Geography Case Studies

Boscastle MEDC Flooding

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Built of Yangtze river in China in 1994
Planned to flood area behind to 175 metres
13 cities flooded
1.25 million forced to move
New cities built to accomodate
62,000 acres of farmland flooded
Largest sourse of HEP in the world - 3% of chinas demands - 26 turbines
Destruction of touristic landscapes
1.2 miles long
Stops Yangtze floods which have killed 500,000 people and will protect 15 million people
Reservoir may fill with sediment
Destroyed habitats e.g. Baiji Dolphins
Created jobs

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South East England - On flood planes of river Thames and river Ock
Floods in July 2007 due to intense storms
Gravel soakways built along A34
Land use management, Tilsey Sports Park built on flood plain
Local flood warning plan provides a 24 hour Floodline
Restrictions on building in certain areas (flood plains) to reduce urbanisation and flood risk to potential property
Voluntary flood wardens
Tree planting around local areas
Detailed advice on the internet
Reduction of damage with little cost yet flooding continues

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61km long from Flamborough head to Spurn Head
Erodes at an average rate of 1.8m a year
Erodes 10m a year in Great Cowden
Cliffs made of till or "boulder clay", which is easily eroded
Narrow beaches due to coastal defences at Mappleton and sediment stopped at Flamborough head
Powerful waves with a long fetch
Coast faces domonant wind direction
Sharp fall in property prices along the coastline
30 villages lost since roman times
Many caravan parks loosing 10 pitches a year
2 Million spent in Mappleton to protect the coast in 1991
80,000m^2 of farmland lost a year affecting livelihoods

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Southen Asia - 26th December 2004
Hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thiland and India
Caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean - 9 on the richter scale (one of strongest ever)
Travelled across the Bay of Bengal at 800 km an hour
30m high waves struck parts of indonesia
230,000 people killed or missing
1.7 million made homeless
Polluted water sources
400,000 jobs lost in Sri Lanka
Initial damage around $12 billion
Fishing industry affected
Salinisation reduced soil fertility
Tourism heavily reduced
8 million litres of oil releaced into the ocean
Mangrove forests were damaged
High salt content destroyed the natural balence of many ecosystems e.g. Karagan Lagoon

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On the Essex coastline
Eroded at a rate of between 0.3 and 1m a year
Coastal realignment at Tollesbury Fleet in 1995 and at Bradwell-on-Sea breaching sea walls and flooding farmland to encourage marshland to form
Beaches have been nourished at Mersa Island
March stablisation carried out by planting stakes and brushwood on the waterline to encourage sediment buildup
Schemes are more sustainable in the long term and are cheaper
Coastal realignment cost the same as rebuilding the sea wall but will last much longer
Marshland creates a habitat for wildlife
Grazing land lost and some areas have not yet turned into marshland.

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