Case Studies

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Flooding in Bangladesh

Flooding natural, and useful for fertile land for agriculture

  • River floods ~annually due to natural snow-melt and monsoon rainfall
  • Coastal floods ~cyclones built up in Indian Ocean, funnelled to Bangladesh in a storm surge
  • Low-lying, flat land

In 1998, floods covered 60% of Bangladesh

  • Hundreds killed, millions homeless, cities underwater for weeks
  • Agricultural land and crops destroyed or contaminated
  • 900 bridges and 15,000km of roads destroyed

Floods made more frequent and devastating by HUMAN CAUSES

  • Deforestation ~ Increasing population=more demand for wood 
  • Farming in Nepal and China ~ sediment deposited in Bangladesh=blocked rivers
  • Rapid population increase ~ bigger cities=impermeable surfaces 
  • Global warming ~ glaciers retreating=more water
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Response to the flood hazard in Bangladesh

After 2004 floods - almost 800 killed, 36 million affected, Dhaka 'swimming in sewage'

Preparedness programme, backed by Oxfam

  • Cluster villages - villages raised 2m above water level, housing 25 to 30 families
  • Raised homestead - homes raised 2m on earth banks, planted with grass to prevent erosion
  • Flood shelters -  raised land where people can bring livestock, with community room, toilets
  • Rescue boats - located around highest risk areas and flood shelters
  • Radios - given to each preparedness committee so flood warnings can be issued
  • Can be used in a wide area, limited in urban areas

Dhaka Integrated Flood Protection Project (hard engineering)

  • Embankments, slope protection, drains, sluice gates
  • Less sustainable?
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The River Tees, Cumbria

Flows 85 miles from source at Cross Fell in the Pennine Hills into the North Sea at Teeside

Upper course:

Tallest high force waterfall in UK (21m), gorges,V-shaped valley, interlocking spurs

Many tributaries and lots of rainfall - good water supply

Cow Green reservoir: where upland area of the Tees valley has been flooded to supply water to urban areas eg. Middlesborough and Yarm

Middle course:

Meanders were straightened during the industrial revolution for trade, floodplains

Lower course:

Ox-bow lakes, mudflats an SSSI, levees, tidal estuary, used as a harbour and for shipping

Drainage basin of 710 square miles

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Hurricane Katrina, USA 2005

New Orleans, 26th - 31st August 2005

  • 80% below sea level
  • Most people below poverty line
  • FEMA promised aid, it never came
  • Category 5 
  •  Evacuation ordered too late, to a superdome sports stadium
  •  FEMA provided for 15,000 people, but 26,000 turned up
  • 117,000 predicted to need that aid, but only enough for 10% was supplied
  • Tuesday 30th, levees broke - not strong enough - huge flood
  • People looting for supplies (necessities) were arrested rather than helped
  • 1836 killed 
  • Over 10,000 homeless
  • Worst affected were airlifted out
  • Supplies and relief finally came on September 2nd to the superdome
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Nevado del Ruiz 1985

Strato volcano in Colombia, formed by subduction of Nazca plate under South American plate 

  • 23,000 KILLED
  • Pyroclastic flows melted snow and ice - formed lahars as they picked up mud and debris
  • Armero swept away/ buried in mud

Primary effects:

  • Nuees ardentes
  • Magma thrown into the air
  • Pyroclastic flow

Secondary effects:

  • Mud up to 40m deep deposited 
  • 5000 homes destroyed, 5000 injured
  • Death from infections from bacteria bred in fertile mud
  • Roads blocked - rescue difficult
  • Cost $7.7 billion, 20% of Colombia's GDP at the time
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Landforms at Dawlish Warren

Located at the at the mouth of the Exe Estuary, Devon

Where the coastline sharply changes direction (at the mouth) a sand spit has formed

Due to deposition of sand that has been transported by longshore drift in a north-easterly direction

Area behind the spit has accumulated sediment and formed a salt marsh in the low-energy zone

It cannot continue to grow due to the river flow washing away further deposited material (a bar will not form)

Early maps suggest over 200km of the spit has since been lost by erosion

Langstone Rock at the headland has an arch

Will eventually become a stack as the unsupported arch cannot hold its weight and is weathered by mechanical and chemical processes

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Coastal management at Dawlish Warren

Important to defend for tourism and local businesses: local economy

Reserve is a Special Protection Area and SSSI so proposed changes cannot disrupt habitat

Spit acts as a breakwater preventing flooding of nearby low-lying villages

 Hard engineering:

Sea wall, gabion baskets, groynes,rock armour (rip rap)

Have been effective but costly to maintain and with decreasing budget, not very sustainable

Teignbridge council considering managed retreat:

This would save engineering costs but loses value of lost land and property from coastal flooding

Soft engineering:

Marram grass has been planted on sand dunes to prevent sand being blown away

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Sustainable aid - Wateraid in Mali

NGO working in Mali since 2000 with appropriate technology because:

  • Rainfall decreasing and desertification increasing
  • 50% population without sustainable access to clean water

Pilot sheme in slums around capital Bamako providing water, sanitation and hygiene education

Financed construction of water network and trained local people to maintain and manage it

Philosophy to allow community to invest in their own infrastructure and reduce dependence

'Empower to continue own development, allowing Wateraid to move on and help others'

Triple strategy  - reduces death by diarrhoeal diseases an average of 65% according to WHO

Stronger community as more people can be at work or in school and saves money and time (otherwise spent on medicine and finding water)

Allows economy to develop into the future with better health and education

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Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar 2008

