UK Environmental Challenges (Somerset Levels)

Question 1

What effect does continentality have on UK climate?

Answer 1

The sea takes more time to heat up and cool down than land does because it has a much higher thermal capacity. When the summer sun comes, the oceans take months to warm up. In the winter, the sea retains its heat for longer so land nearer the coast stays warmer than further inland

Question 2

What effect does ocean circulation have on UK climate?

Answer 2

The North Atlantic Drift is an ocean current that starts in the Gulf of Mexico. Oceans redistribute the energy in the sea and the North Atlantic Drift is a warm current which raises coastal land temperatures higher than they would otherwise be at these latitudes

Question 3

What is the Arctic maritime air mass?

Answer 3

An air mass that originates over the North Pole and Arctic Ocean. It brings cold temperatures, heavy showers, hail and snow

Question 4

What is the Polar continental air mass?

Answer 4

An air mass that originates at the North Pole and brings cold temperatures and heavy snow showerse

Question 5

What is the Tropical continental air mass?

Answer 5

An air mass that originates from North Africa and brings hot, dry air

Question 6

What is the Tropical maritime air mass?

Answer 6

An air mass that originates from the Atlantic Ocean and brings mild temperatures and moist air

Question 7

What is the polar maritime air mass?

Answer 7

An air mass that originates from Greenland/Canada and brings cold air and sunshine/rain/hail

Question 8

What is the ‘Beast from the East’?

Answer 8

An extreme weather event from February - March 2018 which led to extreme wind and precipitation caused by the polar continental airmass. There was wind-chill resulting in temperatures below -10C and gale-force winds up to 116mph. The rain also froze, resulting in 50cm of snow in some areas

Question 9

What were the impacts of the ‘Beast from the East’?

Answer 9

1. Thousands of schools closed
2. Power cuts
3. Car collisions on major roads and stranded vehicles
4. Delayed flights
5. 16 deaths
6. Damage to property from falling trees

Question 10

What is the ‘heatwave’?

Answer 10

From the 16-19 July 2022, there was an extreme heatwave and low precipitation. The whole of the UK was affected with temperatures in Scotland over 34C. This was caused by the tropical continental air mass

Question 11

What were the impacts of the ‘heatwave’?

Answer 11

1. Disrupted rail services
2. Damaged roads
3. Power cuts
4. Suspended flights
5. Increased strain on the NHS from heat stroke cases, especially the elderly

Question 12

What are the causes of the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 12

1.. Low-lying land
2. Lack of Dredging
3. Increase in rainfall from severe storms

Question 13

How did low-lying land cause the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 13

Somerset Levels spans an area of 250 square miles. The majority of this area is below sea-level, making the land vulnerable to tidal and land-based flooding. The maximum altitude of the levels is only 8m above sea level

Question 14

How did a lack of dredging cause the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 14

The River Tone and River Parrett, which run through the levels haven’t been properly dredged in 20 years. This reduces the capacity of the river

Question 15

How did an increase in rainfall from severe storms cause the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 15

In early 2014, the UK was hit by the worst storm for over 20 years. A succession of storms developed over the Atlantic and tropical maritime and polar maritime air mass blew it in. This caused high wind speeds and as a result, Somerset received 200%-250% of its usual winter rainfall

Question 16

What were the social impacts of the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 16

Short term: 81 road closures and main roads like the A361 became unusable cutting off villages. Trains were also disrupted. There was also 600 homes flooded due to the 65 million m^3 of floodwater covering an area of 65km^2, leading to many people seeking temporary housing. 900 litres of fuel was stolen as well as heating oil from flood victims
Long term: There was a lack of trust in government form local communities, loss of livelihoods from permanent damage to farmland and emotional devastation from losing homes

Question 17

What were the economic impacts of the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 17

Short term: the tourism industry lost £200 million with 50% of businesses impacted by flooding and 86% of businesses impacted by road closures. Fuel for emergency pumps to reduce water levels cost £200,000 per week to maintain
Long term: Insurance prices increased by five-fold after flooding and local businesses reported over £1 million lost in business

