The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution may be defined as the application of power-driven machinery to manufacturing. It had its beginning in remote times, and is still continuing in some places. In the eighteenth century all of western Europe began to industrialize rapidly, but in England the process was most highly accelerated. England's head start may be attributed to the emergence of a number of simultaneous factors. Britain had burned up her magnificent oak forests in its fireplaces, but large deposits of coal were still available for industrial fuel. There was an abundant labor supply to mine coal and iron, and to man the factories. From the old commercial empire there remained a fleet, and England still possessed colonies to furnish raw materials and act as captive markets for manufactured goods. Tobacco merchants of Glasgow and tea merchants of London and Bristol had capital to invest and the technical know-how derived from the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century. Last, but not least important, the insularity of England saved industrial development from being interrupted by war. Soon all western Europe was more or less industrialized, and the coming of electricity and cheap steel after 1850 further speeded the process. I. The Agricultural Revolution The English countryside was transformed between 1760 and 1830 as the open-field system of cultivation gave way to

  • Word count: 2838
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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The Issues Associated With Pest Control.

The Issues Associated With Pest Control The two main types of pest control are biological and chemical control, and there are different types of these, each of which has issues associated with them. Chemical pesticides can be split into three categories: insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. Each of these combat different types of pests: insects, weeds and disease causing fungi. There are three types of pesticides which work in different ways to eliminate pests and increase the yield of the crops. Contact pesticides are sprayed directly onto crops. They are absorbed by insects through spiracles, which are gas exchange pores, and are absorbed by weeds and fungi through their surfaces. The pests are poisoned and therefore cannot compete with or destroy the crop plants. Contact pesticides are relatively cheap, but their effects are short lived and they have to be applied regularly. This method is not completely effective; however, because spraying of the crops does not guarantee that each pest is poisoned and killed therefore the plants can still be destroyed. Systemic pesticides are also sprayed onto crops, but work differently to contact pesticides. They are absorbed by the crop, and transported around the plant. Sap sucking insects such as aphids will feed on the plant, and take in the pesticide and will be killed. Weeds will also absorb the pesticide and it will work

  • Word count: 974
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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Issues associated with pest control.

Issues associated with pest control. Everyone in the world depends on agriculture for food production. Despite improved technology, world food production has barely kept pace with population growth. Crop yields and efficiency of crop production must be increased. This can be achieved by reducing food loss by pesticides. Without some form of pest control, which is a form of controlling organisms, which reduce crop growth and crop yields, crop and animal losses would be severe, so throughout history farmers have used various means of controlling pests. Since the introduction of pesticides, bio pesticides, cultural control and integrated pest management (IPM), farmers are producing higher crop yields. (8) Pesticides are chemical substances used by humans to control, destroy, repel or attract pests in order to minimise their detrimental effects. Pests are any organisms (plant or animal) that reduce the yield of a crop. The term pesticide is an all-embracing word for herbicides (kill plants), insecticides (kill insects), fungicides (act on fungi), and so on. Most pesticides are poisons and aim to kill the target species. Pesticide use is mainly associated with agriculture and horticulture. Pesticides are used worldwide and in a wide variety of habitats and are thus a new environmental factor. (1) Many of the negative environmental effects of agri-food production are associated

  • Word count: 1254
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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To what extent do the sources agree that Russian government policy on agriculture consistently failed and that peasants resisted it under both Tsarist and Communist rule?

To what extent do the sources agree that Russian government policy on agriculture consistently failed and that peasants resisted it under both Tsarist and Communist rule? Source 1 acknowledges that the emancipation 'conferred freedom on many millions of men, women and children'. Serfdom had prevented the industrial growth and introduction of modern agricultural methods. The abolition of Serfdom was in their mind the only method of preventing a peasant's revolt. Source 1 however states that the majority of peasants were still 'bound to their village communes' after the emancipation, emphasising the failure of land policies that had been set up after the end of Serfdom. Source 1 states the peasants did resist because they felt that the policies did not suite their needs and because they had to pay money for their land, it can be argued that this demonstrates that the policies were a failure because they were designed so that the peasants could not afford the repayments anyway. The source also contains a negative tone with verbs such as 'resented' and 'resisted'. The peasant's resistance was aroused during the emancipation due to unpopularity of the policies. This is mentioned in Source 1 and Source 2. In Source 1 Ronald Hingley states that 'special community courts ordered the flogging of recalcitrant peasants' and mentions that they were later sent to Siberian exile. The

  • Word count: 996
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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Why was the site for Quarry Bank Mill chosen by Samuel Greg?

Why was the site for Quarry Bank Mill chosen by Samuel Greg? Samuel Greg chose the site at Quarry Bank near the village of Styal for a number of reasons. First, he needed a way to power his machines. The best form of power at the time was water power thanks to Richard Arkwright's water frame. However this would have cost Greg a lot of money to use, since Arkwright had patented the idea forcing people to pay him to construct the frame and pay an annual fee. Fortunately for Greg, Arkwright's patent on the water frame had just been removed so Greg would not have to pay to use it, so Greg opted for water power. Therefore, Greg needed a fast flowing river to provide the power. The site at Styal was next to the River Bollin, which was capable of supplying the necessary power and was not navigable so could be used by Greg. The land itself was ideal for building on as it was large and flat but it was in a remote area and was unsuitable for other purposes such as agriculture. As a result, the land was very cheap and Greg further reduced the cost by leasing it from the Earl of Stamford rather than buying it. The construction of the Bridgewater Canal several years earlier (1776) was another important factor in the selection of the site. It provided Greg with an effective and cheap transport network as raw materials could be brought from Liverpool to Styal and once refined

  • Word count: 681
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Geography
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