Geography Case Studies Flashcards
Haiti and Christchurch Earthquakes
Haiti:
- Magnitude 7 (Richter scale)
- Epicentre in middle of capital city Port-au-Prince
- 250,000 deaths with 300,000 injured
- 70% of population living with under $1.90 a day
- 86% of Port-au-Prince population living in slum
conditions
- North American plate and Caribbean plate
(conservative
boundary)
- 115,000 tents and 1,000,000 tarpaulin shelters set up
as schools and medical centres
- Doctors supplied to ease the normal 1 per 4,000
- 4.3 million people supplied with food and water
rations
- $430,000,000 given in aid
- Outbreak of cholera due to unclean water which led to a large proportion of the deaths.
- 1.3 million people became homeless.
Christchurch:
- Magnitude 6.3 (Richter scale)
- Epicentre was 10 km SE of Christchurch
- 185 deaths (115 in CTV building collapsing) and 1,500
to 2,000 injured
- Significant liquefaction (when underground water in
the soil comes to the surface)
- Rescue teams came from around the globe (Japan,
USA, UK, Australia and others)
- GDP of $27,700
- Areas were zoned by colour based on how damaged
they were
- Installed 30,000 chemical toilets
Somerset Level Floods
- 97% of January rainfall fell in 15 days
- Rivers hadn’t been dredged for 20 years so were
clogged - High tides and storm surges swept water in at
Bridgewater so fresh water couldn’t reach the sea - 600 house and 16 farms flooded
- Villages such as Moorland and Muchelney cut off and
many power cuts occurring - Over 10 million pounds worth of flood damage
- 20 million flood plan implemented to reduce flood risk
- 8 km of the rivers Tone and Parratt were dredged
Typhoon Haiyan
- November, 2013
- Category 5 storm (wind speeds up to 275 km/h)
- 6,300 deaths (Most drowned by storm surge)
- 600,000 people displaced
- 90% of Tacloban destroyed and 40,000 homes
destroyed - Tacloban airport badly damaged
- 30,000 fishing boats destroyed
- Over 400 mm of rain caused widespread flooding
- 14 million people affected
- 1200 evacuation centres set up
- French, Belgian and Israeli field hospitals set up
- Us aircraft carrier George Washington assisted in
search and rescue and delivery of aid - ‘Cash for work’ programmes set up
- Oxfam supported the replacement of fishing boast
(vital source of income)
Banbury Flood Management
- Completed in 2012
- 2.9 km long and 4.5 m high embankment parallel to
M40 to create a flood storage area (holds 3 million
cm3) - The aperture controls the rate of flow down stream
- Devastating floods in 1998 and 2007 caused the
construction of the management program - 1998 flood caused 12.5 million pounds worth of
damage. 150 homes and businesses were affected - A361 was raised to prevent flooding (road foes
through flood storage area) - Pumping station set up to move water to the river
below Banbury - Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) set up to create new
wildlife habitats.
Alaska
Fishing:
- 3,000 rivers
- 3 million lakes
- 10,686 km of coastline
- 78,500 jobs provided
- $6 billion made
- 1/10 people are employed in fishing
Tourism:
- 2 million summer visitors
- Work is seasonal and poorly paid
- Roughly 60% of visitors are cruise ship passengers
- Creates more jobs
- Wildlife parks, cruises, water sports and glaciers
Energy:
- 50 hydroelectric power (HEP) plants
- U-shaped glaciated valleys are perfect for HEP plants
- Comes from wind power, HEP, geothermal and fossil
fuels
- Powers 11,000 houses
- Fossil fuels are harmful and unsustainable but
sustainable power sources are expensive
Bodo (Nigeria) Oil Spills 2008-9
Positives:
- Provides direct employment to 65,000 Nigerians and
indirect employment to 250,000 in related industries.
- 91% of all Shell contracts go to Nigerian companies.
- 55 million GBP (Great British Pound) paid in
compensation to the community of Bodo.
Negatives:
- Oil spills have caused water pollution and soil
degradation (causes loss of income as crops cannot
be produced).
- Problems with oil theft and sabotage (by militant
groups) has cause billions of $ to be lost by TNCs and
the Government.
Urban Development: Lagos, Nigeria
Facts:
- Located on the south-west coast of Nigeria.
- Population of 15 million.
- Waste production of 10,000 per day.
- Population growth of 600,000 a year due to natural increase and urban-rural migration.
