Transcript Document

Year 11 Case Studies
Rivers and Coasts
Boscastle – causes, effects & management of river flooding in an MEDC
Bangladesh – causes, effects & management of river flooding in an LEDC
River Tees – river valley & its landforms
Dorset – coastal area & its landforms
Norfolk – coastline management including its reasons for protection,
measures taken, resulting effects & possible conflicts
Natural Hazards
Sichuan Earthquake – tectonic event in a LEDC
Mount Etna Volcano– tectonic event in a MEDC
Cyclone Nargis – climatic hazard in a LEDC
Australia Drought – climatic hazard in a MEDC
Economic Development
WaterAid in Mali – aid project in a LEDC
South East Brazil – factors that affect location of economic activity in
a LEDC
U.K - factors that affect location of economic activity in a MEDC
Nike in Vietnam – MNC investment in specific areas
Pearl River Delta – economic development and environmental
damage
MEDC Flooding – Boscastle
Background: A flash flood on 16th August 2004 in the small village in North Cornwall
Causes
• Over 60 mm of rainfall (typically a month's rainfall) fell in two hours.
• The ground was already saturated due to the previous two weeks of above average
rainfall.
• The drainage basin has many steep slopes, and has areas of impermeable slate causing
rapid surface run-off.
• Boscastle is at the confluence (where tributaries meet) of three rivers - Valency, Jordan, and Paradise. A large quantity of
water all arrived within a short space of time causing the rivers to overflow.
• The flooding coincided with a high tide, making the impact worse.
Social
Economic
Environmental
Homes swept away
Cars swept away
No lives lost - rapid response by
emergency services
People trapped in buildings
Stress and anxiety of local people
Income lost from tourism - 90% of
income comes from it in summer
months
Huge number of insurance claims £20 million
25 business properties destroyed
Visitor centre destroyed
Trees were uprooted and swept into
peoples’ gardens
The weight of the water eroded river
banks, damaged gardens and
pavements
Roads and bridges were blocked off
Burst sewage pipes
Responses:
Immediate: Emergency services responded speedily and efficiently – helicopters lifted 80 people off rooftops
Long term: In order to reduce the flood risk in the future a £4.6 million flood scheme was completed by 2008,
improvements include:
• Remove vegetation from the channel, but
• River bed deepened by six foot so more water can be held in the channel
encourage landowners to plant trees on
• Raised car park so above flood level
valley sides
• Increased drainage
•Build new flood defences
• Channel widened so can hold more water and create slower flow
LEDC Flooding – Bangladesh
Background: Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries. It has
has a population of 125m inhabitants. The Ganges Meghna & the Brahmaputra run through Bangladesh. It experiences
floods and tropical storms every year and a particularly bad year was 1998.
Physical Causes
Human Causes
•Most of the country consists of a huge flood plain and delta
•70% of the total area is less than 1 metre above sea level
•Snowmelt from the Himalayas takes place in late spring &
summer
•Bangladesh experiences heavy monsoon rains, especially
over the highlands
•Tropical storms bring heavy rains and coastal flooding
•The main cause was the above average & long period of
heavy rain which caused all 3 rivers to have their peak flow
at the same time
•Deforestation in Nepal and the Himalayas increases run off
and adds to deposition and flooding downstream
•Urbanisation of the flood plain has increased magnitude &
frequency of floods
•The building of dams in India has increased the problem of
sedimentation in Bangladesh
•Global warming is blamed for sea level rise, increased snow
melt & increased rainfall in the region
•Poorly maintained embankments (levees) leak & collapse in
times of high discharge
Effects
Short Term Management
Boats to rescue people , Emergency supplies for food, water,
tents and medicines, Fodder for livestock
Repair and rebuild houses, as well as services such as
sewage etc , Aid from other countries
Long Term Management
Reduce Deforestation in Nepal & Himalayas
Build 7 large dams in Bangladesh to store excess water $30-$40
million and 40 yrs to complete
Build 5000 flood shelters to accommodate all the population
Build 350km of embankment - 7 metres high at a cost of $6 billion
to reduce flooding along the main river channels
Create flood water storage areas
•Over 57% of the land area was flooded
•Over 1300 people were killed
•7 million homes were destroyed
•25 million people were made homeless
•There was a serious shortage of drinking water & dry
food
•Diseases spread such as bronchitus and
cholera/diarrhoea
•As the waters receded - it left fields of rotting crops,
wrecked roads and bridges and destroyed villages
•2 million tonnes of rice was destroyed
•1/2 million cattle and poultry were lost
•Overall the floods cost the country almost $1 billion
River Landforms – River Tees
The River Tees flows for 128km from its source high in the Pennine
Hills at Cross Fell to its mouth in the industrial conurbation of
Teeside, where it flows into the North Sea. The river exhibits many
classic landforms. In the upper section you will find High Force
waterfall, here the waterfall owes its formation to a band of hard rock
which cuts across the river valley.
