Unit 4: Water and Aquatic Food Production
Topic 4.2: Water Access, Use and Security Questions
Practice 20 exam-style questions for IB ESS Topic 4.2. Review the question stems below, then unlock the full Question Bank to access markschemes, model answers, and AI grading.
1define2 marks
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Define the term water security.
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A country has high rainfall but many communities still lack safe drinking water. Suggest whether this is more likely physical or economic scarcity and why.
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A government wants to reduce national water withdrawals quickly. Identify which sector is usually the most effective target globally and justify your answer.
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Identify which store holds the largest share of global freshwater: glaciers and ice caps, groundwater, or surface water.
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State the approximate percentage of global freshwater use that is used by agriculture.
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State one reason why upstream countries can have more control over a river than downstream countries.
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Outline two main uses of water in the industrial sector.
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Outline one way industry can reduce its freshwater demand.
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Distinguish between physical water scarcity and economic water scarcity.
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Outline two factors that can increase water stress in a region.
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State two reasons why freshwater availability is unevenly distributed across the world.
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Explain one way climate can influence the proportion of water used by agriculture in a country.
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Outline one way water scarcity can affect human health.
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Outline one way drip irrigation can reduce water demand in agriculture.
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Define physical water scarcity.
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Define the term transboundary river.
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Outline two factors that can increase the risk of conflict over freshwater.
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Outline two ways countries can cooperate to manage a shared river basin.
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State one example of a water supply management strategy.
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