Comments on Globalisation

Hanis comments:

"People support globalisation as it makes it easier for them to communicate with one another in other countries. They can also receive the latest information about what's happening in other countries such as the war that is taking place in Iraq.

On the other hand, some people do not support globalisation as they have their own reasons such as the Internet has made an influence on our youths today. They gather useless information and create problems to their own country. For example, one of my friends started body piercing because of influence from her friends in America. Then she started posting her pictures in her blog too.

However, I still think that globalisation is important as it makes life easier for us."


Meihui comments:

"Because of globalisation, people watch movies of different ethnic groups and get to know more about other people's culture from the Internet. People support globalisation as they could wear clothes made in, for example, China. Also, they could drive cars manufactured in Japan, and watch a live telecast of a soccer match in Germany. Globalisation makes things happen faster, easier and more efficient. Besides exploring things in our own country, we can also taste the food from other countries, wear the clothes made by other countries through globalisation.

We can access the Internet because of the onslaught of globalisation, read information on other countries, knowing the latest fashion or news. Also, the Internet can change our knowledge or belief in something as the information may be not be reliable and leave a bad impression."

Sherlene comments:

"Globalisation has both positive and negative economic impacts. By participating in globalisation, many people have experienced improvements in their living standards as a result of increased income levels.

Some people support globalisation because it benefits us in different ways such as increasing our knowledge of things. Some people don't support globalisation because of influence. Because of the onslaught of globalisation, they get influenced easily by information, pictures and posters from the Internet and media.

I support globalisation because without globalisation, our lives will not improve and we will have difficulties moving around in the world and improving our knowledge. Globalisation has made communications and transportation easier because shorter time is taken to get from one place to another. There is an increasing mobility of goods and people. And at the same time, it has also meant that people can travel easily.

Improvement in technology has made communications among people in different locations faster and more convenient. The invention of advanced communication technology such as the Internet has enabled consumers to access information about new products and places more conveniently and efficiently."

Kun Xiang comments:

"The tools of globalisation such as the Internet can affect us by brainwashing us and change our opinions and thinking about the world and this will greatly help the anti-government groups to gain support through the Internet in just a matter of minutes of reading the articles or watching the videos. Globalisation creates trade between countries and with more foreign investments, governments can earn more revenue. Then, governments make use of the revenue to improve the countries' education, health, defence, housing, transportation infrastructures and technology."

Answers to TYS Geography GCE O Specimen Paper - Weather and Climate

2a(i) total 6 marks

· Data C is typical of equatiorial climate
Why?
· High mean annual temp. range of 27.5 deg C
· Small temp. range of 3 deg C
· High total annual rainfall of more than 2000mm evenly distributed throughout the year
Why not A and B?
· Not A because A has moderate mean annual temp. range of 11.5 deg C and moderate total annual rainfall of below 2000 mm, characteristic of temperate climate
· Not B because B has unevenly distributed rainfall, which is higher in middle of the year and lower at the end and beginning of the year, characteristic of tropical monsoon climate

3a(i) total 7 marks

Variation with distance from the coast is as follows:
· In January, the further a place of similar height is from the coast, the colder the temperature is in winter.
· In July, the further a place of similar height is from the coast, the warmer the temperature is in summer.
· Thus, A will have a moderate winter temperature of 3 deg C in January as compared to B which will have a more extreme winter temperature of -8 deg C.
· In July, A will have a moderate summer temp. of 18 deg C in July as compared to B which will have a hotter summer temp. of 21 deg C.
· Annual rainfall also falls as a place is further away from the coast.
· Thus, A has a higher annual rainfall of 1208mm while C has 445 mm.
Variation with height above sea level.
· As altitude (height) increases, temperature decreases while rainfall increases.
· Thus, B’s temperatures in July and January are lower than both A and C as it is located at a height above 2000m while the other 2 are found below 1000m.
· Annual rainfall at B, on the other hand, is higher with 1525mm as compared to A with 1208mm and C with 445mm.

3a(ii) total 5 marks

Seasonal differences in temperature between areas A and C in January and July because:
· Of maritime effect, which is the effect that large ocean bodies have on the climate of coastal areas such as area A.
· During summer in July, the air over the land heats up quickly, while the air over the sea gains heat much slower than the land.
· The cooler air over the sea helps lower the temperature of Area A, found along the coast, contributing to a lower summer temp. of 18 deg C as compared to C’s 21 deg C.
· On the other hand, during winter in January, the air over the sea remains relatively warm compared to the air over the land because the sea takes a longer time to lose heat.
· The warmer air over the sea helps to raise the temperatures of Area A, contributing to a higher winter temp. of 3 deg C as compared to C’s -8 deg C.

