Case Study 15: Economic Activity And The Environment: China Air-Pollution, Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill, Tourism In Cancun Flashcards
What are the local impacts of China’s air-pollution
- factories of cause a problem -> Burning of fossil fuels releases nitrogen oxide (N02) – a pollutant that combines with moisture in the air and results in acid rain
- it also causes breathing and health difficulties
- car ownership has increased rapidly – which also admit an NO2
- The result is a thick smoke of pollution that hangs over eastern China
- European space agency have shown that emissions in nitrogen oxide in China increased by 50% in the period from 1995–2005
- 400,000 Chinese people die every year from diseases caused by air-pollution
- World Bank says that 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China
Where is the location of the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico, south of states Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi and north of Mexico
What is the management for the government to call oil spill
Collect and remove the oil from the water:
- use booms and coral the oil then skim is to “scrape” its of the surface
- Burn it in a controlled manner
- Let it degrade
When did the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occur
2010
What was the cause of the oil spill
- natural gas caught fire on the oil rig and cause a mass fire. Oil then leaked into the Gulf
- Oil and water don’t mix so lots of oil sank and floated in planes under the surface, the rest floated on the surface of the ocean
What are the impacts of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
- an estimated 200,000,000 gallons of oil flowed into the golf from 5000 feet below the surface
- Fish died
- rare turtles consumed a lot of oil making them ill
- dispersants ( One of the management techniques) harm wildlife
- lots of oil washed up onto beaches
what factors make Cancun, Mexico the ideal location for a tourism resort
- Sun sea and sand: long white sandy beaches
- Sea temperatures are above 25°C all year round, making it ideal for water sports
- The tropical location means that hot temperatures all year – lots of sunshine and blue sky is, especially in the dry season from November to March
- Second longest barrier reef
- rainforests
- turtle and birdwatching
- archaeological means of the Mayan civilisation
Funator
- The Mexican national tourism development agency believed that a new mass was tourist resort would create massive positive multiplier effects
- previously a tiny fishing village in the 1970s. The first hotel opened in 1974
What is the social costs of tourism in Cancun
- tourist enclave: tourists are separated from local communities; tourists spend more money in the company than in local businesses
- locals live in chanted housing up to an hour away from the resort
- local people aren’t allowed on beaches
The economic cost of tourism in Cancun
- most airlines that carry the tourist are owned by foreign transnational companies
- The buses have been imported. They take tourist to foreign owned hotels which they have a lot of imported food and drink
- many workers only and five dollars for working a 12–14 hour day
- workers are only offered short, temporary contracts
- local teenagers are jealous of the lives and opportunities of visitors
- local shops go out of business as tourists are discouraged from using them
Environmental cost of tourism in Cancun
- tourism should be sustainable – it should have long lasting benefits
- during the building of the resort, thousands of mangrove trees were cleared from the lagoon to make room for you at marinas and watersports
- lagoon badly polluted by sewage and oil spiller from boats
- are you reef getting damaged – coral reefs are very fragile and slow-growing. They are vulnerable to disease is – sewage being thrown in the sea
- New hotels are built with better energy solutions
- creation of a ‘sacrificial reef’
How has China developed
- 1990s China’s economy has been growing rapidly
- Chinese MNCs have been making everything from shoes to high-tech electronics
- as China’s gross national income (GNI) or average income per person has grown, fewer people in China live in poverty and standards of living have increased
- it is estimated that in 2020 China’s GNI will be similar to the USA today
- this type of growth is unsustainable