons spoils the landscape [1], which can lower house prices or put tourists off, reducing local income [1]. [4] Examiner insight: The question asks about both types; an answer on noise alone can reach only half marks.

10. Burning fossil fuels in one country releases carbon dioxide that mixes in the global atmosphere [1], adding to enhanced global warming and sea-level rise that affect low-lying coasts everywhere [1]. Sulphur dioxide from power stations can be blown across borders and fall as acid rain, damaging forests and lakes in other countries [1]. A river polluted by industry upstream carries the pollution into a neighbouring country or the sea [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Show the pathway, such as wind, river or atmosphere; naming a global problem without explaining how it travels earns half the marks.

11. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points for the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Named area: the Niger Delta, where oil was found at Oloibiri in 1956 [1]. Threat: oil spills from pipelines and wells pollute creeks, mangroves and farmland [1]. Threat to people: at Bodo, two spills that began in 2008 polluted creeks and harmed fishing income [1]. Threat: gas flaring releases carbon dioxide and soot, adding to local air pollution and enhanced global warming [1]. Evidence: UNEP’s 2011 assessment found benzene in one community’s drinking water about 900 times the WHO guideline [1]. Management: Shell agreed in 2015 to pay £55 million to Bodo after a London court case [1]. Management: the government clean-up agency HYPREP launched the Ogoniland clean-up in 2016, including mangrove restoration [1]. Judgement: success is limited, because clean-up is slow, new spills continue and UNEP estimated recovery could take up to 30 years [1]. [8] Examiner insight: “How far” needs a judgement on success, backed by evidence; describing management without saying whether it worked keeps an answer in the lower levels.

12. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points. Define economic development as growth in jobs, incomes and services, and identify the named risks: soil erosion, desertification, enhanced global warming and pollution [1]. Agree: oil and gas have provided most of Nigeria’s export earnings, paying for services [1]. Agree: new industries such as a quarry bring jobs to areas with few alternatives [1]. Agree: richer countries can afford cleaner technology and environmental laws [1]. Disagree: in the Niger Delta, spills and flaring harmed fishing, farming and health [1]. Disagree: the costs of repair are high; UNEP estimated about US$1 billion for the first five years in Ogoniland [1]. Disagree: overgrazing and overcultivation contribute to desertification in the Sahel, destroying the land people depend on [1]. Disagree: enhanced global warming harms people who did not benefit from the development that caused it [1]. Evaluation: the balance depends on management, such as terracing, enforced laws and schemes like the Great Green Wall [1]. Judgement: benefits can be greater only when development is managed sustainably; unmanaged, the risks often outweigh them [1]. [10] Examiner insight: A “to what extent” answer needs both sides with real examples and a final judgement that follows from them, not a list of benefits followed by a list of problems.

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing “global warming” without saying the extra warming comes from human emissions.
• Defining desertification as a desert spreading, with no idea of land degradation.
• Skipping working in calculations such as Questions 5 and 6, or leaving out units.
• Describing a graph with no figures or distances, as in Question 6(a).
• Ignoring the source’s details in an application question like Question 7.
• Answering about the environment only when the question also asks about people.
• Covering only one of two named types, as in Question 9.
• Case study answers with no place names, dates or evidence.
• Writing about management without judging how far it has succeeded.

Next steps

• Check gaps in your knowledge with our diagnostics.
• Link this topic to farming in the Food production practice questions and to factories in the Industry practice questions.
• Review deforestation with the Natural environment practice questions.
• Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

These questions are written for the Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022), section 3.7 Environmental risks of economic development. Check the latest version on the Cambridge International website; your teacher will confirm anything the syllabus does not print.