A-Level Geography - Physical - Humans on the Coast

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  • Created by: Noah_S
  • Created on: 14-11-21 19:05
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  • Global Coast - The Sundarbans
    • Opportunities & Risks
      • Opportunities
        • Goods from Mangroves
          • Fuel - Firewood and charcoal
          • Food and Drink - Fruits, honey, cooking oil, alcohol and vinegar
          • Textiles - Furs/skins and synthetic fibres
          • Fishing materials - Floats, poles and herbal poison
        • Services from Mangroves
          • Protection against floods, cyclones and shoreline erosion
          • Provides breeding grounds, fishing grounds, coastal livelihoods and climate controls
          • Maintains biodiversity, regulation of ecosystem processes, soil formation & fertility, water catchment and ground water recharge
        • Development
          • Tourists are attracted by the mangroves and wildlife
          • Cargo ships transporting oil and food inland have been allowed to use the waterways, some channels have been dredged
          • A power plant has been proposed just north to provide energy to the people
      • Risks
        • Natural
          • Coastal flooding from cyclones & storm surges
          • High levels of salinity in the soil, killing most plants
          • Lack of accessibility
        • Human
          • Over-exploitation of vulnerable coastal resources
          • Pollution and contamination of water by cities, industry and fish farming
          • Destruction of mangrove forests from deforestation
          • 1m rise in sea level will increase salinity, causing major issues for farming and large-scale migration
    • Location
      • Physical
        • World largest delta, extending over 10,000km^2 of southern Bangladesh and India
          • Formed by deposited sediment from the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna
        • Natural climatic climax ecosystem are mangrove trees, forests and swamps
        • Tidal action is the primary natural process, flowing from north to south due to tidal currents
          • Usually static due to slits and clays b being resistant to erosion
        • Non-cohesive sediments like sand are washed out of the delta and deposited on banks, forming sand dunes
          • Causes finer silts to be deposited, and wave action causes the formation of new islands and mangrove forests
        • Land is very flat and low-lying
        • Home to rare species of wildlife, including orchids and Royal Bengal tigers
      • Human
        • Coast of Bangladesh is home to >50 million
        • Rural communities consist of fishing or farming
          • Rice is usually grown
        • Human presence has added pressure onto the area
          • Equilibrium of natural processes are very delicate and could be jeopardised
    • Responses
      • Mitigation
        • 3500km of embankments were built to prevent flooding
          • 800km are vulnerable to being breached
        • Coastal management aims to protect mangroves & replant areas
          • Unclear how sea level rise will impact
      • Resilience
        • Public Health Engineering Department is increasing access to clean water and sanitation
          • Improves health and Quality of Life
        • Fishing, gathering crustaceans or timber produciton can provice an income of >$12,000/year per hectare
          • Mangroves could provide resilience against poverty
        • Mangrove forests provide significant shelter against storm hazards
          • Density of 30 trees per 0.01 hectares can reduce the force of a tsunami by 90%
      • Adaption
        • Salt-resistant varieties of rice are being grown
          • Might reduce biodiversity and increase vulnerability to pests
        • Non-intensive farming and ecotourism will help ensure the environment remains undamaged

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