case studies Flashcards
(31 cards)
1
Q
L’Aquila Earthquake Background
- date
- magnitude
- location
A
L’Aquila Earthquake
- date: 6th APril 2009
- magnitude: 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale
- location: L’Aquila, central Italy south of the Apennines mountain range
2
Q
L’Aquila Earthquake Effects
A
primary
- around 300 deaths
- 1.500 injured
- tens of thousands of buildings damaged
- over 60,00 homeless
secondary
- acter shocks disrupted rescue efforts + damaged more buildings
- broken water pipes caused large landslides
- fires in collapsed buildings caused more damage
3
Q
Nepal Earthquake Background
- date
- magnitude
- location
- cause
A
Nepal Earthquake
- date: 25th April 2015
- Magnitude: 7.8 on the richter scale at a depth of 15 km location: epicentre just outside the capital of Kathmandu
- cause: release of pressure at the Indian/Eurasian destructive plate boundary( both continental
4
Q
L’Aquila Earthquake Responses
A
short term
- camps set up for homeless, providing food, water and medicine
- ambulances, fire engines and the army were sent to rescue survivors
- free mobile phones and SIM cards were provided to those made homeless
- cranes and diggers used to remove rubble
- money provided by the government to pay rent, gas and electricity bills
long term
- new settle ments built to provide accomodation to over 20,000 residents who had lived in the city centre
- city centre is being rebuilt
- investigations into why modern buildings had not been built to withstand earthquakes
5
Q
Nepal Earthquake Effects
A
primary
- 8,600 killed immediately
- 14,500 injured
- 18 climbers killed at everest base camp
- 45,000 classrooms damages
secondary
- 2.8 million homeless
- decade to recover financially
- 1.1 million children denied access to education
- series of aftershocks damaged more buildings and slowed responses
- reduced tourism
- long term food shortage as landslides damaged crops
6
Q
Nepal Earthquake Responses
A
Short term
- poeple dug with their bare hands to find loved ones
- funeral peirs set up in the street to dispose of the dead
- 15,000 temporary learning centres installed
long term
- Asian development bank donated $200 million to help the rebuilding process
- mediacl teams remain active and are educating people how to respond in the future
- new national building codes are being enforced
- facebook designed a safety feature so people can ensure loved ones they are safe
7
Q
Typhoon Haiyan Background
- date
- magnitude
- location
A
Typhoon Haiyan
- date: 8th November 2013
- magnitude: a super typhoon category 5 storm, with wind speed over 195 mph
- location: originated in the North West Pacific and sweat over the Philippines up to south east Asia
8
Q
Typhoon Haiyan Effects
A
primary
- 6,500killed(many drowned in storm surge)
- 90% of city Tacloban destroyed
- Tacloban airport severely damaged
- 30,000 fishing boats destroyed
- crops destroyed
secondary
- 600,000 displaced
- 14 million total affected
- 6 million lost source of income
- shortages of fresh water, food and shelter resulted in disease outbreak
- looting and violence broke out in Tacloban
9
Q
Typhoon Haiyan Responses
A
Short term
- US Aricraft carrier george washington and it’s helicopters conducted search and rescue missions and delivered aid
- 1,200 evacuation centres set up for the homeless
- UK government sent shelter kits
- French, Belgium and Israeli governments set up field hospitals
- Philippines Red Cross delivered food aid
long term
- “cash for work” programmes set up to clear debris and rebuild Tacloban
- Aid agencies(e.g. Oxfam) supported the replacement of fishing boats
- cyclone shelters have been built in coastal areas
- thousands of new homes have been built away from areas at risk of coastal flooding
- rebuilding of roads, homes, bridges, airports etc.
