The big idea: Extreme environments — hot deserts, cold polar and high-latitude lands, and high mountains — are among the most sensitive places on Earth to climate change.
A warming climate melts permafrost and glaciers, shifts rainfall, and stresses the people and ecosystems that live there. Their future depends on adaptation, new technology (solar power, desalination, hydroponics) and the indigenous knowledge of local communities.
This is the essay micro of Option C — most marks come from a [10] markband essay weighing technology, impacts and sustainability.
Key terms for this micro
- Permafrost — ground that stays frozen year-round; thawing makes it unstable.
- Glacier retreat — ice melting back, shrinking meltwater rivers and the area of ice.
- Desertification — productive dryland turning to desert as drought and erosion spread.
- Adaptation — coping with the effects of climate change (not cutting the causes).
- Sustainable development — meeting needs today without harming people or the environment in the future (social, economic AND environmental).
- Indigenous communities — original local peoples (e.g. Inupiat, Quechua) with traditional knowledge of the environment.
Three pillars of sustainability: When you judge a technology or strategy, weigh all three pillars: is it social (helps local people), economic (affordable, creates income) AND environmental (does not damage the land)?
A strategy that scores on only one pillar is not truly sustainable — that is your judgement in the essay.
How this is tested: Paper 1 Option C, Section C opens with a structured question — Suggest or Explain for [6] (usually 3+3 or 2+2+2). You take two or three effects of warming on local people or the landscape and develop each one with an example.
Quote a real place (Alaska, the Andes, the Alps) — examiners reward named environments.
| Extreme environment | Climate-change impact | Adaptation / technology response | Real example |
|---|---|---|---|
| High-latitude (Arctic) | Thawing permafrost cracks roads, pipelines and homes; sea ice retreats | Build on stilts or thermosiphons; hunt over a shorter season | Inupiat communities, Alaska |
| High mountain (Andes) | Glaciers shrink, so dry-season meltwater and water supply fall | Store water in reservoirs; revive ancient terraces and canals | Quechua farmers, Peruvian Andes |
| High mountain (Alps) | Less snow and ice cuts the ski season and water for HEP | Snow-making machines; shift to summer/year-round tourism | Alpine resorts, Switzerland/Austria |
| Hot, arid (Sahel) | More erratic rainfall and drought spread desertification | Drought-tolerant crops, soil/water conservation, agroforestry | Great Green Wall, the Sahel |
| Hot, arid (Atacama / Gulf) | Rising heat and water scarcity threaten settlement | Solar-powered desalination; solar power for remote villages | Solar + desalination, arid Chile/Gulf |
| Polar (Antarctica) | Ice-shelf melt and warming disturb research and ecosystems | Renewable-powered, low-impact research stations | Antarctic research bases |
How a warmer climate threatens cold + high places
- Thawing permafrost — the frozen ground softens, so roads, pipelines and houses crack and subside (e.g. Alaskan villages).
- Glacier retreat — ice survives only at higher altitude or on shaded slopes, and the meltwater rivers people rely on shrink.
- Shorter ice/snow season — less time for hunting on sea ice, and a shorter ski season hits mountain tourism.
- Ecosystem change — animals and plants move poleward or upslope, disrupting traditional hunting and herding.
Develop, don't just list: A Suggest [6] is marked 2+2+2 (or 3+3 for Explain). For each effect, give 1 mark for the effect and 1 mark for developing it — say how it harms the community, with a place or detail.
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The future of these environments depends on how well people adapt — and new technology is central to the [10] essay. The key skill is to tie a technology to a real place and judge it on the three pillars of sustainability.
Solar power in hot, arid lands (Atacama / the Gulf): Hot deserts have intense sunshine, so solar power is abundant.
Uses: it can electrify remote villages, run solar-powered desalination to make fresh water for farming, and power controlled greenhouses — all without burning fossil fuels. The Atacama in Chile and Gulf states host large solar plants.
Limit: building it is expensive, so poorer communities may not afford it without aid.
Andean glacier melt (Quechua farmers, Peru): In the Peruvian Andes, glaciers feed the rivers that irrigate crops in the dry season.
Impact: as the glaciers retreat, the dry-season water supply falls, threatening farming and the cities below.
Adaptation: communities store water in reservoirs, revive ancient terraces and canals, and switch crop types. This blends new technology with indigenous knowledge.
Desertification in the Sahel (the Great Green Wall): The Sahel, on the edge of the Sahara, is drying as rainfall becomes more erratic.
Adaptation: the Great Green Wall plants drought-tolerant trees and crops across the region, while soil and water conservation and agroforestry hold back the desert.
Sustainability: it supports local food and income (social + economic) and restores land (environmental) — strong on all three pillars.
Technology is not a magic fix: Every technology has limits: high cost, dependence on outside funding or experts, and sometimes new environmental harm (desalination brine, mining for solar panels).
The best answers weigh the limits — that is what separates the top markband from a one-sided list.
How this is tested — the [10] essay: Paper 1 Option C, Section C ends with a 10-mark essay, marked on markbands. The recurring versions are:
- new technologies and how far they make development sustainable (Examine / Evaluate); - managing the impacts of climate change on hot, arid local peoples; - the opportunities and challenges for indigenous groups.
Top band (9-10) needs: accurate terms, named places, a balanced two-sided argument (opportunities AND challenges / strengths AND limits), and a justified conclusion.
Markband checklist: (1) Argue both sides — opportunities AND challenges (one-sided answers cap at 6). (2) Anchor each side to a named place (Alaska, the Andes, the Sahel, the Atacama). (3) Weigh all three pillars of sustainability. (4) End on an explicit judgement that answers the command term.