3.2.2—Multiple human impacts
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Objective
- 3.2.2
- Level
- SL
Show How One Pressure Amplifies Another
Multiple pressures can amplify damage when the first one removes the ecosystem’s ability to respond to the second.
Trace pressure → lost function or diversity → weaker resilience → larger later impact. This is more than listing two threats side by side.
Overfishing simplifies a reef food web; later heat stress causes more severe bleaching because fewer functional groups support recovery.
The second impact is larger after the first pressure than it would have been in the intact system.
Two pressures are not automatically synergistic; show the mechanism that changes resilience.