10
Q
UK Extreme Weather Background
- date
- severity
- cause
A
winter snow fall
- date: between 25th November and 9th December 2010
- severity: 50 cm snowfall in North Scotland 25 November. spread out over the whole of the Uk temperatures reaching lows of -20 degrees c
- Cause: High pressure over Greenland forced the Jet stream further south stoping its warming effect on the uk
11
Q
UK Extreme Weather Effects
A
- businesses lost £1,2 billion per day from loss if sales
- closure of roads caused widespread travel disruption
- deaths:
- 2 elderly people trapped in garden
- a man in Bangor sleeping on park bench
- several people in road accidents
- farmers lost many livestock
- 7,000 schools closed
- prolonged weather resulted in food shortages
12
Q
UK Extreme Weather responses
A
short term
- met office issued a series of amber and red weather warnings
- M1 and other roads closed for 10 hours to clear the worst of the snow
- Gatwick and Edinburgh airports closed on 1st December
- 300,000 tonnes of salt spread over the roads(the same amount as usually used over the entirety of winter)
- local communities came togewther to clear roads and foot paths
- news agencies provided more frequent weather updates
long term
- very little done as it is a rare weather event thus limits posible preparations
13
Q
Tropical Rainforest Background
- size
- location
- age
A
The Amazon
- size: covers an area of 5.5 million Km2
- location: 60% within North Brazil, smaller portions in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Surinam
- age: over 55 million years
14
Q
amazon rainforest characteristics
A
- dialy convectional rainfall results in 3,000 mm per year
- rainfall ovvurs in the afternoon after evapourating through the morning
- average temp. 27 degrees c, creates a very humid environment
- infertile red clay soil. plants get nutrients from rich humus on top created by continuos deacay of leaf litter
- hot, damp conditions result in fast decay
15
Q
amazon rainforest
plant and animal adaptions
A
- tall emergent trees have buttress roots to support themselves in the shallow soil
- lianas are vine-like plants which grow up trees to reach more sunlight
- fan palms have huge leaves to capture any available light on the forest floor
- many animals such as sloths and monkeys have adapted by climbing trees to avoid predators
- dart frogs are camoflaged against the vegetation
16
Q
amazon rainforest
importance to the wider world
A
- rainforest regulate the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen
- plants use 2.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and store more
- only 1% of the amazons flowering plant species have bee studied and could provide cures to more illnesses
17
Q
amazon rainforest
methods of sustainable management
A
- selective logging
- conservation swaps
- international agreements
- rules and laws
- education
- afforestation
- ecotourism
18
Q
amazon rainforest
causes and consequences of deforestation
A
causes
- 65% cattle ranching
- 1-2% mining metals and other minerals
- 5-10% commercial agriculture
- 2-3% logging for timbre
- 1-2% creation of new urban areas and improving road/rail infrastructure
consequences
- loss of indigenous people(6 million to 200,000)
- increased soil errosion, increased flooding risk
- mercury from mines poisons water
- species becoming endangered or extinct
- reduced production of oxygen(amazon accounts for 20% of the earths global oxygen production)
- 33% less carbon intake than 10 years ago
19
Q
Cold Environment
- location
- biome
- population
A
Alaska
- location: North American continent, on the west border of Canada, disconnected from mainland USA
- biome: tundra, which is being greatly affected by climate change
- population: 738,000, making it the most sparkly populate state, with the largest area
20
Q
alaska
physical characteristics
A
- mostly covered in permafrost
- low annual precipitation due to low evapouration at low temperatures
- short growing seasons in late spring and summer
- poor soil quality as lack of matterial to decompose and slow rate of decomposition
- huge variation in climate between north(avg. 12.6 degrees c) and sout(avg. 19.1 degrees c)
21
Q
alaska
plants and animals
A
- Musk ox has adapted to have thick layers of hollow fur to stay warm in the cold
- tundra wolves have short legs and small ears to conserve heat
- tundra wolves and snowshoe hares have large feet to walk on snow
- snowshoe hares change colour for camoflage in snow and grass
- vegeataion is small due to lack of nutrients and to stay away form the wind
- caribou moss can become dormant through winter then continue to grow in summer
22
Q
alaska
opportunities and challenges
A
opportunities
- river, lake and sea fishing employs 78,000 and adds $6 billion to the economy
- HEP plants built with 50 more planned
- 2 million tourists(60% on cruise ships)
- gold mining since 1800s, though shutting down now
- oil industry employs 100,000 and generate $40 billion per year
challeneges
