Understanding natural systems is the key to successful management of coasts. To what extent do you agree with this view?
Understanding natural systems is the key to successful management of coasts. To what extent do you agree with this view? To manage a coast successfully, the effects of erosion, flooding and unwanted deposition must all be minimized as much as possible. Furthermore the protection of people and their property also forms a good basis of good coastal management. It is true that to be able to set up good defences, the natural systems surrounding the coast must be understood, as this ultimately allows the management agencies to fully examine and decide the type of management that should be used. Coastal processes such as erosion and deposition are the main natural systems that affect our coast and thus must be monitored to ensure the best management strategy is in place. However the wave type and the amount of wave energy that is apparent at that stretch of coast ultimately decides the rate of erosion and deposition. The energy input of a wave is due to the wave height; the distance between the crest and the trough, the wave period; the time taken for a wave to travel through one wave length, and the wave steepness; the ratio of the wave height and wave length. Furthermore, the fetch of the wave will also influence the amount of energy that a wave has and therefore a wave with a high-energy value will potentially cause more damage than a wave with a low energy value. Spatial
B)Explain why the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the earth's surface varies from place to place and from time to time.
A)Define the terms insolation and albedo. Insolation is a combination of the phrase 'Incoming Solar Radiation'. It is the name for all energy which comes from the sun to the earth. The sun does not give out heat, but energy which is converted to heat when it reaches the earth. The albedo of an object is the measurement of how reflective it is against the sun. Snow will have a high albedo as is it is white and therefore a colour which reflects the sun's rays. Dark coloured surfaces such as a freshly ploughed field or rock will have a low albedo as it cannot reflect heat and will instead absorb it. It is also energy which goes straight back into space without having been converted into heat. B)Explain why the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the earth's surface varies from place to place and from time to time. The sun radiates solar energy which reaches the earth and is converted to heat. The location and time of this reaction, however, is variable due to the shape and tilt of the earth and the fact that it turns. This means that the energy reaches different places at different intensities at different times of day and different times of the year. This is dependent on many factors, not just those to do with the physical state of the earth. The shape, tilt and spin of the earth is the first factor which effects how much energy is absorbed by an area of earth. Due to the
Analyse the economic, environmental, social and demographic impacts of migration at both the origin and destination of migrants.
Analyse the economic, environmental, social and demographic impacts of migration at both the origin and destination of migrants. Migration is a movement and refers to a permanent change of home. It can also be used with different scales to include temporary changes involving seasonal and daily movements both between countries and within a country. Migration will affect the distribution of people over a given area as well as the total population of a region and the population structure of a country or city. The changes caused by migration are also directly related to the causes of migration itself. For example, forced migration can be caused by religious or political reasons. When people leave because of this, there is likely to be less resistance in the area and so the views or actions, which forced citizens away, are likely to escalate. Other forced issues include overpopulation as found in China, famine suffered by Ethiopians in the Sudan, and environmental factors for example Chernobyl in the Ukraine. At the origin of migration, the effects will be mixed depending on the influences. On a national scale, migration can be both beneficial and disadvantageous. In the UK, internal migration is commonly due to several factors, including retirement where people who have served all their working days in urban surroundings and move to the quiet of rural areas, often on the coast,
Analyse How the Inputs and Outputs from a River Basin Can Vary Over Time
Analyse How the Inputs and Outputs from a River Basin Can Vary Over Time Both the inputs to and outputs from a river basin can vary both spatially (in different areas) and temporally (over time), due to daily, seasonal and annual occurrences. Precipitation mainly reaches the grounds surface from the atmosphere as snow and rain. Heavy snow is often intercepted and stored on the tops of hills and mountains and may lead to a decrease in river levels. Some rainfall may fall directly into the stream or river and some may fall onto the land and flow into the river basin through a variety of routes including throughflow, stemflow and overland flow. The intensity and duration of precipitation has a short term but regular effect upon both the inputs and outputs of a river basin due to the weather patterns. Over a short period of time, for example a week, the precipitation levels over the river basin can significantly vary, as on some days of the week the total precipitation can be extremely high and the next it could be virtually zero. Long periods of rainfall are the main cause of flooding as the soil has become saturated it reaches its infiltration capacity and infiltration is reduced, therefore increasing the frequency of surface run off and the risk of flooding. In addition to the weather having a large impact on the inputs over a short period of time in and around the
Central Business District (Cbd) Investigation
Introduction: The inner city is the zone between the central business district (CBD) and the suburban housing areas. In British cities the inner city grew during the industrial revolution. Factories were built on the edge of the historic towns, now the CBD. Many people view inner city areas as rather dull and depressing as they tend to be overcrowded and polluted. Unfortunately even though the problems of inner city areas are apparent the local councils and business and invested a greater proportion of money in CBD rather then inner cities, which has lead to an escalating problems. The Diagram illustrates the burgess conurbation model, which highlights the various areas of a conurbation settlement: The burgess model of urban land consists of five concentric circles arranged around a CBD inner core. All conurbation models initiates with the central business district (CBD), which forms the heart of a settlement. Large businesses exist here since they are the only ones able to afford the high land values and rents. The inner city is the 2nd zone in the burgess model. This zone represents old industry established at the birth of the city. The third zone is known as the "Low-class residential" which is located in the inner city close to the old industries. This was because the poor who worked in these industries had to be local. The medium class residential represents
Examine the factors influencing the movement of glaciers.
