Physical Case Studies

• In central europe- across Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland etc.
• Formed 30mil years ago by collision between African and European plates.
• Tallest Peak: Mont Blanc- 4810m at the Italian-French border
• Population- 12mil people

Uses 

Farming

• Steep uphill areas used to farm goats- provide milk, cheese, meat
• Sunnier slopes terraced to plant vineyards (eg Lavaux- Switzerland)

Hydro-electic Power (HEP)

• Narrow Valleys dammed to Generate HEP eg Berne, Switzerland gets 60% of its electricity from HEP stations in alps.
• Electricity produced used locally to power homes/ buisnesses. Also exported to towns and cities further away

Mining

• Salt, Iron ore, SIlver and Copper were mined in alps but mining has declined Dramatically due to cheaper foreign sources.

Tourism

• 100mil tourists/year- tourism big part of economy
• 70% tourists- steep snow covered mountains in winter for skiing, snowboarding and ice climbing.
• Summer- tourists visit for walking, mountain biking, paragliding and climbing.
• New Villages built to cater for quantity of tourists eg Tignes, France
• Ski runs, ski lifts, cable cars, holiday chalets and restaurants on landscape

Forestry

• Scots Pine planted all over alps- more resisilient to munching goats which kill native tree saplings. 
• Trees logged and sold to make things like furniture

How People Have Adapted to the Conditions

• STEEP RELIEF- Goats farmed there because theyre well adapted to live on steep mountains.                - Trees and Man made defences used to protect against avalanches and rock slides

• POOR SOILS- Animals grazed in most high areas as soil is not great for growing crops 

• LIMITED COMMUNICATIONS- Roads built over passes (lower points between mountains) eg Brenner Pass between Austria and Italy. Takes a long time to drive over passes and they can be blocked by snow so tunnels have been cut through mountains to provide fast transport links eg Lotschberg Base tunnel has been cut through Bernese alps in Switzerland

• June 25th 1997 (small eruptions started in July 1995)
• Large eruption- 4.5mil m^3 rock/ gas released
• 19 killed

Causes

• Monseratt above a destructive plate boundary where Atlantic plate is being forced under Caribbean plate.
• Magma rises through weak points under Soufiere hills forming an underground pool of magma
• Rock above pool collapsed. opening vent which caused eruption

Primary Impacts

• Large areas were covered with volcanic material- Capital Plymouth was buried under 12m mud/ash
• 20+ villages & 2/3 houses destroyed by Pyroclastic Flows 
• Schools, hostpitals, the airport and port were destroyed
• Vegetation and farmland destroyed
• 19 died & 7 injured

Secondary Impacts

• Fires destroyed many buildings inc. local government offices, police HQ and town's central petrol station
• Tourists stayed away- buisnesses destroyed, disrupting economy
• Population decline- 8000 of the 12,000 inhabitants have left since eruptions began in 19957
• Volcanic ash improved soil fertility
• Tourism now increasing- people want to see the volcano

Immediate Response

• People evacuated from south to safe areas in north
• Shelters built to house evacuees
• Temporary infrastructure built (eg roads & electicity supplies)
• UK provided £17mil of emergency aid (Monseratt overseas territory of UK)
• Local emergency services provided support units to search for and rescue survivors

Long-term Responses

• Risk map created and an exclusion zone is in place. South of island off-limits while volcano is still active
• UK provided £41mil to develop north- new docks, an airport and houses built
• Monseratt Volcano Observatory has been set up to try and predict further eruptions

• 6th April 2009
• 6.3 on richter scale
• Cause: movement along a crack in the plate at a destructive plate margin

Preparation

• Laws on construction standards but some modern buildings haven't been built to withstand disasters
• Italy has a Civil Protection Department that trains volunteers to help with things like rescue operations

