Case Studys

Question 0

California: weather systems

Answer 0

High pressure system which blocks moist air from reaching Southern California. El Niño brings flooding to the south west. La Niña brings drought.

Question 1

California: climate and relief

Answer 1

Drought is an issue which puts strain on the water supply.
Full of mountains that run parallel to the ocean which prevents moist air from reaching inland. It then gets forced upwards and cools and condenses. This creates relief rain.

Question 2

California: river discharge

Answer 2

Most major rivers fed by snow melt.
Sacramento River meets San Joaquín River and San Francisco Bay which provide large volumes of water. River flow can dry up.

Question 3

California: geology

Answer 3

Full of mountains that prevent moist air getting inland. Nearly a third of their water comes from aquifers. Water infiltrates and becomes groundwater.

Question 4

South North water diversion: aims

Answer 4

Transport water from the Yangtze basin in the south to the arid north, mainly cities such as Beijing and Tianjiu.

Question 5

China’s industrial pollution

Answer 5

58% of Chinese river systems are grade 3 or worse - unfit for human use, 28% worse than grade 4

Question 6

China’s sewage

Answer 6

278 of China’s 662 major cities have no sewage plants.

Question 7

The citarum river: what causes pollution?

Answer 7

Huge amounts of household waste being dumped on the river.
Booming population in the surrounding area.
Chemicals from local factories.

Question 8

The citarum river: the impacts?

Answer 8

60% of fish have been wiped out.

More than 60% of children suffer from skin disease.

Question 9

Nigeria: why do poor pay more for water?

Answer 9

Urban poor in developing cities pay more for water than developed cities such as New York and Tokyo because the poor have to depend on private providers rather than a piped municipal supply.

Question 10

Nigeria: problems with getting water from dirty sources

Answer 10

Water has sewage and waste in it.

Diseases like polio and cholera and increasingly common.

Question 11

Aral Sea: environmental impacts

Answer 11

10,424 square miles of sea floor has become desert with layers of toxic salt.
All 24 species of fish have disappeared.
Irrigation raised the water table and brought up the salts and chemical run off from agriculture has dried the sea floor.

Question 12

Arab sea: social impacts

Answer 12

100,000 people are displaced from the disaster and over 5 million have health issues across the region.
80% of expected mothers are likely to be anaemic.
Immune systems become weaker due to poor nutrition.

Question 13

GAP: aims

Answer 13

Improve efficiency of agriculture.
Reduce unemployment.
Raise the levels of education.
Reduce infant mortality.
Encourage settlement of nomadic settlers.

Question 14

GAP dam: problems

Answer 14

Environmentalists warned could destroy up to 80 towns resulting in the forced relocation of up to 80,000 people.
Historically the dam would submerge the ancient town of Hasankeyf.

Question 15

The Colorado River: example of an agreement

Answer 15

Everyone’s interests were considered about who has the rights to the water and to achieve what is right we need new ways of managing the river.
Status quo management will lead to water shortages in cities and on farms.

Question 16

The Ebro river, Spain: for and against

Answer 16

F: investors marketed south East Spain as “new Florida”.
People in Murcia and Almeria see it as a new beginning.
A: misuse of already scarce water.
Aquifers already drying up due to over extraction.

Question 17

Water transfers: Turkey to Israel

Answer 17

Israelis hydrological service warn that the countries water reserves are being severely stretched as aquifers become salinised and water levels in the Sea of Galilee fall. Turkey appears to have surplus of water that can be taken from the manga at river and sold to Israel.