The river is unable to erode the hard rock as much as the underlying softer rock and therefore
the river plunges over the waterfall, it undercuts the weaker rock, creating an overhang, which
eventually collapses under its weight. The subsequent plunge pool is deepened by the
abrasion of loose pieces of rock. A few kilometres to the south-east of Darlington the River
Tees starts to meander through farmland. Here the river has more energy and a higher volume
of water. The gradient here is gentle and erosion is lateral rather than vertical as it was in the
upper section. As the river erodes laterally, to the right and left, it forms large bends that are
known as meanders. As the river reaches its mouth, just to the North of Middlesbrough, the
vast flat valley floor leads into an estuary. Formed by the flooding of river-eroded or glaciallyscoured valleys, this area has been extensively developed for industry because of its wide river
mouth for its shipping and safe harbours.
LEDC Tectonic Hazard – Sichuan
Background detail: On 12th May 2008 at 2.28pm an earthquake struck measuring 7.9 on
the Richter scale. People were at work and school and out shopping in the southern
province of Sichuan in China.
Cause: Along the Longmensham Fault line, which is a transform boundary ,where plates
move alongside one another, building up friction and pressure that eventually is released
as the earthquake.
Primary effects: the tremor lasting over 2 minutes that led to landslides occurring
Secondary effects can be split into economic , social and environmental
Social
Economic
Environmental
69,172 dead
374, 159 injured
17, 420 missing
45 million affected
7000 schools destroyed
5.4 million homes destroyed
15 million buildings collapsed
5000km of pipes damaged
839 water tanks collapsed
1300 water treatment plants
destroyed
2 chemical factories destroyed
spilling over 80 tonnes of toxic liquid
Responses:
It was a very slow response but eventually after 72 hours the Army were brought in to rescue people with the help of 29
aircraft.
It took millions of dollars of international aid to help the people of Sichuan, but there are many areas that are still piles of
rubble.
MEDC Tectonic Hazard - Mount Etna
Etna is a strato volcano that has formed as a result of repeated volcanic eruptions, it has
been erupting gently since 2001 but there was a significant eruption in Nov 2002.
Cause: the volcanic eruption was created by a convergent plate boundary. The denser
African plate was subducted under the Eurasian plate and it melted creating new magma
that was released in the explosion. There was also a series of earthquakes before the
eruption as the pressure and friction built up as the plate was subducted and was
eventually released.
Primary effects: the release of magma, ash and gas
Secondary effects can be split into economic , social and environmental
Social
Economic
Environmental
100 homes destroyed
Planes grounded
Crop damage
Restaurant and ski lift destroyed
100s hectares of forest destroyed
There was significantly less damage than in a LEDC because of their ability to plan for the
hazard and respond to it. Responses included:
 Government caused State of Emergency
 People were evacuated away from the lava flows with the help of the Army
Medical ships were dispatched from mainland Italy
 In the long term $5.6 million given to help people rebuild the area. This included tax breaks.
LEDC Climatic Hazard Cyclone Nargis
Beginning in April 2008 over the Bay of Bengal, the warm water caused rapid evaporation, as the
water vapour rose, cooled, condensed and formed clouds the Coriolis force meant the clouds
began to spin. The evaporation also caused the rapid onset of low pressure, which drew air in
from the sides and caused high wind speeds of up to 217mph. Alongside this, there was
torrential rain and storm surges.