Prcmary Effects

• Around 290 deaths, mostly from collapsed buildings, hundreds injured
• Thousand of buildings damaged or destroyed
• Thousands made homeless
• Bridge neat town of Fossa collapsed and a water pipe was broken near town of Pagancia

Secondary Effects

• Aftershocks hampered rescue efforts and caused more damage
• Fires in some collapsed buildings caused more damage
• Broken water pipe near Pagancia caused a landslide

Immediate Response

• Camps set up for homeless with food, water and medical care
• Ambulances, fire engines and army sent in to rescue survivors
• Cranes and diggers used to remove rubble
• International teams with rescue dogs sent in to look for survivors
• Money provided by government to pay rent and gas/ electricity bills were suspended

Long-term Response

• Italian prime minister promised to build a new town to replace L'Aquilla as capital of the area
• Investigation going as to look why some modern building weren't built to withstand earthquakes

• 8th October 2005
• 7.6 on richter scale
• Cause: Movement along a crack in the plate at a destructive margin

Preparation

• No local disaster planning in place
• Buildings not designed to be earthquake resistant
• Poor communucations. Few, badly constructed roads

Primary Effects

• Around 80,000 deaths, mostly from collapsed buildings. Hundreds of throusands injured.
• Entire villages and buildings destroyed
• Around 3mil people made homeless
• Water pipelines and electricity lines broken, cutting off supply

Secondary Effects

• Landslides buried buildings and people; blocked access roads; cut off water/electicity supplies and telephone lines
• Diarrhoa & other diseases spread due to little clean water
• Freezing winter conditions shortly after caused more casualties and meant rescue/ rebuilding operations were more difficult

Immediate Response

• Help didn't reach many areas for days or weeks, people had to be rescued by hand without equiptment of help from emergency services
• Tents, blanket and medical supplies distributed within a month but not to all affected areas
• International aid and equiptment eg helicopters/ rescue dogs brought in and teams of people from other countires

Long-term response

• Around 40,000 people relocated to a new town from destroyed town of Balakot
• Goverment moeny given to people whose homes have been destoyed so they can rebuild them themselves
• Training provided to help rebuild more buildings as earthquake resistant
• New health centres set up in area

• 26th December 2004
• 7.58am local time
• earthquake off the west coast od Sumatra- 9.1 richter scale 
• destructive plate margin along west coast of Indonesia in Indian Ocean
• Plate moving down into mantle cracked and moved very quickly- caused alot of water to be displaced, trigged tsunami waves up to 30m high

Primary Effects

• 141,000 houses destroyed along with other buildings eg hostpitald and schools
• 1,500 settlements believed to have been wiped out in Banda Aceh (Indonesia) along
• Around 230,000 people killed or still missing
• 5mil made homeless- spread across 14 countries
• 650,000 seriously injured (across 14 counties)

Secondary Effects

• Injured left for days without help- wounds turned gangrenous and conditions worsened
• Infrastructure (eg roads, water pipes, electricity lines) of many countries severly damaged
• Economic damage- millions of fishermen lost livelihoohds and tourism industry suffered because of destruction and people afraid to go on holiday there.
• Totak damage cost exceedd $10bil
• World Health Organisation warned that the no. of deaths from prevetable diseases eg cholera and typhoid could rival the death toll from the disaster itself
• Massive environmental damage- salt from seawater has meant that plants cant grow in many areas. Mangroves, coral reefs, forests and sand dunes were destroyed by the waves
• Over 3mil people had no access to safe water

Immediate Response

• Emergency services swamped by sheer scale of disaster
• Millions of £s pledged by foreign governments, charites, individuals and buisnesses to give survivors access to food, water, shelter and medical attention
• Forign governments sent ships, places, soldiers etc to help/ distribute food