  • 140,000 killed
  • 95% of the buildings in the Irrawaddy delta were destroyed 
  • Transport links swept away 
  • Power lines destroyed
  • No electricity or clean water
  • Dirty water encouraged mosquito breeding 
  • Sewage contamination of rice led to disease, then a price inrease of 50% 
  • Starvation as people couldn't afford rice
  • Over 2 million people homeless
  • $10 billion to rebuild 
  • Jobs lost - many people worked in fishing industry and had businesses destroyed 

Impacts made worse by environmental damage to mangrove swamps, which act as a natural defence - towns and villages unprotected

Military government declined relief aid from international charities initially and kept aid in major cities, neglecting rural areas

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L'Aquila, Italy, 2009

6th April, magnitude of 6.3 on Richter Scale

  • 290 deaths
  • Hundreds injured
  • A bridge near Fossa collapsed
  • Mains water pipe near Paganica broken
  • Aftershocks increased damage and hampered rescue efforts
  • Thousands left homeless
  • Fires in collapsed buildings increased damage
  • Broken water pipe caused a landslide
  • Construction standard laws - most buildings could withstand earthquakes (not all abided)
  • Civil Protection Dept. trains volunteers for rescue operations
  • Ambulances, fire engines, army and international teams sent in to rescue
  • Camps set up for homeless people with food, water and medical care

Cost of damage: Around $15 billion

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Location of industry in the UK

  • Farming in Lincolnshire and East Anglia due to fertile soil, mild climate, flat
  • Coal mining in Nottinghamshire since 13th century due to coalfields (mostly closed)
  • Chemical works in North East England - near offshore oil rigs to provide their raw materials
  • Car manufacture in Merseyside encouraged by government grants eg. Jaguar in 1998
  • Tourism in Cumbria due to beautiful scenery
  • Retail in London - lots of customers, good public transport and links for product delivery
  • Electronics in Central Lowlands of Scotland due to skilled labour supply - graduates
  • High technology near Cambridge and along M4 corridor due to transport links and skilled workers from nearby universities
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Location of industry in Kenya

Primary:

  • Crop farming in Nyanza and Western Provinces - enough rain
  • Livestock farming in the North Eastern Province - too dry for crops but suitable for grazing
  • Mining in Magadi for trona, formed around Lake Magadi as water evaporates

Secondary:

  • Textiles, food and drink in Nairobi - Good transport links inc. airport, good labour supply - population around 3 million people
  • Cement in the Coast Province using limestone from nearby deposits

Tertiary:

  • Tourism in Rift Valley as it has several National Parks and lakes (Turkana and Magadi)
  • Tourism near Mount Kenya as it is the second highest mountain in Africa, with a National Park
  • Tourism in Coast Province for its beaches such as Diani Beach
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MNC investment - Nike

  • Contracts production out to South Korean and Taiwanese companies
  • The subcontracted companies also operate in lower-wage Asian economies 
  • eg. Vietnam and Indonesia  - maximise profits
  • 700 factories, 650,000 workers worldwide - 75% of workforce based in Asia

Benefits in low-wage economies:

  • Substantial employment
  • Higher wages than most local companies
  • Imporves local skills base
  • Attracts other MNCs
  • contributes to local tax - improves infrastructure

Issues:

  • Image and advertising undermine local culture
  • concerns over political influence
  • Investment could be quickly transferred to other countries, leaving many unemployed
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Conflict over development - palm oil in Borneo

In 2010, 200,000 people demanded that Nestle stop using palm oil from Borneo

Nestle agreed after 8 weeks of bad publicity 

  • Malaysian and Indonesian rainforests destroyed
  • Habitat of orang-utans and other wildlife destroyed
  • UNEP predict 98% Indonesia's lowland rainforest will be destroyed by 2022
  • Burning rainforest releases huge amounts of greenhouse gases 
  • Traditional cultures and local communities threatened eg. Dayak people 
  • Can help Borneo develop sustainably - 'green gold'
  • increasing demand for biofuel
    • oil palms have wider range of uses
    • fewer chemical fertilisers and pesticides needed
    • produce more energy than other biofuels
    • absorb almost as much CO2 as rainforests 

Western countries hypocritical? Shouldn't other countries be allowed to develop as we have?

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The Boscastle flood 2004

16th August at the confluence of the Valency and Jordan rivers

  • Flash flooding  - rapid rising of river level due to intense rainfall, bursting their banks
  • 1.4 million litres of rainfall over 2 hours, flowed towards Boscastle
  • Creating destructive tide of water which swept through village at nearly 40mph

Causes:

Upland area Bodmin Moor relatively impermeable, leading to increased surface run-off

Steep V-shaped valleys converging act as a funnel towards Boscastle

Summer of 2004 extremely wet, ground saturated by August

Inreased precipitation as remnant clouds from Hurricane Alex remained over North Cornwall

Risk increased by buildings, small bridges, trapped material blocking the river downstream 

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Response to the Boscastle flood, 2004

Primary Effects:

  • 25 business properties washed away
  • 50 buildings flood damaged --- homes destroyed
  • 4 footbridges washed away
  • 1000s tons of debris left in lower village

Led to secondary effects on tourism and economy

Largest peacetime rescue operation in British history (!)

Environment Agency introduced flood defence scheme (£4.6 million, completed 2008):

  • deepening and widening river downstream (more capacity = no overflow)
  • Relocating and building new defense walls (protecting main village)
  • widening river upstream of car park (area of slower flow and deposition so river can spread)
  • raising car park (above a flood level)
  • removing dead vegetation and putting in trash screen (less blockage = more capacity)
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