3b(i) total 5 marks [must use information from Fig. 7]

Bangladesh is frequently flooded because of both natural and human causes such as:
· Excessive rainfall brought about by the southwest monsoons à excess rainwater is unable to seep into the ground or rivers overflow their banks
· Storm surges due to strong winds of the tropical storms and
· the fact that 80% of Bangladesh consists of a low flat floodplain and delta
· Melting of the snow on Himalayas mountains à fed excessive water into the Brahmaputra and Ganges Rivers that drain Bangladesh
· Deforestation in foothills of mountains north of Bangladesh means that surface runoff will be higher after heavy rainfall

3b(ii) total 8 marks

Marking Scheme (Marks allocation for each level are fixed)

Level 1 (0-3m)
Level 2 (4-6m)
Level 3 (7-8m)

Details on strategies to reduce the effect of river floods
· Building artificial dykes, which are walls of sand, stone and concrete built along river banks prone to flooding
· Eg. In China, dykes have been built for centuries in the lower course of the Yellow River
· Construction of dams where walls of dams have gates which hold back or release water from the man-made reservoir behind it.

Level 1 - Generic responses without details on strategies to reduce the effect of river floods
Level 2 - Some details on strategies to reduce the effect of river floods
Level 3 - Many clear details or egs. on strategies to reduce the effect of river floods

Links between strategies and how they help reduce the effect of river floods
· Dykes help increase the capacity of the river to hold water, thus reducing its chances of flooding.
· Dams control the amount of water that flows downstream in a river, thereby reducing the occurrence of floods downstream.
· Flood insurance
· Building control
· Monitoring and education

Level 1 - Simple statements on the links between strategies and how they help reduce the effect of river floods
Level 2 - Some developed statements on the links between strategies and how they help reduce the effect of river floods
Level 3 - Many well developed statements on the links between strategies and how they help reduce the effect of river floods

Assessment or evaluation of the effectiveness of the different strategies to help reduce the effect of river floods
Shows limitations of the strategies
· Dams can be very costly
· Constant deposition on river bed limits the effectiveness of dykes

Level 1 - No attempts at evaluation
Level 2 - Some attempts at evaluation but weaker in explaining the effectiveness or limitations of the various strategies
Level 3 - Evaluation includes how effective and how limited the various strategies are in reducing the effect of floods

Answers to SS Essay on Diplomacy

An example of regional relations is ASEAN. Its roles can be seen in its three aims. The first aim is to promote economic, social and cultural development of the region. ASEAN member countries have co-operated to improve their economies. ASEAN has established ties with other countries such as Japan and associations to promote development in the region. The second aim is to protect the peace and stability of the region. For example, when a civil war broke out in Cambodia in the 1980s, the fighting groups were supported by countries outside ASEAN. ASEAN and the UN persuaded the different groups in Cambodia to stop fighting and to form a new democratic government. The third aim is to provide opportunities for member countries to discuss and resolve differences peacefully. An example is the claims on the Sipadan Islands, where ASEAN countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam are trying to arrive at a peaceful solution. The aims and examples for ASEAN show that regional relations is important in helping to promote common interests and resolve conflicting interests among nations.


The UN is important to international relations because it provides help to countries in need. The UN helps countries that are faced with immediate problems such as famines and earthquakes. It sends food and medical aid to these countries such as Aceh, Indonesia after the tsunami disaster. Secondly, the UN also gives a voice to every member country. The UN gives member countries the right to vote on decisions that affect them. It also gives them the opportunity to voice their grievances in the General Assembly. The General Assembly is like a world parliament where all the member countries can vote on various matters. Thirdly, the UN safeguards peace and stability. The UN sends its peacekeeping force to troubled areas. The peacekeeping forces ensure that parties involved in an armed conflict observe the peace by keeping them apart and preventing them from fighting. The roles of UN and examples about UN show that international relations help to promote common interests and resolve conflicting interests among nations.

Bilateral relations
Important to the smallest extent
Because such relationship benefit only 2 countries and may involve agreements that can affect other countries in a negative way. Eg. Singapore’s friendly relation with Israel has not pleased other countries such as Malaysia.

Regional relations
Important to a large extent
More important than bilateral relations as with more countries involved, bigger achievements can be made, such as stopping a war in Cambodia, which if it continued would have affected all countries in the region.

International relations
Important to the largest extent
The most important as it concerns the well-being of the whole world. They are needed to ensure that peace and security can be achieved at the global level, without which every country in the world will be affected negatively. Also, the environmental issues can be tackled more effectively at this level.

Impacts of Globalisation - Your Comments

Click on the picture to see a larger view.

You know how the Internet has influenced us in many ways - our understanding of things, our likes and dislikes, and most scarily, our beliefs and thinking. Through what we learn and see from the Internet and other media, we even begin to express ourselves like those people we interact in the Net. Are you one of those who get easily influenced by these people or things that you see and learn from the Net? However, we cannot totally ignore the Net because it is a treasure trove of knowledge too.

Go to Youtube to watch 2 short videos. Type:

Rafi & Lata - Ne Sultana Re - Pyar Ka Mausam (1969)

UFO Haiti

What do you learn from these videos? Do the videos influence you? In what ways?

Now go to this website. Click on the link.

Click http://www.armageddononline.org/Climate-Environment/global-warming-versus-ice-age.html to read about what some people say about global warming.

Must you believe them? Are you convinced by them already? What do these websites tell you about the impact of globalisation via the Internet?

Now it's your turn to give your comments about the impact of globalisation via the Internet world. Write your comments on Activity Book 4 (NA) page 6. I will post the better comments in this blog. On your own, you can make further comments in this blog later.