Question 18

What were the environmental impacts of the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 18

Short term: Fluctuations in wildlife numbers, breeding patterns and locations for some species
Long term: 7000 hectares of farmland was flooded, which could take up to 2 years to restore

Question 19

What is a local management strategy of the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 19

The Flooding on the Levels Action Group (FLAG) was formed to help support people affected by the floods and pressure the government to do more. This is a short-term management strategy which has a small effect

Question 20

What is a regional management strategy of the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 20

The council plan to fund a new Somerset Rivers Authority. This was initially funded by the government (£2m) but future funds rely on a council tax increase of £25 per year. It will focus on enhanced maintenance of river channels and flood banks in order to help reduce the risk of flooding

Question 21

What is a national management strategy of the Somerset Levels flood?

Answer 21

A Somerset Levels and Moor Action Plan formed, a 20-year, £100m plan commissioned by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson The national government announced the funding of £10.5m towards the cost of the £100m. The Department of Transport is backing it with £10m. This plan helped coordinate many other responses

Question 22

What are the causes of the mechanisation of farming?

Answer 22

1. Population growth
2. Foreign produce
3. Mechanisation of agriculture
4. Growth of agribusinesses

Question 23

How did the population growth cause the mechanisation of farming?

Answer 23

The UK’s population grew throughout the 20th century. This meant that there was an increased demand for food meaning more efficient farming techniques were needed. Therefore hedgerows were removed and larger tractors were needed

Question 24

How did foreign produce cause the mechanisation of farming?

Answer 24

There was an increase in cheap foreign produce. This mean the UK had to make changes to ensure it was competitive on the global market. Smaller farms shut down and sold off land to bigger farms who benefitted from economies of scale

Question 25

How did mechanisation of agriculture cause the mechanisation of farming?

Answer 25

There was an increase in the mechanisation of agriculture so increasingly large machinery ploughed increasingly large fields. Workers were discarded as they were more expensive

Question 26

How did growth in agribusiness cause the mechanisation of farming?

Answer 26

The growth of agribusinesses meant that smaller farms became less profitable and big competitive firms were set up to run like businesses

Question 27

What are the impacts of mechanisation of farming?

Answer 27

1. Eutrophication 2. Soil degradation 3. Hedgerows

Question 28

What impact does eutrophication/soil degredation have?

Answer 28

Farming is a year round process with consumers wanting produce out of season. As a result, fields are not given time to recover nutrients so machinery is used to artificially add fertiliser leading to soils becoming degraded. Machinery leads to overploughing and large wheels cause the soil to compact. This increases surface run off as water cannot infiltrate the soil and results in erosion of the soil leading to eutrophication and flooding

Question 29

What impact does hedgerows have?

Answer 29

In order to house larger machinery and produce food on a large scale, farms have increased in size. Larger machinery work more efficiently in large fields where they don't have to turn around leading to the destruction of hedgerows. Their removal has destroyed wildlife corridors and farmers no longer benefit from

Question 30

What impact does trawling have?

Answer 30

Trawling is where a 30-tonne net is dragged along the seafloor. It has resulted in the destruction of reefs with no oysters remaining. Bottom fish which cling to the seabed have suffered drastic declines in numbers

Question 31

What impact does bycatch have?

Answer 31

Bycatch is species caught in fishing nets but aren't the target fish. Most of the time fishermen kill the bycatch and get rid of it cheaply. It's thrown back but they are already dead or injured

Question 32

What impact do ghost nets have?

Answer 32

Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned, lost or discarded in the ocean, lakes and rivers. fish think these are some form of animal or coral and go to investigate, resulting in them getting trapped and eventually dying

Question 33

What impacts do reservoirs have?

Answer 33

Positives: 1. Control flow of a river 2. Generate electricity 3. Flood prevention 4. Provide water Negatives 1. Expensive to build 2. Environmental impacts

Question 34

What are the impacts of water transfer schemes?

