geography theme 2 case studies

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  • Created by: charlie
  • Created on: 27-04-13 21:55

tropical storms- hurricane Katrina (rich)

south east USA, 29th August 2005 

prep.

  • - sophisticated monitoring system- people were warned
  • 70%-80% new orleans evacuated 

effects 

  • SOCIAL- 1800+ people killed 
  • ECONOMICAL- $300 billion of damage 
  • ENVIRONMENTAL- sea flooding destroyed coastal habitats 

resonses 

  • SHORT-TERM- coastguards, police, fire service, army and volunteers offered help and temporay shelter at louisiana superdome 
  • LONG TERM- government $800 million rebuilding flood defences and $34 billion rebuilding schools and houses 
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tropical rainforests- Amazon

  • located in Brazil covering c.8 million km2 of land 
  • since 1970 600,000 km2 has been destroyed 
  • caused by cattle ranching, subsistence farming,logging,mining,commercial farming 

ENVIRONMENATAL IMPACTS: 

  • loss of iodiversity 
  • holds 100 billion tonnes of carbon 

SOCIAL IMPACTS:

  • local jobs affected- rubber tappers- the rubber trees are being cut down 
  • native tribes forced to move and conflict 

ECONOMICAL: 

  • farming makes lots of money and mining creates lots of jobs 

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES:

  • replanting new trees- peru plant 100,000 km2 of trees before 2018 
  • ecotourism 
  • environmental laws- national parks (central amazon conservation complex)
  • reducing debt
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river valley- river clyde

  • 160 km long
  • source: southern uplands region, scotland
  • river esturay 3 km wide
  • glasgow is built on it's flood plain 
  • ox-bow lake forming near Uddingston village 
  • four waterfalls : falls of clyde - highest fall is Corra linn (27m)
  • gorge formed by waterfalls 
  • meanders between Motherwell and Glasgow 
  • interlocking spurs at crawford- 300m-500m high 
  • source Lowther Hills - two tributaries form together 
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flooding- Carlisle, Enland (rich)

  • Date: 8th January, 2005                              River: Eden 

causes:

  • 200mm rain in 36 hours in an impermeable urban area 

primary effects and secondary 

  • 3 deaths and 350 businesses shut down 

  • schools closed for months and 3000 jobs at risk 

flood management

  • environment ageny monitor river levels and man-made levees 

immediate response and long term 

  • evacuated and temporary accommodation 
  • community groups for emotional support, 
  • scheme set in 2008- build up levees and defenses 
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flooding- south asia (poor)

place: bangladesh and india      date: july/august 2007    rivers: brahmaputra and Ganges

causes

  • 900mm rain in july saturated soil and glaciers melted from himalayan mountains

primary effects and secondary 

  • 2000 deaths and 112,000 houses destroyed 
  • education lost and 100,000 caught water born diseases

floodmanagement 

  • waning system with monitoring stations but dont reach many rural communities 

immediate response and long term 

  • many didnt evacuate which blocked transport routes, food distributed 
  • international charities fund rebuilding homes, agriculture and fishing industries 
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coastal areas- Dorset coast

Durdle Door- 

  • arch formed by erosion of waves on limestone headland- crack, cave, arch

Lulworth Cove-

  • formed after gap was eroded in limestone band 
  • behind limestone band is a band of clay- eroded to form a cove 

Chesil Beach- 

  • tombolo formed by LSD- joins Isle of Portland to mainland 
  • behind Chesil beach is shallow lagoon- the fleet lagoon 

Swanage Bay and Studland Bay- 

  • softer rock (sandstone and clay) in between Foreland (headland) made from harder rock (chalk)
  • end been eroded- stack (old harry), stump (old harry's wife)
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coastal flooding- Maldives

  • group of Islands just off the Indian Ocean 
  • population 300,000
  • 1190 islands 
  • average height- 1.5m above sea level (80% below 1m)

flooding impacts- economic: 

  • loss of tourism and airport can't work properly 
  • damage fish processing plants and import and export 

social:

  • homeless communities and les available fresh water 

environmental:

  • loss of beaches and their habitats and loss of soil for plants 

political 

  • japanese Gov given $60 million build 3m sea wall to protect main city, Male
  • changed environmental policies towards global warming and long term plans 
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coastal erosion- Walto-On-The-Naze

coastal management project 

  • 110m (361ft) Crag Walk-  protect the SSSI and Naze Tower
  • More than 16,000 tonnes of granite rock have been shipped in to build the walk
  • slow the erosion to 20m (65.6ft) over the next 70 to 100 years
  • £1.2m coastal erosion project 
  • it is being eroded so quickly because:
    • geology
    • animals burrowing into the cliffs breaking off red crag and London clay
    • no sea defences

    all this is leading to slumping cliffs and slip zones which is very dangerous

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coastal habitat- studland bay, Dorset

  • sheltered from high erosion waves 
  • southern end being eroded 
  • sandy beaches around the bay and heathland behind (SSSI)

provides a habitat:

  • reptiles- adders 
  • birds- dartford wrbles (rare)
  • fish- spiny seahorse (rare)
  • plants- marram grass 

management 

  • boardwalks 
  • some sand dunes fenced off so marram grass can grow 
  • information signs put up 

problems 

  • public 
  • boats anchors destroying seahorses habitats 
  • 2008 fire destroyed 6 acres of heathland 
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