Case Studies Flashcards
Holderness Coast Rapid Erosion
Need to get at least 5 Details
- 14 villages gone since roman times
- 2 meters erosion per year
- e.g Ringborough farm lost 145 acres since 1939 (half of the farmland)
- Sediment carried over to spurn point
- Mostly boulder clay, unlike flamborough head which is chalk
- Defended areas: Bridlington, Hornsea & Withernsea due to dense population. Mappleton due to main road. Easington due to harbouring pipeline from Norway, supplies 25% of Britains natural gas
Population Case study :
China - One child policy / managing population growth
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1979-2015
300-400 million birth prevented
Aim : reduce births and stabilise growth
Families required to sign up to 1 child certificate - meaning they agree to have only 1 child. With agreements come benefits
INCENTIVES: cash payment, free health care and education for the child, preferential access to jobs.
DISINCENTIVES: fines up to 10-20% of annual salary, job loss, no rice rations for children.
+ Nanny police: older female members of communist party, reporting to gov. those who broke the rules.
+ policy varied depending on area of living. it only applied to Han ethnic group.
+ impact on gender balance
Population Case Study:
Botswana - HIV / AIDS
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- 2nd highest infection rate in the world (35%)
- Only 18% of pop. is married - some men are polygamous
- Life expectancy dropped: 65 > 58
- 1/3 of Botswana’s workforce is affected. e.g. Debswana Mining Agency.
- Anti-retro virals given during pregnancy reduced infant mortality from 56/1000 to 11/1000.
Population Case study :
Mexico to USA - Voluntary international migration
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- US-Mexican border spans 4 US states and 6 Mex. states.
- Majority of migration goes to California. Houses approx. 11,000,000 immigrants.
- illegal journeys across dangerous desert, e.g. Sonoran desert.
PUSH FACTORS:
- high murder rates : 14 per 100,000. People move out in fear for their lives;
- 47,500 people have been killed in crimes relating to drugs in the past five years.
- 47% pop. lives under poverty line.
-Mexico has extreme, arid climate
PULL FACTORS :
- US offers better living standards
- 86% vs 99% literacy rate. US gives better academic opportunities
Population Case study :
Gambia - youthful population structure
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- 95% muslim
- 1 in 10 die in infancy. More children to compensate losses.
- Schools in Banjul with 3000 students for 26 classrooms
- fertility rate: 5.3 per woman
- Gambia’s forests risk to be eradicated in 50 years
- Over half pop. is under 20.
Population Case study :
Brazil - Rural to urban migration
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Middle and low-income countries have been rapidly urbanising since 1950-ies
20 million people live in Sao Paulo
Today 80% of Brazilians live in cities
PUSH FACTORS:
- low quality of life
- pressure on land
- natural disasters, e.g. droughts
- Low government investment in certain areas (schools too crowded, lack of healthcare)
- Hardship when the harvest is poor
- Many workers do not own the land so have no power or any reason to improve it.
PULL FACTORS:
- Better chances of getting jobs, and higher pay
- Better quality of life (electricity and water) and health care
- Better schools and hospitals
- More exciting with better access to entertainment
IMPACT :
- Only half of children over 14 get education
Population Case study :
Bangladesh - over population
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- 7th largest pop in the world, 94th in land area
- Birth rates 23 per 1000
- death rates 5.7 per 1000
- 85% muslim > against contraception
_____________________________________________ - 1 million flood-related deaths in last 200 years
- 40% of pop. is under employed
- GDP 1700 $ per person
- 48% literacy rate
- 5.07% infant mortality
Population Case study :
Japan - pop. decline and ageing pop. structure
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- Cultural preference of 1 child
- Fertility rate : from 2.1 in 1970-ies to 1.36 today
_____________________________________________________
Child family care laws - 8 weeks paid leave from work - shorter work hours
- economic incentives, e.g. Yamatsuri town offers $ 4,600 for birth of child, $460 per year for 10 years.
