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CASE STUDIES
These case study summaries have been prepared to help you get top marks on
the longer 7 or 8 mark questions.
LEARN SOME OF THESE SPECIFIC FACTS TO IMPRESS THE GCSE EXAMINERS
It goes without saying that these examples may not cover every single
question so you need to look at your case studies in your files too.
And remember to think on your feet (use logic)in the exams!!!!!
GOOD LUCK!!!
Case Study 1 . Coastal protection on the New Forest coastline of the South UK
New Forest coastline in Hampshire has clay and sand cliffs of 30m which have retreated 60m since 1971 –
now being protected by concrete sea wall and groynes
Mudflows and landslips at Barton on Sea after heavy rains – working with nature by constructing rock
revetments and groynes
Hurst spit vulnerable to erosion – now deciding whether to leave it to nature or protect it
Marshland with wildlife value from Keyhaven to Lymington – so nature reserve created and New Forest
named as National Park
Case Study 4. The Three Gorges Dam, China (for flood protection AND HEP)
In 1998 3000 deaths and 30 million people homeless from Yangtze flood
Dam built at Sandouping (to be totally finished in 2012 but already functioning)
Advantages (Economic, social and environmental)
100 million people downriver protected as water dischrged through dam when necessary
HEP needed for China's growing industry and for domestic use too (China uses 40% world power)
It will provide for 2% of China's energy needs
Tourism increased on lake
Improved shipping as larger cargo boats (up to 10,000 tonnes) can travel upstream to Chongqing
New settlements have better services eg water, sewage etc
Disadvantages (Economic, social and environmental)
1.3 million people relocated often without adequate compensation
4 cities, 8 towns and 356 villages submerged
Temples and sacred places flooded
Factories submerged releasing toxic waste into water
Silt builds up behind dam so does not fertilise fields downstream
Risk of earthquakes cracking dam and causing flooding
27 billion pounds to build it
Loss of species like the Yangtze river dolphin
Extra case study: The Aswan Dam (better to learn the Three Gorges!)
Aswan is a city on the Nile in Egypt.
Two dams on the river: the Aswan High Dam and Aswan Low Dam (6km apart) with Lake Nasser behind.
Benefits of dam construction
Without the 3,600m dam the Nile would flood each year during summer so dam needed to protect farmland
and cotton fields. Dam stopped major floods in 1964 and 1973.
Provides water for agriculture to stop widespread drought and famine.
Generates energy - hydroelectric output of 2.1 gigawatts - produced around half of Egypt's entire electricity
production in the 1960s.
A new fishing industry has been created around Lake Nasser.
Problems of dam construction
Dam construction flooded much of lower Nubia
Over 90,000 people lost their homes.
Lake Nasser flooded valuable archeological sites.
The silt which was deposited in the yearly floods, and made the Nile floodplain fertile, is now held behind
the dam.
Silt deposited in the reservoir is lowering the water storage capacity of Lake Nasser.
Poor irrigation practices are waterlogging soils and bringing salt to the surface.
Mediterranean fishing declined after the dam was finished because nutrients that used to flow down the Nile
to the Mediterranean were trapped behind the dam.
The red-brick construction industry, which used delta mud, is also severely affected.
Significant erosion of coastlines (due to lack of sand, which was once brought by the Nile) all along the
eastern Mediterranean.
Case study 12. Mt. Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines 1991 (LEDC)
600 years dormant
Island arc of Luzon in Philippines
Philippines oceanic crust subducting under continental Eurasian plate – ie destructive plate margin
Erupted June 1991
Eruption events and management
2 April steam explosions – vegetation killed and dust on villages
PHIVOLCS set up to monitor eruption– 5000 pop evacuated in 10km zone
23 April continuing earthquakes- US Geological Survey set 7 seismographs at Clark Air Base
NW slope villages evacuated
9 June 8 hr eruption with pyroclastic flows – Alert 5 - evacuated to 20km
10 June Clark Air Base evacuated
12 June Mushroom cloud 20km high – evacuated 30km – 58,000 people
15 June – eruption 40km high ash and 80km/hr pyroclastic flows – summit collapses. Heavy rain causes
mudflows. Affects houses, bridges and river. Manila airport closed.
Effects
847 dead
300 killed by collapsing roofs
100 killed by lahars
Aetas tribe refused to leave or died in evacuation centres from disease
Measles, respiratory and gastric diseases
1.2 million lost homes
500,000 migrated to Manila
650,000 lost jobs
80,000 ha of cropland destroyed
1 million farm animals died
No electricity for 3+ weeks
$700 million loss of roads, water and telecomunications
Ash caused global cooling 0.5 degrees
The disaster was the object of a cover-up by secretive Soviet authorities who did not immediately admit to
the explosion.
A make-shift cover -- the 'Sarcophagus' -- was built in six months after the explosion. It covers the stricken
reactor to protect the environment from radiation for at least 30 years. This has now developed cracks,
triggering an international effort to fund a new encasement.
Ukraine is seeking a further 600 million euros ($840 million) to help finance the new convex structure which
will slip over the aging 'Sarcophagus' and allow the old reactor to be dismantled.
Officials say it could be up to 100 years before the station is completely decommissioned.