Answer 34

Positives: 1. If there is excess rainfall in one basin, water can be moved to another 2. Moving water can help rehabilitate degraded ecosystems, helping restore wetlands or replenish dried rivers Negatives: 1. Pipelines are ugly additions to landscapes known for their natural beauty 2. Introduction of water to a new area can also spread non-native species which can threaten the new ecosystem

Question 35

What are the advantages of oil?

Answer 35

1. Helps the UK's energy security 2. Lowers transport costs 3. Good for the economy; creates jobs 4. Low visual impact as it's done out at sea

Question 36

What are the disadvantages of oil?

Answer 36

1. Non-renewable source of energy 2. Produces carbon dioxide 3. Oil has to be imported which is becoming more and more expensive 4. Oil spills are catastrophic for marine life

Question 37

What are the advantages of coal?

Answer 37

1. Most abundant sources of energy 2. Inexpensive compared to other fossil fuels 3. Reliable and not dependent on weather 4. Transportation is easy

Question 38

What are the disadvantages of coal?

Answer 38

1. Most of the easily accessible coal in the UK has disappeared 2. Aesthetically unappealing on the landscape 3. Non-renewable 4. Produces carbon dioxide

Question 39

What are the advantages of natural gas?

Answer 39

1. Vast reserves in the North Sea helping keep energy secure and minimise dependency on foreign imports 2. Burns cleanly - 50% of the CO2 emissions of coal 3. Reliable 4. Low transport costs

Question 40

What are the disadvantages of natural gas?

Answer 40

1. Produces CO2 2. Non-renewable 3. Highly combustible and odourless so it's difficult to detect leaks

Question 41

What are the advantages of nuclear power?

Answer 41

1. Efficient and sustainable power- no CO2 emissions once constructed 2. Can generate huge amounts of energy

Question 42

What are the disadvantages of nuclear power?

Answer 42

1. Nuclear waste and pollution 2. Accidents/fallout 3. Nuclear weapon proliferation

Question 43

How does biomass work?

Answer 43

Waste is burned, heating water to turn it into steam which turns a turbine which powers a generator and creates electricity

Question 44

What are the advantages of biomass?

Answer 44

1. Old power stations can be converted to biomass power stations so less concrete used 2. Less landfill sites as we use leftover waste

Question 45

What are the disadvantages of biomass?

Answer 45

1. Expensive 2. Environmentally costly to source 3. Forests are sometimes cut for fuel

Question 46

How does wind energy work?

Answer 46

Wind spins the blade, linked to fast spinning gears which turn a generator and create electricity

Question 47

What are the advantages of wind energy?

Answer 47

1. No CO2 produced after being built 2. Creates many jobs 3. UK is the windiest country in the world - potential for power generation

Question 48

What are the disadvantages of wind energy?

Answer 48

1. Reliant on wind 2. Noisy 3. Disrupt bird's migration routes and kill them 4. Visual impacts on the landscape

Question 49

How does hydroelectric power work?

Answer 49

The water spins turbines which spin turbine which powers a generator to create electricity

Question 50

What are the advantages of hydroelectric power?

Answer 50

1. Renewable 2. No CO2 produced after being built 3. Brings other benefits such as fresh water

Question 51

What are the disadvantages of hydroelectric power?

Answer 51

1. Very expensive to build 2. Large environmental impacts such as flooding land behind dams, altering water courses and losing habitats

Question 52

How does solar energy work?

Answer 52

When the sun hits solar panels, material like silicon in the panel absorbs the energy, making the atoms get hotter and electrons are shared which travel out of the atom into a circuit

Question 53

What are the advantages of solar energy?

Answer 53

1. Renewable 2. No CO2 produced after being built 3. It is slient

Question 54

What are the disadvantages of solar energy?

Answer 54

1. It's more expensive (but prices are decreasing) 2. It doesn't work at night and production is lower on cloudy days 3. Farms use a lot of space (but smaller installations could be put on buildings) 4. NIMBYism over the views of larger farms

Question 55

How does fracking work?