______________________________________________________ - longest life expectancy (female 86) due to active old people + good mindset + good diet
- 29% japan pop is 65+
- elderly cannot afford to retire until 70
- due to lack of support network, 1/3 of suicides are committed by 65+
Population Case study :
Australia - underpopulation
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- pop 21.7 million
- 1.15% pop increase per year
_______________________________
export earning $ 200 billion per year
GDP per capita $ 41,300
99,9% literacy rate
resources includes gold, copper, natural gas, uranium
Population Case study :
China - uneven pop distribution
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West 6 % VS East 94%
300+ people per Km2
Yangtze river provides fresh water and transport routes
_________________________________
Tibetan plateau - mountainous lad 5000m+
Less than 50 people per Km2
Gobi and Taklamakan Desert affected by rain shadow - harsh climate
Hurricane Katrina - New Orleans
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- Date: 2005, Places: Louisiana
- Storm surges 6 metres high
- 80% of the city was flooded
- After evacuation, 10% people who were still in New Orleans seeked refuge in the superdome
- 1 million people were made homeless, 1200 people killed
- Oil facilities damaged: Oil prices rose in the USA & UK
- $50 billion in aid was given by the government
- The UK government sent food aid during the early stages of the recovery process.
- The National Guard was mobilized to restore and maintain law and order in what became a hostile and unsafe living environment.
US Gulf Coast - Benefits
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- Beaches for Tourism
- Commercial fishing is multi-million dollar industry
- Home to 1/5 of USA crude oil production
- 45% of petroleum refining capacity
- 51% USA natural gas processing plant capacity
- Major centre of economic activity: Port of Louisiana and the Port of Houston are two of the ten busiest ports in the world by cargo volume
Sahel - Causes and Impacts - Food Shortages
- Sahel stretches 5400km across Africa from Atlantic to Red Sea
- 20 million people are on the brink of food insecurity, while 2.5 million people are in the need if livesaving food aid
- 100-500mm of rain occur each year, during 2 weeks - 1 month
- Under average rainfall years have increased since the 1970s due to climate change
- Droughts 1/5 years
- 70% of labour force farms - high dependancy
- 2003-2005 a locust swarm afected over 20 countries in Africa and caused 4000 villages to be abandoned
- During the 2011 floods, 18 million were left without food and 1 million at risk of starvation
- Sudan’s Darfur region has been hit by conflict since 2003, killing 250,000 people and making around 3 million homeless
- 1/3 Children have stunted growth
Fair Oaks Farm
- Est. 1999, Northwest Indiana, North USA, 1 hour south of Chicago
- Diversified - Mixed farming, with Dairy Adventure Center (Agritourism, welcoming ½ million visitors per year). Here visitors can watch 4D films, watch dairy products being made and prep a fiberglass cow for milking in 9 seconds
- Inputs - 163 day growing season (Apr 27 - Oct 7), Ideal conditions for growth of grain e.g consistent rainfall, fertile soil, warmth (area called Corn belt), 25,000 acres (est 1999), 10 dairy barns, 40 pounds of grain, 50 pounds of silage and over 30 gallons of water per cow, machinery such as the cow carousel
- Processes - 32,000 cows milked per day, more than 3000 per barn, and 500 cows per hour. Each cow is milked 3 times per day. Cows are milked in a 72 cow carousel. Milking time is 8½ minutes (very efficient). Manure is converted to energy to reduce waste and pollution
- Outputs - Produces milk for 8 million people, 80 calves are born per day, 2.5 million pounds of milk are produced per day, methane gas and waste is released, but burnt in power generators
Colorado River Basin
- Colorado to Arizona, touching many states e.g Nevada (las Vegas), Arizona (Phoenix) & California (Los Angeles)
- South West of the USA.
- West USA has 60% of the US land, 40% of its population, but only 25% of it’s annual precipitation
- Tamed and turned into a gigantic plumbing system. Engineering scheme consists of 14 major dams and reservoirs, hundreds of smaller dams and a network of aqueducts and canals that supply water to cities.
- Hoover Dam (1930) creates Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir by volume in the United States and supplies water to the entire southwest of the basin. Water from Lake Mead serves the fresh water needs of 18 million people in Arizona, Nevada and California.
- 80% of the Colorado River Basin’s water is used for agriculture, while only 12% is domestic use
- All American Canal (130km) supplies water to Emperial Valley, which makes 1 billion profit per year
- Central Arizona Project channels 1/10th of the river into a pumpiing station, where it rises 250m. In total, the water rises over 1000m throughout more pumping stations and travels 540km. Brings water to cities such as Phoenix, which was reliant of a fast-depleting aquifer