When Cyclone Nargis eventually made landfall it did considerable damage, including 140, 000
dead, 450,000 homes destroyed making 2-3 million people homeless, 1700 schools destroyed,
200, 000 farm animals killed, $4 billion worth of damaged, crops destroyed and water became
polluted and toxic.
The response in Myanmar was heavily criticised. The national
government did not have the money to either prepare for the
cyclone initially, cope with the short term impacts or help people
in the long term to rebuild their lives. Additionally, for 3 weeks
Myanmar refused the help of international bodies such as the UN
and Red Cross as they did not want ‘outsiders’ to be in the
country. To begin with they even dropped leaflets, insisting that
people should stop taking the aid on offer to them.
MEDC Climatic Hazard – Australian Drought
Australia is prone to a number of climatic hazards and one that occurs regularly is severe
drought.
Caused by the a meteorological event called El Nino, Australia suffered from drought
particularly badly in 2002.
The El Nino effect is when normal atmospheric and ocean patterns switch so that
instead of the warm water being found off the west coast of Australia, this switched and
the trade winds now carried warmer water to the east cost of Peru and Chile. This
meant that they got the heavy rain as water evaporated, cooled and condensed and
Australia, with the cooler water, did not get this happening.
The effects of this can be split into economic, social and environmental:
Social
Economic
Environmental
Had to sell their home and move
elsewhere because could no longer
afford to live in the farming regions
Crop failure led to both local and
national loss of income
Cattle and sheep died
People had to borrow large amounts
of money to buy food for their
animals
Soil erosion due to the severe loss of
vegetation
Bushfires
Dust storms
Water quality reduced because of
release of toxic algae
As Australia is an MEDC it can respond in a number of ways.
 Hosepipe/sprinkler ban for certain things – such as watering the lawn
Time restrictions on water use during the day
Installed high technology irrigation systems to prevent unnecessary water loss
Move surplus water from some regions to other regions that need it
Monitor weather patterns via satellites etc. to predict when will need to start conserving water
Plant drought resistant crops
WaterAid in Mali
The Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) WaterAid was established in 1981, first
helping the country of Zambia. In 2000 it started projects in Mali and continues to
work in the country.
WaterAid prides itself on trying to promote sustainable living for the poorest of
nations. Mali comes into this category and is particularly vulnerable to problems
because of its harsh physical geography. It has very low rainfall and this is decreasing. It
is 65% desert already and desertification is increasing this all the time and only 50% of
people have access to a sustainable water supply.
WaterAid recognised that privatising water in Bamako, Mali’s capital, was leaving the poorest of people in
rural and urban areas without access. They wanted to the national government and other potential donors
that Mali could have a socially and economically stable water supply.
They did the following things to aid Mali
 built a new water network
 trained local people to manage the system
 raised money to keep it working
 encouraged investment by local people to start improving all the infrastructure
 educated people about the importance of a clean water supply
The impact on people was huge, with the health benefits that came from clean water and sanitation having
a significant impact on making the local people stronger and able to attend school and work and thus
encouraging economic growth into the future.
Economic
Activity
in
U.K
(S.E.)
Primary Industry
Secondary Industry
Top farm, Huntingdon, is 200 hectares in size and is run as an
agribusiness. On the flat Eastern counties of England, arable
farming is the main activity because of the favourable physical and
human factors.
The area is characterised by gently undulating and low relief and
deep, fertile, drained alluvium boulder clay deposited on chalk.
The area has warm sunny summers (18-20°C) for ripening crops
and cold winters with frosts that break up soil and kill pests. The
area tends to get 650mm rain mainly in the growing season.
The farm traditionally grows wheat, barley and sugar beet.
Although more perishable crops such as salad vegetables are also
grown. The produce is generally sold to the large nearby markets
in South England, assisted by the excellent communications with
the A1 and the A14.
Although small industry is
found in the area, there is not
a lot of secondary industry as
the area has been through the
deindustrialisation process and
most manufacturing of British
products is done abroad.
Areas further North such as
Newcastle, Manchester and
Liverpool are home to more
industry.