Answer 55

A high pressure fluid mixture of sand, water and chemicals are pumped deep underground into cracks in rocks, releasing trapped gas

Question 56

What are the advantages of fracking?

Answer 56

1. Opportunities for investment and job creation - £4bn per annum in investment and support 70,000 jobs 2. Halves the country's dependency on imported gas by 2030

Question 57

What are the disadvantages of fracking?

Answer 57

1. High water demand which can deplete water sources 2. Chemicals can contaminate local water supplies 3. Major risks to climate change - increased greenhouse emissions 4. Induces earthquakes

Question 58

What happened in 1997 and what was its aims?

Answer 58

The Kyoto Protocol was formally adopted by 37 countries to enter in force in 2005. All countries agreed to reduce carbon emissions by 5% and ran from 2008-2012. However, only 37 out of 200 countries were entered

Question 59

What happened in 2015 and what were its aims?

Answer 59

The Paris Agreement let each country set its own goals called intended nationally determined contributions. It aimed to reduce the temperature change by less than 2C with richer countries investing $100bn per year to help poorer countries

Question 60

What did the UK government commit to do in 2019?

Answer 60

To end fossil fuel usage by 2050

Question 61

What were three strategies that the UK government outlined?

Answer 61

1. The ban of sale of all non-electric cars by 2035 2. £7500 government grants given to households as part of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to replace boilers with heat pumps 3. Increase off-shore wind power by up to 40GW

Question 62

How successful were the ban of sale of all non-electric cars by 2035?

Answer 62

1. Transport is the largest contributor to the UK greenhouse gas emissions (23%) and over 50% from cars 2. Until mid 2022, the government gave grants of £3500 for people to buy electric cars 3. Government had to push back the ban from 2030 to 2035 4. £1.3bn for car charging points 5. Inequalities with charging points - urban areas prioritised

Question 63

How successful were the Boiler Upgrade Scheme?

Answer 63

1. 17% of UK greenhouse emissions come from homes 2. Savings of 30% for homeowners 3. BUS has more than £95 million of the total £150 million unspent with only 17,000 vouchers out of 90,000 used

Question 64

How successful were the increase in off-shore wind power?

Answer 64

1. Production planned to triple current output by 2030 2. The UK is the windiest country in the world with lots of wind energy potential 3. NIMBYism 4. In 2020, the government pledged £160 million to increase wind capacity 5. In 2022, the UK wind industry supported over 31,000 jobs, a 16% increase from the previous year and it contributed 26.8% of the UK's energy mix, up from 21.8% the previous year 6. Significant for UK economy - £4.9bn of industry revenue in 2023 7. Cost of offshore wind has fallen by 50%

Question 65

How successful is the Perse bus routes?

Answer 65

1. 91 pupils out of 1706 in total use the bus system - 5.3% of the whole school 2. It reduces the total emissions released by journeys to The Perse 3. It has long term success after running for 5 years

Question 66

How do ground source heat pumps work?

Answer 66

Heat from the ground is absorbed at low temperatures into a fluid inside the loop which is buried underground. The fluid then passes through a compressor which raises the temperature to be used for heating

Question 67

How successful are the ground source heat pumps at The Perse?

Answer 67

1. 168,000kWh of energy generated annually 2. Equates to around 10% of The Perse's energy use 3. Takes 11 years to pay off their cost 4. No carbon emissions

Question 68

How successful are the solar panels at The Perse?

Answer 68

1. 49 solar panels on the roof installed in 2017 2. Generate 12.5kW/h at peak output on a very sunny day 3. Around 12500kWh annually

Question 69

How big is the Cow Green resevoir?

Answer 69

41 million m^3

Question 70

When was the Tees Barrage opened and how much did it cost?

Answer 70

1995 £50 million

Question 71

How big is the Tees Barrage?

Answer 71

70m wide

Question 72

How many turbines are in the London Array off-shore wind farm?

Answer 72

175 covering 100km^2