Water case studies Flashcards
1
Q
Effects of El Nino-strongest 2016 case study
A
- 6 million tonnes of maize imported by south Africa to compensate for crop failure
- 41 countries affected by El Nino
- 22 million east Africans faced with famine
- Rainy seasons 2 months late
- 150,000 displaced due to flooding in South America
2
Q
Lack of precipitation Europe 2017-short term case study
A
- Heatwaves, record temperatures and precipitation in first part of summer caused drought- due to high pressure weather system remaining stationary over /Europe for sustained period- Temperatures topped 30 degrees Celsius
- Climate change and these events will become more frequent- keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius
- Farmers now able to receive up to 70% of their direct payment and 85% rural development aid
- Farmers having one of worst harvest in generations- some vegetable crops down by 50%
- Norway electricity prices expected to rise because of countries high dependency on hydropower
- Poland- nearly 65% of arable land affected by drought
3
Q
Big dry 1997-2007 (Australia) case study
A
- Climate change worsened drought by reducing rainfall
- Basin is home to 2 million people lots stress on agricultural
- El Nino- rain goes to south America- due to strong trade winds
- Significant loos of lives toll and crops
- Import more food
- Droughts cause soil degradation
- Wildfire- drought/dry vegetation
- Creeks and rivers dried up
- Increase soil erosion
- Increase in rural suicide rate
- New desalination plant built in Sydney
- Put legislation in to ban car washing
- Recycled wastewater from gray water
- Built more efficient irrigation systems
- Drought relief for farmers
4
Q
India drought case study
A
- Foreign firms use lots of water in India- coca cola
- Groundwater withdrawal has increased 10-fold within last 60 years
- Global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions- changed weather patterns- messing with monsoon patterns- more rainfall
- Schools closed due to excessive heat and not much water
- TNC’s- 2,000 people employed (coca cola) in India
- Increase in suicide rate among farmers due to lower crop yield
- 600 million people facing water stress
- Delayed on the onset of monsoons
- Variability in rainfall- more rain in the south and drought in the north- increase in India’s temperature
5
Q
Israel drought case study
A
- Increase in demand for water- increase in population- increase standard of living
- Pollution- polluting water sources- development of natural gas
- Misuse of water
- Decline in rainfall- less than 80% of cross-year average considered drought year
- Decrease water flow into Kinneret
- Desalination plants- trying to build more in the north
- Increase in salt levels in water- Environmental degradation
- Pumped desalinated water into lake from desalinisation plants- 50 million cubic meters
- Extraction of water on decline
- Suffering from drought
- Sinking of dead sea
6
Q
Everglades wetlands case study
A
- Growing population- more people need more water- 1,000 people per week
- Building of roads and canals affecting how water flows through- becomes stagnant – salt intrusion – invading salt water from the south
- 8 million people depend on the everglades for drinking water
- Worst drought since 1946
- 3 record high water levels of 18ft+ in last 3 years
- Sea level rise due to climate change
- Extreme highs and lows of the lake
- Saltwater invading south of everglades
- Southern half of everglades dying- waterflow stagnant
- Changes to ecosystem- plants and fish dying
- Alligators growing in size and 14 endangered animal species and 60 endangered plant species
7
Q
Sahel drought/desertification cases study
A
- Desertification caused by changing rainfall patterns, lack of vegetation, soil erosion and wind erosion
- Sahel: 30% fall in annual rainfall recently
- Human factors like population growth, overgrazing, over-cultivation, and deforestation contribute
- These all created pressure on aquifers and water supply
- Civil war over water and resources have intensified
- 180,000 had to leave due to drought
- High malnutrition rates
- Low water table
- Reduced crop yields by 90%
- Livestock negatively affected- putting more stress on food- food shortages
- Over cultivation- intense use of marginal land exhausts soil and crops will not grow
- Deforestation- roots no longer bind the soil- erosion ensues
8
Q
Laos dam collapse- bad management case study
A
- Heavy rainfall- caused waters to rapidly rise
- Dam built to supply HEP to Thailand
- Poor quality construction= collapse
- 5 billion cubic metres of water released sweeping away 6 villages