Long-term Response

• Billions of £s pledged to help rebuild the infrastructure of contries affected
• Plans were made to spend £190mil in second year on house building, providing 20,000 houses for 100,000 homeless people
• Programes set up to re-build houses and get people back to worl
• Tsunami warning system has been put into place in the Indian Ocean
• Disaster management plans put into place ins ome countries. Volunteers have been trained so that local people know what to do if a tsunami happens again
• Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN tained 140 boat builders and supplied 200 boats
• UK government pledged £75mil with a further £100mil being raised by public donations- this rose to £372mil 1 year on

• Last eruption was 630,000 years ago, and was 1,000 times bigger than the Mount St Helens eruption in 1980.
• On West coast of USA
• The large volume of material from the last Yellowstone eruption caused the ground to collapse, creating a depression called acaldera. The caldera is 55 km by 80 km wide. The next eruption is predicted to have catastrophic worldwide effects.
• The supervolcano at Yellowstone is formed because of a volcanic hotspot.
• Every year millions of visitors come to see the related features, such as geysersand hot springs. Old Faithful is one example of a geyser.

Impacts of a Super Volcano

Social

Local

• All life up to 100km awat killed by ash, lava and force
• People lose jobs
• People starve
• Villages destroyed

National

• People may lose their jobs
• No air travel

International

• Colder Winters
• Bring short term aid

Economic

Local

• Economies collapse
• Homes and villages have to be rebuilt
• Replant crops

National

• Loss of jobs
• Buisnesses could lose funds
• Economies will collapse

International

• Foreign governements may help
•  6 days for ash to reach UK

Environmetal

Local

• Crops wont grow
• Magma flung 50kminto atmosphere
• 1000km^3 of lava poured out of volcano onto land

National

• Ash will cover the land
• Crops affected
• Barren land for years

International

• Amount of ash thrown uo into atmosphere may reduce level of sun's radiation reaching earth's surface triggering a colder winter- (colder earth in general- UV rays interupted)
• Global Dimming
• Extreme weather

• It is a national park
• Covers 375km^2
• Used for timber products, farming and recreation

Uses

• Produces 50,000 tones of timber
• Local mills make fencing products out of the timber from the forest
• Aound 20mil visitos/year

Recreational Activities

• Walking and cycling (over 100 miles of cycle tracks)
• Wildlife watching (visitors particulalrly come fro the New Forest Ponies,which roam wild)
• Horseriding
• Fishing
• Golf
• Watersports
• Special events eg New Forest and Hampshire County Show

How it is Managed (to make sure it is sustainable)

• Areas cleared if trees ewither replaned or restored to other habitats like heathland
• Walkers/cyclists encouraged to stick to footpaths/cycle paths to limit damage to surrounding habitats
• Dogs aren't allowed near wildlife breeding sites at certain times of year   

(these measure help conserve wildlife so it's still there for future generations)

• Recreational users encouraged to act responsibly eg close gates, take litter home by information at the National Park Forest Centre and local information points

• Covers area of around 8milkm^2 inc. parths of Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana
• Since 1970 over 600,000km^2 been destroyed by deforestation

Causes of Deforestation

• 60%- cattle ranching
• 33% small scale subsistance farming
• 3%- logging
• 3%- mining, urbanisation, road constructin, dams and fires
• 1%- large scale commercial farming (other than cattle ranching)

Impacts of Deforestation

Environmental

• Habitat destruction/ loss of Biodiversity eg no. endangered species in Brazil increased from 219 in 1989 to 628 in 2008
• Stored CO2 released in atmosphere causing global warming

Social

• Local way of life effected eg Some brazillian rubber tappers have lost their livelihoods as rubber trees have been cut down
• Native tribes have been forced to move eg Guarani tribe in Brazil have moved because their land has been taken for cattle ranching and sugar plantations
• Conflict between landowners, subsistance farmers and native people eg riots in Peru- 2009- hundreds of native Indians were killed ot injured

Ecnomonic

• Farming makes alot of money for countries in the rainforest eg in 2008, Brazil made $6.9bil from trading cattle
• Mining industry created many jobs eg Buenaventura Mining Complany in Peru emplys over 3100 people

