Geography - Chapter 4

Question 1

The amount of precipitation in an area can affect how much water it receives. What are some things this can result in?

Answer 1

Floods and Droughts

Question 2

What are the two types of floods?

Answer 2

Flash floods and river floods.

Question 3

What are flash floods like?

Answer 3

Flash floods are caused by exceptionally heavy rainfall over a short period of time.
They often occur in dry areas with not much soil and vegetation to allow rainwater to infiltrate the ground.
Therefore, most of the water becomes surface runoff on these dry areas.

Question 4

What are river floods like?

Answer 4

River floods are caused by sustained heavy rainfall, or meltwater (produced with snow/ice melt in spring season)
They enter streams, then flow into rivers. Water level in the river rises and eventually floods the surrounding areas.

Question 5

What are droughts?

Answer 5

A long period of little to no rainfall in a specific area. May last for months up to years and causes areas to be drier than normal. There also may not be enough water for humans and evapotranspiration. Hence, water stores (such as reservoirs and groundwater) start to dry up.

Question 6

How does water support river ecosystems?

Answer 6

Precipitation provides a regular supply of water to rivers so that organisms can live in them.

For example, water supports the river ecosystem. (community of plants and animals that interact with one another)

Question 7

What four ways do people use water?

Answer 7

Domestic, recreation, agriculture, and industry.

Question 8

How is water used for domestic purposes?

Answer 8

Using water for household activities such as bathing, cooking and flushing the toilet.

Some examples in Singapore:
- Each Singaporean in 2017 used an average of 143 litres of water per day for domestic activities
- The PUB hopes to lower this amount to 130l per day by 2030.

Question 9

How is water used for recreational purposes?

Answer 9

Water sports such as canoeing, sailing and sport fishing. They are highly dependent on condition and quality of water.

Question 10

How is water used for agriculture?

Answer 10

Agriculture accounts for the largest use of water worldwide (can be used for opening line).

Used to grow crops and rear animals for human consumption.

Question 11

How is water used for industry?

Answer 11

Many industries require water to function.

• Used to cool equipment in factories and power plants as they generate a lot of heat.
• Used to generate electricity when passing through turbines installed in dams.
• Used as a cleaning agent in wafer fabrication.

Question 12

How do human actions lead to water pollution?

Answer 12

• They throw rubbish into drains.
• Factories may release toxic chemicals in the sea to save costs.
• Some countries may not have proper systems to treat wastewater.
• Some countries have accumulated so much wastewater that their landfills have started to leak.

Question 13

What is water pollution?

Answer 13

What pollution occurs when harmful substances enter water bodies and cause water quality to fall.

For example, one third of the rivers in Africa and Asia are already affected by pollution.

Question 14

Why does water pollution pose as a threat to aquatic ecosystems?

Answer 14

Pollutants like pesticides and lead kill plants and animals that feed on them.

Excess fertilisers from farms get washed into rivers by rain and provide additional nutrients for algae. The algae grow rapidly and when they eventually die, they are decomposed by bacteria which take in oxygen in the process. This reduces the amount of oxygen for aquatic life and hence they suffocate and die.

Algae also can get trapped in the gills of fish.

Question 15

What is an example of a polluted river?

Answer 15

The Rhine in Western Europe. It had been seriously polluted since the 1950s. A toxic chemical spill in 1986 worsened the situation, where large amounts of pesticides were released into the river. Many fish died and some species became extinct.

Question 16

What did the government try to do about The Rhine?

Answer 16

Governments of Switzerland, France and Germany decided to manage pollutions in The Rhine.
- Monitoring stations placed along the river and enabled water quality to be measured often.
- Industries who were responsible for the pollution were fined
As a result, water quality in The Rhine has improved significantly.

Question 17

How have countries attempted to manage their water resources?

Answer 17

Improving water quality, reducing water consumption, improving water technologies, and importing water.
These management strategies help ensure there is an adequate supply of water for human activities in both the short term and long term.

Question 18

What is an example of a country trying to improve water quality?

Answer 18

In order to cope with water shortages, China aims to clean up polluted rivers so that more water is available for agriculture and industry. In 2018, the government implemented a law so that officials who meet the standards are rewarded, and those who do not are fined and lose promotion opportunities.

Question 19

How do countries reduce water consumption?

Answer 19

Water consumption tends to increase as a country’s economy and population grows. Although water is renewable, it needs to be treated and cleaned, and can run out if it is used too fast. This is why countries encourage people to conserve and treasure water.

In South Africa, from 2018 to 2019, there was a drought. During that time, some restaurants harvested water from air-conditioning to mop the floors. Certain hotels reused wastewater from showers and basins to wash toilets. A tourism marketing campaign was even released to raise awareness about the need to conserve water.

Question 20

How do countries improve water technologies?

Answer 20

Intro: Countries are increasingly using technology to develop new ways of producing and conserving water.

Singapore uses desalination to turn seawater into drinking water using advanced membrane technology.

Question 21

How do countries import water?

Answer 21

Intro: In regions where water is relatively scarce, countries are likely to prioritise the protection of their water resources and conflicts between countries may arise over the sharing of water resources. In other parts of the world, however, countries which have relatively abundant water resources may allow their neighbours to import water from them.

For example, Kuwait imports water from Serbia due to its dry climate. Kuwait’s groundwater has run dry for a long time. However, Serbia has about 300 mineral springs and 25 factories for water processing.