- 6000+ homeless
- Dam cost $1 billion
- Large areas flooded and ecosystems destroyed
- Protected forest destroyed by flood
- Sewage and pollution spread causing disease
- Fishing lakes flooded causing fish to die from polluted water
- Hundreds of people missing
- Dam was under construction
- Wanting aid from other countries
- Landlocked, so nowhere for water to go
- Communist- isolated
- Not a lot of experience to help solve problem
9
Q
Drought and destruction of amazon rainforest case study
A
- Deforestation- lack of rain
- Hydroelectric dam affected- Brazil heavily relies on this- losing water from these stores affects this- accounts for 65% of energy in Brazil
- Coffee and sugar agriculture affected
- Atmospheric blocking of cyclones and anticyclones- extending the period of dry seasons
- Brazil has 12% of worlds freshwater
- High water rationing in some areas of Brazil
- Worst drought in 80 years in state of Sao Paulo
- 20 million people running low on water
- Open sewers mean Sao Paulo rivers become polluted
- Some believe deforestation is to blame
- Affects industry because they need water and fear shortages
- High amounts of forest fires
- Lots of soy farming for feed
- Cattle’s and caused most all of deforestation
- Developed plan to decrease deforestation and increase economic development and ecology
- IBAMA dropped illegal deforestation
- Productive and protected
- Ruralistas- allowed landowners to clear more land- cutting IBAMA budget- another wave of deforestation
- 17% of rainforest destroyed
10
Q
UK flood 2012- Heavy rain case study
A
- Affected transport network- London to southwest England mainline railway was closed- affected lots of major roads
- June 2012 record breaking amount of rainfall over UK- 145.3 mm- reservoirs become full
- UK insures losses from June would reach £500 million
- 4,500 properties flooded
- Flood defences rapid investment by factor 8-1
- 190,000 more properties protected in 2012
- Heavy rainfall- result of low pressure systems- change in jet stream- areas of very dry land, soil parched and far from saturated
- From 2017 there had been previous flooding- large amount of investment in flood prevention schemes, including improved information systems and domestic/industrial barriers
- Households flooded, reservoirs high, transport networks, railways closed- SW tracks destroyed- not as bad as 2007
- Soil erosion
11
Q
Cyclone Idai 2019- East Africa case study
A
- Strongest tropical cyclone to affect Africa and southern hemisphere
- Rainfall and storm surge
- Death toll above 750
- Climate change makes storms more intense- human action
- Places with lowest carbon footprint affected
- Infrastructure ripped up- roads destroyed
- Lasted 8 hours
- Homelessness- cities are like islands
- Water covers lots of crops
- 500 people living in train station
- No electricity and safe water
- WFP and food organisations beginning to help a week after
- Hard to find out who has been lost- communications gone
- 90% of structures damaged or destroyed in Beira
- Countries with high emissions should help
- 100 dead and 2000 missing
- 100,000 homes destroyed
- 3 million people affected
- Sewage and chemicals in floodwater
- 1,400 cholera cases
- $1 billion damage to infrastructure
- 168,000 hectares of crops destroyed
- National parks with wildlife flooded
12
Q
Kerala 2018- Deforestation case study
A
- Monsoon season 40% more rainfall than normal
- 1.2 million people forced from their homes from landslides
- Deforestation triggered landslides
- 38 out of 42 dams released because they were close to bursting- human decision to save dams
- Deforestation – impermeable land
13
Q
Pakistan flood 2010- urbanisation case study
A
- Monsoon rains causing flash floods
- La Nina affected the area
- More we do affects la Nina
- Densely populated
- Irrigation- lots of water ways silting up- land very fertile – interference causes this
- Development of infrastructure- impermeable surfaces
- Destroyed transport infrastructure- roads and bridges- 5,000 miles swept away
- Damaged 1.6 million homes and left 14 million homeless
- Killed 1,200-2,200
- 5.4 million acres of land destroyed,1.2 million livestock died- food shortages
- 10,000 schools and 500 clinics destroyed
14
Q
Himalayan snowmelt case study
A
- Climate change- global warming causes snowmelt
- 129 million farmers depend on snow and glacier melt for irrigation
- Deficit affects water availability, ecosystems and hydropower generation
- 800 million depend on snow and ice melt
- High snow- may cause flood
- Low snow- may cause drought
- Himalayas decrease average duration of snow drought