Sustainable Management Strategies Being Used

• Some deforested areas replanted eg Peru plans to more than 100,000km^2 of forest before 2018
• Some countries trying to redice no. of hardwood trees felled eg Brazil banned mahogancy logging in 2001 and seizes timber from illegal logging companies
• Eco-tourism becoming more popular eg Madre de Dios region in Peru has around 70 lodges for eco-tourists- 60,000 people have visited the region in 2007
• Most countries have environmental laws to protect the rainforest eg Brazilian Forest Code says that landowners have to keep 50-80% of their land as forest
• Some countries have national parks eg Central Amazon Conservation Complex in Brazil is the largest protected area in the rainforest, covering around 25,000km^2. It's a world heritage site that's home to loads of ecosystems and aninmals like black caimans and river dolphins.
• Reducing debt has helped some countries conserve their rainforest eg in 2008 USA rediced Peru's debt by $25mil in exchange for conserving the rainforest

• Area of 260,000km^2
• Covers most of Botswana and parts of Zimbabwe, Nambia and South Africa
• Gets little rain (about 200mm/year)- drought is a problem
• Only permanent river in the area is the Boteti river however temporary streams and rivers form after rain. 
• Very sparsely populated but there are natives who live there eg the San Bushmen and the Tswana. Some natives still hunt wild game (eg antelope) with bows and arrows and gather plants for food
• Farming cattle, goats and sheep is a big industry eg in 1998 there were 2.3mil cattle in Botswana. Some grazing land irrigated using groundwater from boreholes
• Lots of mining in the area- coal, diamon, gold, copper, nickel and uranium mines eg Opara Diamond mine in Botswana

Impacts of uses

• Overgrazing- soil erosion and irrigation has depeleted water supplies
• Fences put uo by farmers block migrarion routes- animals can't get to best grazing areas and die of starvation
• Mining- use alot of water/ people forced off land (farming too)

Management Strategies

• Some places trying to conserve water eg Windhoek in Nambia- people charged for the vol of water they use- encourages them to use less- more sustainable as supplies not depleted as much so more for future
• Water supply being increased by building dams and drilling more boreholes. Allows more farmingand redices effects of drought- not sustainable as depletes groundwater even more
• Game reserves created to provide areas for natives to liveand protect wildlife eg Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana was set up as a refude for the SanBushmen- sustainable because conserves native way of life and wildlife for future generations
• Some agricultural fences have been removed too allow animals to migrate- sustainable because fewer wild animals die so will be around in future

• In USA, parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona
• Covers over 57,000km^2 area
• Gets >250mm rain/year
• Commercial farming in the area eg have been cattle ranches in the area for 100+ years
• Sparsely populted but population has increased eg Las Vegas in Nevada- USA's fastsest growing city. Area popular with people retiring due to year round good weather eg 80% people in Sun City, Arizona are 65+
• Water for farming and people comes from groundwater, Mojave river and Colorado river
• Many tourist destinations eg Las Vegas, Death valley and the Grand Canyon. Death Valley National Park gets over 1mil visitors/year. Tourists attracted by wildlife,geology and activities eg camping, hiking, horse riding and off-road driving
• In the past: gold, siler, coppe, lead and salts were mined although most mines have now closed. There are still a few borax mines still working in California

Impacts of Uses

• Rapid pop, growth depleted water resources
• Farming- uses alot of water and causes soil erosion
• Tourists deplete water resources, drop litter, damage plants and cause soil erosion 

