4.7 River Landscapes And Human Activity Flashcards
How does urbanisation affect hydrographs?
Urbanisation creates more impermeable surfaces. Water moves into storm drains and directly to the river, preventing any form of water storage. More water reaches the river and quicker
How does deforestation affect storm hydrographs?
Deforestation results in no interception, no absorption. More water reaches the ground, increasing the rate of surface runoff and more water eventually reaches the river
How could urbanisation be leading to flooding on the river Eden?
Impermeable surfaces in Carlisle (a nearby town) mean that water cannot infiltrate into the ground. Water travels directly into storm drains and reaches the river much quicker, eventually increasing the rivers discharge more because much more water that falls as precipitation reaches the river
How does flooding affect people?
Flooding causes huge damage to homes, when people claim on insurance to help the insurance could raise prices. The stress of not being in the house and worrying for the security of the property can cause temporary anxiety
How does flooding affect the environment?
Flooding causes saturated soil, which can wash away some smaller plants. The movement of large items into the river also causes pollution
Explain the general trend for soft engineering methods
Soft engineering techniques often use natural methods to reduce the flood risk. They often do not actually wait for the flood to occur, they reduce the likelihood of the flood
Explain the general trend for hard engineering methods
Hard methods involve using heavy materials such as concrete and steel to stop the flood actually damaging problems. They wait for the flood to happen and try to stop its damage
Give a pro and con for a hard engineering technique
Flood walls
Pro - they are very good at stopping the flood when it does happen
Con- it is very expensive (around £1 million per km)