- $8 billion oil pipe as needs to be lifted to protect permafrost
- many jobs in fishing indurstry are seasonal to reduced economic stability
- many oil workers are migranst whio spend little in local economy
- cold conditions result in isolation of communities for months
- building is costly dues to permafrost
- oil spills result in loss of millions of barrels of oil
23
Q
alaska
conservation
A
- homes built on stilts to protect permafrost
- trans-alaska pipeline zigzags so it is flexible to cope with cround movement and built above ground to protect permafrost
- water, electricity and gas in utilidors(above ground corridors)to prevent freezing
- runways painted white to reflect sunlight and minimise warming of ground below
- roads now built on thick gravel beds to protect permafrost
24
Q
example Uk coast
A
location
- the dorset coast, southwest england, between lulworth cove(west) and swanage bay(east)
unique features
- stretches of concordant and discordant geology
- erosoinal and depositional landforms
- concordant stretch contains only erosional landforms such as lulworth cove and durdle door(arch)
lulworth cove(case study feature)
- started off asa line of weakness in hard limestone outer cliff
- errosionwidened and deepened the opening until it reached the layer of soft clay and sand
- errosion occured more quickly in soft clay, creating a deeper and wider opening, forming a cove
25
_Bournemouth coastal management_
_where?_
_reasons to protect_
_where?_
* bournemouth is a seaside resort on the dorset coast with a population of 183,000
reasons to protect
* coastal defences have been present for 100 years
* coastal erosion rate of 1m/year, huge damage will occur without defences
* tourism worth £470 million, key to the local and regional economy
* tourism employs 12,000 people in the town
* 3,000 homes at risk so a huge amount of local support for the scheme
* 100 businesses at risk
26
_Bournemouth coastal management_
_defences_
* new 17 year plan agreed 2015 estimated to cost £50 million
* replacement of the 53 groynes which have been htere since 1915
* dredged matterial from the isle of white to be spread on the beach every 5 years
* "long groyne" at the end of the beach to be replaced to prevent sediment being lost further down the coast
27
_Bournemouth coastal management_
_issues for Barton_
* Barton is the next settlement down the coast from Bournemouth and has seen a noticable loss of beach and accelerated rate of erosion since the installment of groynes at Bournemouth
* despite some localised rock armour, rates of erosion are up to 3 m/year
* homes and static caravans have been lost to the sea
* this is mostly due to the lack of beach absorbing wave energy
* Barton argues that Bournemouth should not be allowed to replace the groynes, but due to it's lower economic value, concerns will likely be dismissed
28
_river tees_
_location and key features_
_location_
* the river flows through northern England. its source is near cross fell in the pennines and it decends down to reach the north sea.
* it flows past Stockton, Yarm and Middlesborough, it was a key river for industry
_key features_
* a typical 3 course river with clearly defined upper, middle and lower courses
* upper course flows through the pennines and has the UKs largest waterfall(high force)
* upper course has a claerly defined V-shaped valley
* middle course meanders are the dominant feature
* meanders continue in the lower course with large examples near Yarm
* lowercourse has a wide flood plain with small levees due to flooding
* mouth flows through and estuary with mudflats and sandbanks creating important habitats and a site of special scientific interest(SSSI)
29
_river tees_
_management_
* resevoirs built at COw Green and Grassholme to allow control over the discharge of the river
* flood protection such as additional man made levees intalled to protect Yarm
* straightened"cut offs" near stockton allow for faster navigation along the river Tees
30
_Tewkesbury flood prevention_
_reasons for protection_
* the town flooded severely in July 2007 forcing many residents to leave their homes for months
* sits at the confluence of the river Avon and river Severn so is very susceptible to flooding
* recent urbanisation has increased the flood risk due to impermiable surfaces
* locals fed up of being at risk so demanded greater protection
31
_Tewkesbury flood prevention_
_methods and effecvtiveness_
protection methods installed
* £4.4 million, flood wall and gates in upton to prevent the Severn form overflowing
* £10,000, dredging
* £50,000, annual budget introduced to maintain the water course
* £47,000, upgrading the flood water pumping station in Deerhurst
* £51,000, a village flood relief ditch in Pamington
* council produced an indepth guide on how to respond to flooding
effectiveness
* despite all of the work to Tewkesbury and the surrounding area, the region still suffers from severe flooding and was hit badly in 2014
* many suggest not enough has been done to protect the area
