Case Studies Flashcards
Hurricane Katrina- Economic Impacts
- $105 billion for repairs and reconstruction
- Destruction to the coast’s infrastructure affected business e.g. exports of grain
- Disruption to oil supply
- 1.3 million acres of forest land destroyed
- Hundreds of thousands of people left unemployed = fewer taxes to government
Hurricane Katrina- Environmental Impacts
- The storm caused oil spills from 44 facilities throughout south-eastern Louisiana, which resulted in over 7 million U.S. gallons (26 million litres) of oil being leaked.
- The flood waters that covered New Orleans were pumped into Lake Pontchartrain, a process that took 43 days to complete. These residual waters contained a mix of raw sewage, bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides, toxic chemicals, and oil, which sparked fears in the scientific community of massive numbers of fish dying.
- The storm surge caused substantial beach erosion, in some cases completely devastating coastal areas.
- Overall, about 20% of the local marshes were permanently overrun by water as a result of the storm destroying the habitat of many different animals.
Hurricane Katrina- Social Impacts
- About 1.2 million residents of the Gulf Coast were given a voluntary or mandatory evacuation order.
- Social unrest - reports of car-jacking, murders, thefts, and rapes in New Orleans flooded the news.
- Housing assistance was given to over 700,000 families (e.g. hotel stays)
Hurricane Katrina occurred in the year
2005
Hurricane Katrina did the most damage in
New Orleans, Louisiana
Where is the Caatinga?
The Caatinga region lies in N.E. Brazil, the further inland you are within the zone, the more arid (dry) the climate and landscape and the more the vegetation has to struggle to survive.
What is the Caatinga like?
Trees will grow but compete for
Moisture.
Plants that can adapt e.g. with waxy leaves to reduce evapo-transpiration or have roots which can travel deep underground.
Water is in short supply as it easily evaporates in the hot sun.
Push factors away from Caatinga
Families can’t survive growing crops in the drought conditions.
River Sao Francisco dammed creating huge lake flooding quality farmland by the river to make the reservoir
Families were re-housed to more remote areas with poorer access to water (families now have to pay for water pumps).
Young people reject the traditional way of life
Poverty widespread due to lack of work
Famine if drought lasts a long time.
Diet limited – families rarely
have meat and fresh vegetables
Poor diet brings health problems, especially for the vulnerable young (infant mortality is high)
Despair – infant deaths & serious illness
Disease from shallow, stagnant ponds
Remoteness means poor access to hospitals, doctors, schools
Pull factors to cities (in relation to Caatinga)
Cities offer prospect of jobs in the formal or informal sectors
Families expect access to better health care with doctors / hospitals being at least close to hand
Young people want city excitement Families want a better education for their children in the future
Food supplies are more reliable
Glamorous image of easy money to be made in cities
What effects does this depopulation have on Caatinga?
Ageing population with elderly / infirm left behind
Farms deteriorate as young, active members of the community leave
Animals struggle in drought conditions and e.g. ploughing the land is harder
Downward spiral with negative multiplier effect as services close down
What attempts are being made to stop / slow down the rural depopulation?
- Resettlement schemes funded with government incentives (but these are not well taken up)
- Hydro-electric power stations built along river Sao Francisco to try to attract Brazilian and foreign investment to remote areas in attempt to slow down the drain to the city
- Attempts to improve accessibility with new roads to attract investors
- Water / irrigation schemes to improve chances of crops surviving
- Scientific research into drought resistant crops which grow in arid / desert areas
MNC or TNC
Multi-national companies, sometimes called Trans- national companies, are companies that are registered or have operations in more than one country
Example of an MNC and statistics
Nokia
employ over 112,000 people in many countries:
- Research and Development (R&D) in 10 countries
- Factories in 10 countries
- Sales offices in more than 150 countries
Direct employment opportunities of MNCs
- Farnborough, UK – Research & Development
- Finland – decisions about products
- USA – advertising and marketing
Indirect employment opportunities of MNCs
- SIM cards made in Taiwan and Singapore
- Coltan from Congo
- Coltan processed into metal in Australia
- Batteries form China
