Geography Coursework
The Isle of Purbeck Introduction The Isle of Purbeck is a huge tourist attraction which is located in the county of Dorset, England and has landmass of approximately 60 sq miles. It is bordered by the English Channel to the south and east. Purbeck is not really an island; it is a peninsular on the South Coast of England near Bournemouth, Dorset. It is a place of natural beauty which is wonderful for family holidays or a quiet break away. Not far from London (2 1/2 hours by train), Purbeck is an area with many places of natural beauty which is why most tourists go to visit the Peninsular. Swanage and Wareham are the main towns. Swanage is on the coast and there you will find guest houses or campsites. Purbeck is great for walking especially along the coast with beautiful views and unspoilt countryside. The famous Old Harry rocks which is one the areas I will be focusing on later in my coursework, are just off the coast and the white cliffs are a dramatic backdrop for bird watching. The walks are quite gentle though fairly hilly but the towns are quite far apart so be prepared and bring a hat, good walking shoes and lots of water. These are some of the main reasons why Tourist's, visitors visit the isle of purbeck. Investigation Throughout my Coursework I concentrating on 3 Hypothesis's which all have purpose in this investigation. The 3 Hypothesis's are stated below,
Climate Change
U.K Climate Change and its Effects The threat of climate change will have impact in the following areas of life in the British Isles: • Sea level rises • Flooding • Ocean currents • Health • Agricultural • Wildlife However there may be new opportunities offered by a warmer climate. However, the overall effect of climate change for the world is NEGATIVE. Rising Sea Levels Sea level will rise by between 10cms and 90cms this century depending on how we reduce CO2 emissions. The coastline of Britain could change dramatically. Low lying areas could be invaded by the sea e.g. East Anglia Ocean Currents The Gulf Stream brings warmth to the UK and north-west Europe and is the reason we have mild winters. The average annual temperature of north-west Europe is about 9C above the average for our latitude. If greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, the temperature and density of the sea water in the North Atlantic will change with dramatic consequences. The gulf stream may stop or be greatly reduced. This would mean that less heat is brought to north-west Europe - harsher winters and mild summers. Flooding The UK has experienced devastating floods throughout the last five years, which have affected thousands of people and caused millions of pounds worth of damage. Last Summer's floods shocked the country - Large town were cut off or under
My original aim of this coursework was to investigate if three shopping centres in the West Midlands can be placed into shopping hierarchies,
Overall Conclusion Here is my predicted hypothesis for all the settlements: Sphere of Influence: Environmental Quality: % of Comparison shops: Merry Hill = 2 + 4 + 4 = 10 Kidderminster (New) = 1 + 3 + 1 = 5 Kidderminster (Old) = 4 + 2 + 2 = 8 Dudley = 3 + 1 + 3 = 7 My final hierarchy would look like this: My original aim of this coursework was to investigate if three shopping centres in the west midlands can be placed into shopping hierarchies, however after looking at my results I don't think that there is a shopping hierarchy. I believe that people want to shop in places they are familiar with and also places that are generally clean. Limitations to my coursework: I think that there were many factors that could have influenced my data one of them being the amount of time we had to collect our data because I believe that we didn't have enough time to make my data as accurate as possible. We had half a day to collect all the data in the settlements. This was not enough time to collect the data for reliable and accurate results. The averages gained could have been more accurate if there had been more data for which we needed more time. I think that another factor that influenced my
Can We Win The Race Against Desertification?
Can We Win The Race Against Desertification? What is desertification? Desertification is a process in which more of the land is becoming desert. It isn't becoming a major problem because the land is hot and dry, but it is becoming a problem because the soil is useless for growing crops. Desertification is most likely to happen when there isn't much rainfall. Already around 10 percent to 20 percent of deserts around the world have been degraded to a certain extent. According to experts, around 1 percent to 6 percent of the people living in dry lands actually live in areas that have undergone desertification. However, due to overgrazing, over cultivation and a lot deforestation, more dry land areas are under threat of desertification, which is why we need to prevent this. How can we prevent it? * Planting trees- this reduces soil erosion, sand movement and traps soil moisture and to keep nutrient levels high in soil. We should do this because one of the main causes of desertification is unabated cutting of trees and planted. When this happens, the surface of the soil becomes dry and the top soil gets blown away by wind or washed away by floods and rainwater. * Wells- this is a very reliable source to have water supply, to water the crops when there isn't much rainfall * Sand Traps- you can use this to prevent any sort of sand blowing into cultivated lands *
