Geography – Case Studies

CASE STUDY – THE THREE GORGES DAM The construction of the Three Gorges Dam solves flooding issues in Central China – particularlyin major cities like Nanking , Shanghai , Wuhan . There are 34 generators , including 6 underground generators which can together generate as much as a total of 18.2 million kilowatts of energy , 1/9 of china’s output . It works by blocking a 600km long river in Sandouping, allowing the lower stream areas to be shielded from the annual monsoonal floodingin summer. It can hold approximately 39.3 billion cubic meters of water , and the water can be released any time if there is a drought. It can also improve navigation , tourism and shipping . With the 600km lake, the Yangtze can hold up to 10,000 tons of load/cargo , making it fully usable and accessible all year round. The conditions of the new settlements are also improved,as they are fitted with electricity supplies, access to clean water, transport links and otherservices. Negative Impacts : The construction submerged several building, including 13 cities, 140 towns, 1352 villages, 657 factories & 30,000 hectares of cultivated land , and caused the relocation of 1.3 million people . CASE STUDY – RISING WATER DEMAND IN CHINA 1. Increasing urbanization, more people will be shifting from sustainable water source in rural villages to utilizing water intensive plumbing with showers and flush toilets 2. Affluence increases, and people tend to introduce more meat, fruits and vegetables into their diets. It takes more water to produce these goods than to produce grain. 3. Rivers are drying up, leading to farmers having to compete with industrial demand for water. 4. Industrial waste has polluted clean, safe water in many of China’s water sources, leading to an increase in demand for fresh water. 5. Population growth has also led to increased demand. CASE STUDY: Szechuan Earthquake (LEDC) ● Occurred on May 12th 2008 ● Magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale ● Rated 11 out of 12 on Mercalli Scale . ● Only lasted for 120 seconds ● Affected 100,000 km2 of area. ● 5 million buildings destroyed, 5 million were homeless. ● 90,000 lives and 18,000 bodies are still missing, unaccounted for. ● Caused by the Indo-Australian plate colliding with the Eurasian plate which also formed the Himalayas and Dragon’s Gate Mountains. ● The ground movement was 9 meters maximum and this earthquake is due to happen once in every 1,000 years in the future Responses: Short term:

● Took 2 days for aid to arrive ● 1 million soldiers deployed to assist with the search for bodies ● Relief packs were sent to the affected region ● Railway was immediately closed due to the explosion of a petrol tank train Long term: ● Evacuation of people from earthquake prone zones ● Evacuation of people from Shifang, due to large quantities of harmful toxins and chemicals leaked from the plant ● Steel pillar enforcements to various buildings ● Government send people to help rebuild the affected regions● Foreign surveyors were sent to access the precautionary measure and method of building buildings to prevent such catastrophe CASE STUDY: Mount Etna Italy Volcanic Eruption (MEDC) ● Mount Etna erupted 13 times within 30 years from 1970. ● The volcano was formed when the African Plate pushed the smaller Messina Plate under the Eurasian Plate. ● This formed a deep sea trench and a subduction zone, which triggered several severe earthquakes in Sicily. ● The Sicily earthquakes caused 60,000 deaths in Catania in 1693 and 100,000 deaths in Messina in 2009. ● During the 1983 eruption , Mount Etna engulfed a hotel 3 restaurants , 25 houses and numerous orange groves and vineyards. ● Some of the villages were preserved, thanks to the successful attempts to control lava flow by triggering explosions using gunpowder CASE STUDY: Mount Pinatubo Philippines Volcanic Eruption (LEDC) ● Mount Pinatubo volcano was sleeping for over 6 centuries ● Abruptly erupted in June 1991. ● There was an advanced warning about the eruption ● Hence, thousands of people in the town of Angeles were able to evacuate . ● Approximately 15,000 airmen and women evacuated from Clark Air Base. ● Deadly pyroclastic flow descended from the crater at a speed of over 200km/h. ● The eruption killed approximately 350 people due to pyroclastic flow. ● An ash cloud covered over the area with a radius of 600 km around the volcano ● The eruption blocked sunlight and lowered the entire globe’s average temperature by approximately 0.5oC. ● The eruption was followed by torrential rain , thus the ash was returned to ground as mud, causing several thousands of buildings to collapse. CASE STUDY – CYCLONE NARGIS IN MYANMAR (LEDC)

● Category 4 Cyclone with maximum sustained wind speeds up to 215km/h (approx 135mph) ● Hit Myanmar at Midday, 2nd May 2008 as a Category 2 Cyclone ● Locals were not prepared to evacuate or had nowhere to evacuate to ● Very little or no warnings issued – Forecasters in Burma reported ‘little’ or ‘no risk’ ● No emergency or evacuation plans ● More than 138,000 people died (Precisely 138,366 people) , and 55,000 people went missing ● Caused over US$10 billion worth of damage ● 65% of Rice Paddies impacted on Irrawaddy Delta ● Relief efforts were retarded as Burma’s military government initially refused to accept any international aid - Aid workers were only allowed in 3 weeks after the disaster occurred. ● Irrawaddy Data was completely submerged● No one managed to evacuate ● Electricity loss ● Widespread disease outbreaks such as Cholera and E.coli (Escherichia coli) CASE STUDY – HURRICANE KATRINA IN NEW ORLEANS, USA (MEDC) ● Category 5 Cyclone with maximum sustained wind speeds up to 280km/h (approx. 175mph) ● Hit Southeast Louisiana on August 29th as a Category 3 Hurricane ● More than 1 ,800 people died (Precisely 1,833 people) and at least 135 people went missing ● Caused US$108 billion worth of damage ● Destroyed or damaged 30 oil platforms ● Oil spills from 44 different oil rig facilities caused 26 million litres of oil to leak out into the ecosystem and residential areas ● Industrial levees destroyed● Substantial damage caused by New Orleans and metropolitan area being under sea level ● Louisiana Superdome managed to shield 9,000 evacuees ● Shops in New Orleans were looted by residents in the days after the hurricane’s landfall.● 1 million citizens of New Orleans managed to evacuate safely before the hurricane’s landfall ● The US Government has spent over US$800 million on rebuilding flood defences/LEVEE SYSTEM COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THE IMPACTS OF BOTH HAZARDS IMPACTS/FEATURES OF HAZARDS NARGIS KATRINA Maximum Sustained Wind Speed (km/h) 215 280 Category of Hurricane/Cyclone during landfall 2 3

Terrain Flat Flat (Below Sea Level) Diseases Cholera and E.coli None Damage Cost (USD) 10 Billion 108 Billion Deaths 138 366 1 833 People prepared to evacuate? Nope Yes Warnings Issued? Nope