Examine the factors influencing the movement of glaciers. Glacier is defined as, 'a mass or river of ice moving very slowly'. Glaciers range in size considerably, Antarctica being the largest ice mass at 12.5 million km and a smaller ice mass of 12km existing in Africa. Glaciers move due to the force of gravity from areas of high altitude to lower areas. There are different mechanisms of glacial movement depending on the type of glacier. Cold (polar) glaciers are frozen to the underlying rock surface. These are found in high-latitude locations where the relief is low and basal temperatures are below the pressure melting point. Cold glaciers have very slow rates of movement, e.g. The Meserve glacier in Antarctica moves only 3-4 metres per year. Warm (temperate) glaciers on the other hand are not frozen to their bed. This type of glacier is found in high-altitude locations where the relief is steep and basal temperatures are at or near the pressure melting point. Temperate glaciers move very rapidly, e.g. The Franz Josef glacier in New Zealand moves approximately 300m per year. It is the basal temperature that determines the mechanism of movement. In what follows I will explain the factors influencing different mechanisms of movement. Temperate glaciers move mainly by basal sliding. If the basal temperature is at or above pressure melting point, a thin layer of meltwater
Evaluate the potential impact on individuals, communities and cultures of the changing retail structure of clone towns.
Evaluate the potential impact on individuals, communities and cultures of the changing retail structure of clone towns. Recently, the large number of chain stores around the UK has led to the creation of many “clone towns”: towns similar in appearance and atmosphere with the same shops as the rest of the country filling their high street. Naturally this shift in environments as places begin to lose their individuality and heritage affects everybody and has a great impact on individuals, communities and cultures. One benefit of these “clone towns” is that the increase in supermarket chains leads to consumers being able to choose from a wider selection of goods as they tend to stock more products than smaller, local shops which cannot afford to buy very large quantities of things. The fact that the supermarkets buy in bulk also means products are cheaper as they benefit from economies of scale. It is easy to say that one should support local, individual retailers, however if they cannot price competitively and offer all of the goods we need it’s natural for people to go to larger chain stores which meet their needs. Communities also benefit from increased employment opportunities provided by larger retail outlets which can afford to hire larger volumes of staff and provide additional employee benefits. For example, a large supermarket like Morrisons can afford to
The impact of human activities on the environment
The impact of human activities on the environment Everything that humans do has some impact on the environment. Pollution is a result of human activities in the environment. The main sources of pollution are farming, water pollution and air pollution. Farming is having an increased impact on the environment. This is because there is increased pressure on farmers to produce a single crop and to concentrate on one form of animal husbandry, such as, dairy cattle or pig breeding. This is more economical because better use can be made of equipment and organizations such as supermarkets have fewer farmers to negotiate purchases with. Also transport is much easier so produce can be easily moved to more distant markets. Monocultures are produced from this, which are large areas of the same crop grown on the same land year after year. To improve efficiency hedges have been removed and this has reduced the amount of habitat available for wildlife. It has also increased soil erosion. The removal of hedges increases the area of land available for crops, destroys the habitat of predators and keeps the number of pests down. Monocultures are susceptible to pests and large amounts of pesticide have to be used. Farm animals can produce large quantities of organic effluent. When this organic effluent gets into aquatic ecosystems it can cause a rapid growth of algae and plants, which leads to
The Demographic Transition Model.
The Demographic Transition Model Q: A summary of the Demographic Transition Model and show its disadvantages and Advantages The demographic transition model shows the relationship between Births,Deaths and population increase or decrease over a period of time in a single diagram.The graph shows different situations in through out the world due to differences in technological and medical advancement. The first stage of the model is typical of least economically developed countries,charecterised by high birth and death rates resulting in minimal population growth.High death rates are due to famine which is widespread in Africa and most Middle East countries.War contributes to the hunger and starvation the population as people are flee the cities and farms to hide in the mountains where food supplies cannot reach them and there is poor hygiene facilities,no clean water and limited medical infrastructure.The diet is minimal and thus an outbreak of malnutrition wipes out infants at young age and the poor living conditions would result in diseases such as cholera and kwashiorkor which take their toll on the population .Deaths are high among children and most would die at birth.Poor contraception methods result in many though fatal births due to sexually transmitted diseases such as Aids, Herpes, Gonorrhea etc Many children die in infancy and people tend to produce more