• In USA, parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona
• Covers over 57,000km^2 area
• Gets >250mm rain/year
• Commercial farming in the area eg have been cattle ranches in the area for 100+ years
• Sparsely populted but population has increased eg Las Vegas in Nevada- USA's fastsest growing city. Area popular with people retiring due to year round good weather eg 80% people in Sun City, Arizona are 65+
• Water for farming and people comes from groundwater, Mojave river and Colorado river
• Many tourist destinations eg Las Vegas, Death valley and the Grand Canyon. Death Valley National Park gets over 1mil visitors/year. Tourists attracted by wildlife,geology and activities eg camping, hiking, horse riding and off-road driving
• In the past: gold, siler, coppe, lead and salts were mined although most mines have now closed. There are still a few borax mines still working in California

Impacts of Uses

• Rapid pop, growth depleted water resources
• Farming- uses alot of water and causes soil erosion
• Tourists deplete water resources, drop litter, damage plants and cause soil erosion 

Management Strategies

• Water conservation schemes eg Mojave Water Agency gives vouchers for water efficient toilets/washing machines. Pat people to remove grass lawns and replace them with plants that do not use as much water- sustainable- saves water for future gen
• Four national parks (Death Vallet, Joshua Tree, Zion and Grand Canyon)- native species protected and strict rules on land use eg strict mining rules to reduce environmental damage- sustainable because conserves area for future gen
• Designated roads for off-roadn vehicles and sensitive areas fences off- sustaunable as conserves plant life for future gen
• Some hotels in Las Vegas trying to conserve water eg MGM Mirage Hotels  use drip irrigation water lawns- more sustainable as doesnt use as much water as other irriation methods- saves water for future gen

• Group of Islands in Indian Ocean
• Population: about 30,000 people
• No. Islands: 1190- 119 inhabited
• Average Island height: 1.5m above sea level- 80% land below 1m- because of rising sea levels scientists think the isalnds will be completely submerged within 50-100 years

Imapacts of Coastal Flooding

Economic

• Loss of tourism (largest industry in Maldives). If main airportcan't work properlybecause of coastal flooding- country cut off from international tourists- massively reduce countries income
• Disrupted fishing industry- fish is maldives largest export- coastal flooding may damage fish processing plants ruining fish exports and country's income

Social

• Houses damaged/destroyed- severe flood could make entire communities homeless
• Less freshwater available- some islands might have to rely on rainwater or build desalination plants to meet water demands

Environmental

• Loss of beaches- coastal flooding wears away beaches on islands at a rapid rate- destroys habitats and exposes land behind the beach to effects of flooding
• Loss of soil- soil on most of the islands is shallow (about 20cm deep or less). Coastal floods could easily wesh away soil layer- most plants wont be able to grow

Political

• Maldivan government had to ask japanese government for $60mil to build 3m high sea wall that protects capital city, Male
• Changes to environmental policies- Maldives pledged to become carbon neutral so it does not contribute to global warming
• Government thinking about buying land in places like India/Australia and moving Maldives there before islands become uninhabitable

• Holderness- coastline 61km long- from Flameborough head (a headland) to Spurn head (a spit)
• Erosion causing cliffs to collapse along the coastline- material washed away and costline is retreating
• Average rate of erosion- 1.8m/year- some places eg Great Cowden, rate of erosion over 10m/year

Main Reasons for Rapid Erosion

• Easily eroded rock type- cliffs mostly made of boulder clay. Likely to slump when wet, causing cliffs to collapse
• Naturally narrow beaches- beaches slow waves down reducing wave power so narrow beaches give less protection
• People worsening the situation- groynes built at Mappleton. Groynes stop material being moved further down coast- means beaches narrowerand more easily eroded in some other palces
• Powerful waves- Holderness faces prevailing wind direction which brings in waves from the north east (from Arctic Ocean)- waves increse in power over large distancesso coast is battered by highly erosive waves