Tertiary Industry
Quaternary Industry
The City of London is the most important
concentration of tertiary industry in the U.K. 300,000
people work there and 75% of those work in banking,
finance, insurance and business services. There is also
specialist services such as entertainment and retailing
in the West End. London is seen as one of 3 global
cities, as it offers highly skilled workers, impressive
communication facilities, quality living and working
environment and ability to attract all the sought after
companies in the world.
Cambridge is home to a well known Science Park that offers
high quality research and development facilities. Built in the
1970s the park is located in this area for a number of regions
including:
 Access to the highly skilled graduate workforce of Cambridge
University
 Excellent road links to A14 and M11
 A local airport nearby
Large flat land, that has potential for easy expansion
Popular residential areas close by, such as Milton village
A lot of Greenspace for those wanting to work in attractive
surroundings
Excellent facilities on site , such as a nursery and gym.
Economic Activity in South East Brazil
Primary Industry
Secondary Industry
There is a lot of primary industry in SE Brazil because of the
raw material availability. People find work relatively easily
compared to the rest of Brazil, and this is why it is called
the core region. Primary industry includes
There has been a lot of domestic (Brazilian) and foreign
investment in this area. It has been designated as a hub
for roads and railways and is has NIC status within its
own country. There are more MNCs in S.E. Brazil than
everywhere else in the country put together. Foreign
and domestic companies are encouraged to locate there
because of the good facilities, the easy access to raw
material, the established competition and skilled
workers. It is particularly famous for its car
manufacturing, including brands such as Fiat, Toyota,
Ford and VW.
 Farming coffee, beef, rice and sugar cane
Mining/extracting gold, iron, oil and gas
 Creation of energy through HEP because of appropriate
river systems
 Fishing as areas such as Rio de Janeiro are on the coast
Tertiary Industry
Quaternary Industry
With the development of secondary economic activity you
also get the growth of the service as businesses need
financial services and
employers and
employees have
money to spend. Sao
Paulo in S.E. Brazil is
the financial capital of
South America and is
home to most of the
foreign and domestic
banks headquarters.
Due to brazil being a developing nation Quaternary
industry is relatively small. However , there are some
public and private research and development facilities.
For example 83km from Sao Paulo is Sao Jose dos
Campos, which is the Aerospace Technical Centre,
where a lot of education and research is done about
the aerospace industry.
Nike in Vietnam
Nike is one of the world’s leaders of supplying sports footwear,
apparel and equipment. Founded in 1972 it has its headquarters in
USA but contracts out production to South Korean and Taiwanese
companies. The subcontracted companies operate not only in their
home country but also in lower-wage Asian economies such as
Vietnam and the Philippines.
Nike is an example of the New International Division of Labour, because it has 650,000
contract works in 700 factories worldwide. Over 75% of the workforce is based in Asia.
There are potential benefits and problems for countries such as Vietnam, where production
occurs and also in the USA.
Benefits
Problems
Vietnam:
Substantial employment
Higher wages
Cumulative causation improves hard and soft infrastructure
Vietnam:
Exploitation of the workforce
Poor working conditions
Political influence of MNCs is too great
USA:
High paid/high skilled jobs in headquarter
Improves local tax base
USA:
Loss of manufacturing jobs for low skilled workers
Products are now imported so potentially more expensive
Pearl River Delta
The Pearl River Delta region is an area the same size as Belgium in South-East China. It is a focal point
of massive foreign investment into China. The regions manufacturing industries already employ 30
million people, but this will undoubtedly increase in the future.
There are 3 main environmental problems that have occurred due to increased economic activity.
1. Air pollution: The high concentration of factories, car ownership and power stations means
emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxides have increased. When combined with water
vapour this creates acid rain. In 2007 8 out of every 10 rainfalls in Guangzhou was classified as acid
rain.
2. Water pollution: half the waste water in Guangdong urban areas is not treated before being
dumped in rivers.
3. Deforestation: almost all the urban areas have over exploited their
neighbouring uplands, causing a considerable reduction in vegetation cover.
This has resulted in serious soil erosion.
Management: The Environmental Protection Bureau classifies the
environmental situation as severe, and says that the government is
committed to taking the necessary measures to reduce pollution. These
measure include:
 Guangdong government is reducing chemical pollution of water by 15%
from 2005 levels
 Stricter pollution regulations on factories
Tougher national regulations on vehicle emissions