A 30-km (19-mile) exclusion zone is in place round the disaster site.
Wildlife has made a comeback in this area and there are said to be more than 60 different types of mammals
living there including wild boar and elk.
135,000 people were evacuated from the area, including 50,000 from the nearby town of Pripyat, Ukraine.
Soil, plants and animals contaminated
Case study 18. Intensive subsistence wet rice farming in the Phillippines
Philippines is a group of 7000 islands in the Pacific Ocean
Name of farm owner – Maximo Casiendo
Location of farm – Barangay Busay
Since when has he had farm-1996 because of land reform act
Relief – Flat at 70m above sea level
Soil – fertile clay loams
Climate – average temperature 25 degrees and 1800m rainfall
Size of land – 2.6 hectares
Crops-rice,maize, vegetables and cassava
Labour- Mr Casiendo and his seven children
Machines- rice thresher (which he rents to others in village)
Needs to hire water buffalo to plough for 28 euros per hectare
Chemicals – Fertilisers (8 bags of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
Insecticide to kill leafhoppers
Herbicides to control weeds
Diesel- 30 litres per hectare for rice thresher
Output – 520 cavans of rice per year and maize (subsistence – most for family use but some may be sold)
Policy
(1987-89) the screening of blood to eliminate the risk of HIV transmission through blood transfusion.
(1989-97) information, education and communication programmes - Botswana National Policy on AIDS.
(1997 onwards) education, prevention and comprehensive care including the provision of antiretroviral
treatment for 19,000 people.
1. Youth Health Organisation (YOHO)has art festivals, dramas and group discussions.
2. School-based learning plays and teachers are given special training.
3. Talk show is broadcast twice weekly by Botswana Television.
1. Installation of 10,500 condom dispensers in traditional and non-traditional outlets -condoms have
been given out for free distribution.
2. Targeting of highly mobile populations – especially migrant workers travelling to other sub-Saharan
African countries. Concentration on treatment of sexually transmitted infections, condom promotion and
prevention education.
Improvement of safety for blood transfusions- the national supply of HIV-free blood doubled by2005 because
of better screening of donors and counselling.
Prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV - in 2005 35.4% of women attending antenatal clinics in
Botswana had HIV. Encouraging the use of antiretroviral treatment and non-breast feeding practices.
Voluntary testing-same day results so more people are aware of their status.
National antiretroviral therapy for 19,000 people
Bad
Seasonal jobs
Only 30% of rooms let in winter
Loss of local fishing village traditions
Original inhabitants moved to new village on the hill
Locals disturbed by noise and bad behavior of tourists
HOUSING
An estimated 0.5 million are homeless.
Approximately 1 million live in favelas (informal shanty settlements). Two examples are Morro de Alemao
and Rocinha. (YOU MUST KNOW THESE NAMES!!)
Another million live in poor quality government housing in the periferia.
The favela housing lacks basic services like running water, sewerage or electricity.
The houses are constructed from wood, corrugated iron, broken bricks and tiles or other materials found
lying around.
Favelas are often found on land that is steep, by the side of roads, railways etc and flash floods can destroy
such houses and take peoples lives.
At first the government tried to bulldoze such communities but now they remain because of the community
spirit, samba music and football etc.
CRIME
Favelas are thought to be associated with drugs, violence etc. Tourists to Rio are warned not to enter favela
areas or take valuables to beaches etc.
Some wealthy are moving to new towns to avoid crime.
Case study 38. Changing location of heavy industry: The iron and steel
industry in Wales
In the 19th century the iron and steel works were found in South Wales (eg Ebbw Vale) on the coalfields as:
Coal was bulky and needed in large quantities so it was cheaper and easier to locate near this input.
Water from nearby rivers used for power and effluent (waste)
Exports sent by routes through valleys so easy
Large numbers of unskilled workers from surrounding villages like Ebbw vale and Merthyr Tydfil
Local markets eg Cardiff and Newport
Small scale and manual technology only
By the 1970s Ebbw Vale had only 2 steelworks because the advantages no longer existed.
The steelworks moved to the coast at Port Talbot because:
Imported coal from far away as Australia so port needed
Iron ore imported from North Africa and America
Coastal water used for cooling
Electricity from National Grid
Large are of cheap flat land
Government and EU incentives to locate there
M4 motorway links Wales to London for outputs
Computers, lasers and other technology now used
Case study 43. Multi National Companies in a LEDC (MNCs)– Sao Paulo, Brazil
German company Volkswagen opened factories in Sao Paulo in the mid 1960s
Brazilian government encourages MNCs as they thought that support industries, jobs etc would raise the
standard of living
For Volkswagen the benefits were
Modern factories could be built cheaply and easily
Guaranteed market for VW in Brazil and South America
Wages low so production cost lower
Military government in brazil so strikes unlikely
For Brazil benefits were
5% of export earnings from cars
Support services
Jobs
Skills
Problems for Brazil
Leakage – money from profits taken out by VW
Increase car use in brazil has increased cost of oil imports
Rural-urban migration for workers has caused problems in Sao Paulo
Wages of the workers on the assembly line are too low to support the family
Workers sometimes forced to work very long hours