Geography - Examples & Case Studies

Primary Effects:

• 316,000 killed
• 250,000 homes & 30,000 other buildings destroyed or badly damaged
• 50+ hospitals & 1,300+ schools badly damaged
• 4,000 inmates escaped

Secondary Effects:

• 1 out of 5 people lost their jobs
• Haiti's largest industry, clothing was the worst affected
• Cholera spread because bodies were pilled up on streets because hospitals and morgues became full

Short-Term Responses:

• $100 million from USA
• $330 million from EU
• 4.3 million provided with food rations in following weeks
• 810,000 placed in aid camps

Long-Term Responses:

• 98% of rubble on roads uncleared 6 months later
• $1.1 billion raised between 20+ major charities
• 70% of population without jobs given cash & food-for-work
• 1 million still without homes after 1 year

Primary Effects:

• 181 killed
• 80% of city without electricity
• 50% of Central City buildings badly damaged

Secondary Effects:

• No longer able to host Rugby World Cup matches
• Schools had to share classrooms
• Roads damaged by liquefaction
• People mentally affected

Short-Term Responses:

• 30,000 chemical toilets provided
• Areas zoned green, orange, white or red to classify damage & cost of repairs
• Search and rescue teams sent to save people trapped in rubble

Long-Term Responses:

• $900 million paid in building insurance claims
• 80% of roads repaired by August
• 50% of footpaths repaired by August

Primary Effects:

• 40,000 homes damaged or destroyed
• 30,000 fishing boats destroyed
• 90% of Tacloban city destroyed
• 600,000 people displaced

Secondary Effects:

• 6 million lost their source of income
• 14 million people affected
• Looting and violence in Tacloban
• Flooding caused landslides, blocking roads
• Ferry services and airline flights disrupted for weeks

Short-Term Responses:

• 1,200+ evacuation centers
• French, Belgian & Israeli field hospitals
• Philippines Red Cross delivered basic food aid
• US aircraft carrier George Washington and helicopters assisted with search & rescue and delivery of aid

Long-Term Responses:

• Charities such as Oxfam replaced fishing boats
• Thousands of homes built away from areas at risk from flooding
• More cyclone shelters built
• Rice farming and fishing quickly re-established

Causes:

• A succession of depressions (low pressure areas) across the Atlantic Ocean that brought a period of wet weather. Over 350 mm of rain fell in January and February - about 100 mm above average. This caused the wettest January since 1910 when records began.
• High tides and storm surges swept water up the rivers from the Bristol Channel. This prevented fresh water from reaching the sea and it spilled over the river banks.
• Rivers had not been dredged for at least 20 years.

Social Impacts:

• 600+ houses flooded
• 16 farms evacuated
• Moorland & Muchelney cut off

Economic Impacts:

• £10 million plus estimate of cost of damage by Somerset County Council
• 14,000 hectares+ of agriculture land under water for 3 - 4 week
• 1,000+ livestock evacuated

Environmental Impacts:

• Floodwaters contaminated with sewage and other pollutants including oil and chemicals
• Huge amonut of debris had to be cleared
• Stagnant water had collected for months and had to be reoxygenated before being pumped back into rivers

£20 million Flood Action Plan from Somerset County Council in coordination with Environment Agency:

• 8 km of River Tonnes and Parratt dredged
• Road level raised in some places
• River banks raised and strengthened
• More pumping stations built
• Consideration to be given to a tidal barrage at Bridgwater

Producers:

• Hawthorn bushes
• Blackberry bushes

Consumers:

• Thrushes
• Ladybirds
• Spiders
• Greenfly
• Sparrows
• Sparrowhawks

Hot, Dry Summer:

• Reduced plant growth
• Fewer berries for birds in winter
• Number of sparrows and thrushes falls
• Fewer birds for sparrowhawks to hunt, so their numbers fall

Hedgerow Trimmed:

• Fewer habitats for ladybirds, greenfly and spiders, so their numbers fall
• Sparrows and thrushes have less to eat, so their numbers fall
• Fewer birds for sparrowhawks to hunt, so their numbers fall

Causes of Deforestation:

• Logging
  • Malaysia became largest exporter of tropical wood in the 1980s.
• Road Construction
  • Constructed to provide access to mining areas, new settlements and energy projects, as well as to allow loggers to take away the timber.
• Energy Development
  • In 2011, after 50 years of delay, the Bakun Dam in Sarawak started to generate electricity.
  • It is the highest dam outside of China at 205 m.
  • It flooded over 700 square kilometers of forest and farmland.
• Mineral Extraction
  • Mining (mainly tin and smelting) is common in Peninsular Malaysia.
  • Drilling for oil and gas has started on Borneo.

Causes of Deforestation:

• Population Pressure
  • In the past, poor urban people were encouraged to move away from rapidly growing cities (in a process known as transmigration).
  • Between 1956 and the 1980s, about 15,000 hectares of rainforest was felled for them.
  • Many of them set up plantations.
• Commercial Farming
  • Malaysia is the largest exporter of palm oil.
  • Plantation owners receive 10 year tax incentives.
• Subsistence Farming
  • Slash & burn is a common method that can go out of control, burning vast swathes of rainforest.

Impacts of Deforestation:

• Soil Erosion
  • The roots of plants and trees hold soil together.
  • Wind and rain can ***** away loose soil within hours.
• Loss of Biodiversity
  • The Main Range is an upland region stretching for 500 km in Peninsular Malaysia.
  • It is the largest area of continuous forest left in Peninsular Malaysia.
  • It has over 600 species.
  • The forests are home to over 25% of all plant species found in Malaysia.

Impacts of Deforestation:

• Contribution to Climate Change
  • Trees give off moisture by the process of transpiration; deforestation reduces the moisture in the air resulting in a drier climate.
  • The process of evaporation uses up heat and cools the air; if trees are cut down, this cooling ceases and the temperature rises.
• Economic Development
  • Advantages: more jobs, more tax revenue, better transport infrastructure, providing raw materials for processing industries, etc.
  • Disadvantages: increasingly dry climate, harmful air pollution, extinction of plants with medical benefits, decline of tourism, etc.