- GDP of 18 billion pounds per year.
- Largest city in Nigeria but not the capital.
Economic O and P:
- More jobs available than in the rest of Nigeria. Lagos has the lowest unemployment rates in the country. (O)
- Better education leads to better paid jobs. (O)
- Short supply of electricity. (P)
- Informal sector jobs are low paid, dirty, dangerous and undesirable. (P)
- Most slum dwellers live on less than $1.25 a day widening the gap between rich and poor. (P)
Makoko:
- The Venice of Africa.
- 150,000 - 200,000 inhabitants.
- No roads, boats are used to get around.
- 75% of households live in one room.
- 38% of households have no kitchen, bath and toilet and 52% are lacking one of these.
- 55% of people get water from a well with only 11% getting piped water.
- 55% of people use a pit latrine of which the sewage soaks into the ground.
Problems and Solutions:
- Unclean water –> Public taps and boreholes made in Makoko to access ground water.
- Informal jobs –> Nothing is done as it has an important role in the economy.
- Violent crime –> 3 new helicopters used to spot crimes.
- Rising sea levels –> Create new floating communities that are built well and unlikely to collapse.
- Traffic –> Build a new rapid transport system to reduce amount of vehicles.
- Makeshift boats –> New ferries made.
- Power supply –> Build two new power stations.
- Population growth –> Improve quality of life in rural areas as well as improve access to them.
Urban Development: London, UK
Facts:
- London is the capital city of the UK.
- Contains many Burroughs.
- The City of London is the old roman city with London City around it.
- Has 5 airports. Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, City and Standsted.
- Population of 8 million
Migration O and P:
- Wide variety of international food. (O)
- Attracts big names in music with lots of festivals. (O)
- Learn about new cultures and promote tolerance. (O)
- Religious tolerance and liberal values. (O)
- Racial tension riots such as 1981 and 2011. (P)
- Isolated communities form ghettos. (P)
- British values aren’t always accepted. (P)
- Language translation can be very costly for services such as the NHS. (P)
Olympic Park:
- Many people in the boroughs surrounding the Olympic Park remain in poverty. (Negative)(Economic)
- The Olympic Site was built largely on 560 acres of brownfield land. (Positive)(Environmental)
- 450 flats were demolished to make way for the Olympic Park. (Negative)(Social)
- The Olympics brought more than £9bn of investment to east London. (Positive)(Economic)
- The games produced 3.3 million tons of CO2. (Negative)(Environmental)
- The aquatics centre now uses its 50m pools as facilities for the community and schools, as well as elite athletes. (Positive)(Social)
- West-field Shopping mall (Positive)(Economic)
Cockermouth floods
- Occurred in 2009
- 31.4 cm of rain fell in a 24 hr period
- Heavy rainfall lead to the river Cocker flooding
- The town of Cockermouth is located on the floodplain by the confluence between the river Cocker and Derwent.
- 1,300 homes were flooded
- 1 death
- 3,057 businesses affected
- 28,000 pounds worth of damage on average to each household.
- 4 bridges destroyed and 25 closed for 6 weeks due to damage causing traffic problems.
Sarawak Deforestation
- In Sarawak in East Malaysia.
- Bakun Dam supplies energy for industrialised peninsular Malaysia. The dam’s reservoir flooded over 700 km^2 of forests and farmland.
- Malaysia became the world’s largest exporter of tropical wood in the 1980s.
- Roads are constructed to provide access to mining areas and new settlements. Logging requires road construction to give access to industrial vehicles.
- 15000 hectares of forests were destroyed due to transmigration.
Lake district
- Tourist spent nearly 1 billion pounds in 2014.
Impacts: - Thousands of locals work in shops, hotels and services.
- 89% of visitors travel by car so the narrow roads become congested. This leads to slower business communication.
- House prices are high with 20% of all homes are either holiday or rental houses.
- Jobs in tourism are mostly seasonal, poorly paid and unreliable.
Management:
- Several duel carriage ways have been built to improve access.
- Transport hubs such as Ambleside create interchanges between different types of transport to help relieve congestion.
Peru micro HEP
- Chambamontera micro hydro electric power plant.
- Sustainable
- Reduction in rural-urban migration so population growth
- The scheme will last 25 years
- Powers street lights to let people walk in the dark
- Healthcare has improved due to refrigeration of medicines.
- Electricity is available in the winter when heating demand is high.