Impacts on People's Lives

• Homes near cliffs (eg in Skipsea) at risk of collapsinf into sea
• Property prices along coast fallen sharply for houses at risk of erosion
• Accessability to some settlements been effected because roads near cliff top at risk of collapsing into sea eg Southfield Lane which runs between Skipsea and Ulrome has been closed
• Buisnesses at risk from erosion so people will lose their jobs eg Seaside Caravan part at Ulrome losing an average of 10 pitches/year
• Gas terminal at Easington at risk (only 25m off cliff edge)- termianl accounts for 25% of Britains gas supply
• 80,000m^2 farmland lost each year- huge effect of farmer's livelihoods

Environmental Impacts

• Some SSSIs (sites of special scientific interest) threatened eg Lagoon near Easington part of an SSSI- lagoons are spearated by narrow ***** of sand and shingle (bar)- if eroded will connect lagoons to sea and they would be destroyed 

Hard Engineering Strategies Used Along Holderness

• Bridlingon protected from erosion and flooding by 4.7m long sea wall as well as wooden groynes
• Horsea- sea wall, wooden groynes and rock armour that protect village from erosion and flooding
• Withersea- Groynes to create wider beaches and sea wall- some rock armour placed in front of wall after it was damaged in severe storms in 1992
• Mappleton- two rock groynes built in 1991- cost £2mil and were to protect village and coastal road from erosion and flooding
• Spurn head- protected  by groytnes and rock armour- also protects Humer Estuary behind Spurn Head

Strategies Locally Succesful but Cause Problems Elsewhere

• Groynes protect local areas but cause narrow beaches further down coast eg Cowden Farm (south of Mappleton) now at risk of falling into sea
• Material produced from erosion at Holderness  is normally transported to Humber Estuary and down Linconshire coast. Reducing amount thats eroded and transported south increases risk of flooding in Humber Estuary because there is less material to slow the floodwater down
• Rate of coastal retreat along Linconshire coast increased because less new material is being added
• Spurn head at risk of being eroded away because less material is being added to it
• Bays are forming between the protected areas, and the protected areas are becoming headlands which are being eroded more heavily- menas maintaining defences in the protected areas in becoming more expensive

• Studland bay- coastal area with beaches, dunes and heathland
• In dorset (south west england)
• Mostly sheltered from highly erosive waves but southern end of bay is being eroded
• Sandy beaches around the bay, with sand dunesand heathland behind them
• Heathland is SSSI and a nature reserve
• Popular tourist destination

Provides Habitat for Large Variety of Wildlife

• Reptiles eg adlers, grass snakes, snad lizards and slow worms
• Birds eg Dartford warblers (rare in england), shelducks and grebes
• Fish eg seahorses (only place in englad where spiny seahorse breeds) 
• Plants eg marram grass and lyme grass on sand dunes and heather on the heathland

Adaptations

• Marram grass- folded leaves to redice water loss- sand dunes windy and dry which increases transpiration. Also has long roots to take up water and stabilise itself in the loose sand
• Lyme Grass- waxy leaves to reduce water loss via transpiration
• Grebes- can dive underwater to find food in the sea, feet are far back on bodies to make them streamlined
• Snaked and lizards- thick, scaly skin to reduce water loss from bodies- also protects them from rough undergrowth on the heathland 

Conflict Between Land Use and Conservation

• Some human activities (eg recreation) damage environment- enviroment managed to make sure its conserved but can be used for other activities
• Lots of people walk over sand dunes causing alot of erosion- National Trust manages area so people can use the sand dunes without damaging them too much:
• Boardwalks used to guide people over dunes to sand beneath them is protected
• Some dunes fenced off and marram grass plated in them- chance to recover and grass stabilises the sand
• Info signs put up to let visitors know why dune habitat is important and how they can enjoy their stay without damaging it 
• Hundreds of boats in Studland bay and their anchors destorying seagrass where seahorses live. Seahoreses protected by lawso boat owners told not to damage the seagrass
• Heathland behind dunes is an important habitat but it can be destroyed by fire from things like cigarettes eg in 2008 fire destroyed 6 acres of heathland. National Trust educating visitors on dangers of causing fires and has provided fire beaters to extinguish fires