GEOGRAPHY CASE STUDIES!

[91Jacob]

If you know any good case studies for geography HL/SL please post a name of the place, year, and what kind of issue it considered. That way we can all get a 7!

My example:

Kobe, Japan, Earthquake, 1995 (this is enough cause everyone has google, and looking for a specific issue is much easier, finding examples without any names is tough as you may know)

Edited May 5, 2010 by 91Jacob

[hannah.mb]

Food (and Food Aid):

- An example of APPROPRIATE food aid: OF (Operation Flood) in India; started in 1970; Europe's surplus milk was donated in powdered form to India (adv.: no waste), and the money generated from the sales was reinvested into developing India's own dairy scheme; for example India set up a National Milk Grid to regulate the supply of milk from areas of lower demand to areas of higher demand. Advantage: developed India, it wasn't just Europe getting rid of surplus milk.

- INAPPROPRIATE food aid:

1) Kidney beans- they are often given as emergency food aid to areas of drought etc. in Africa because they are dry, hard beans that can simply be stored in sacks and keep for months. The problem is that in many African cultures, kidney beans are not part of what they usually eat, and the women don't know that you need to soak them overnight. So they don't soak them and then spend hours and hours and huge amounts of ill-affordable wood trying to cook these beans till they're soft. A horrible waste.

2) "Nigeria's wheat trap"- In the past, Western countries often donated wheat as a form of food aid to African countries in need, including Nigeria. This proved extremely popular among the population, to the point that it replaced traditional staple foods like yam and cassava. So Nigeria imported millions of tonnes of wheat in the 1980's- this was a huge drain on its foreign exchange. But the people still wanted wheat. The government then decided to grow its own wheat. But Nigeria's hot, dry climate is unsuitable for growing wheat and irrigation schemes were needed to get any sort of decent crop. Technology and machinery from Western countries had to be imported- another financial drain. All of this has been an extreme waste of resources and money.

LITHOSPHERIC HAZARDS Case Studies:

Yes, Kobe is a good one!

-1985 Mexico earthquake (google details)- IMPORTANT: a lot of buildings collapsed because Mexico City (where the quake hit) was built on unconsolidated lake sediment- during the quake soil liquefaction occurred so many many buildings, no matter how "earthquake-proof", came down.

- Vesuvius AD... eruption- example of how pyroclastic flows and mudslides (lahars) killed many people in an instant

- Eruption of Mt. Pelée on the Island of Martinique in 1902: two pyroclastic flows; the first one in May killed every person in St Pierre (the main town) except 2 (as legend has it). Another thing to remember here: just before the main eruption in May hundreds of Fer de Lance snakes crawled from the forest through the streets of St. Pierre and bit anything in their path- this is an example of early animal behavioural responses to an imminent natural hazard.

- Eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Phillipines, June 1991- Example of how the eruption was successfully predicted and many lives saved as people were able to get evacuated. They lived in camps and the tribal Aetas were not immune to simple diseases and because they now lived in close contact with other people many died of measles, etc. Agriculture was also majorly disrupted by the damage of the eruption.

- Kilauea in Hawaii (volcano)- example of shield volcano- basic magma so runny; no pressure builds up because there is a continual outpour of magma.

- 2010 Haïti earthquake-6th deadliest earthquake in RECORDED HISTORY, hit the capital Port-au-prince (the epicentre was 25 km off); Haïti has no building codes so the houses were ramshackle and not built properly (many slums) so they all collapsed (well, most of them); 1 million ppl homeless; an example of how building types and epicentre of earthquake affects death toll. Haïti is an LEDC and the effects of the earthquake were much worse than in.....

-2010 Chile earthquake- Had much higher intensity than Haïti earthquake but Chile is more developed and it has building codes- apart from some coastal towns devastated by earthquake-triggered tsunamis, the damage to buildings was minor (a bridge & some appartment blocks, and a highway in Santiago). Even though the epicentre was only 100 km from the 2nd largest town, Concepcion. The loss of life was under 300 (google the exact number-can't remember).

-Eruption of Iceland volcano (please don't ask me the name of the volcano ) in April 2010- affected air travel all across Europe and caused huge financial losses to airline companies. This is an example of how a volcano eruption in an MEDC area can mean huge economical costs but little (in this case no) human lives. In an LEDC the reverse tends to be true- the buildings collapse (in a quake), yes, but they are mostly huts or slums and such, not really expensive high-tech infrastructure that would cost billions to rebuild. However in LEDC's the loss of life is usually HUGE.

*TIP- I would really recommend knowing the last three because they are very recent and will impress examiners- it shows you don't just learn the case studies from books but are actively thinking about Geography and relating it to events that happened very recently.

POPULATION Case Study

Egypt (Population Distribution) This is easy to remember if you can draw Egypt (it is a square guys, with some rough edges here and there and a Y-shaped nile in the middle. It isn't that difficult if you just practice it once or twice. Easier def. than drawing Canada or something like that! )

Areas of high population densities:

1) Along the banks of the Nile- fertile soil good for agriculture

2) Cairo & Alexandria metropolis- urban centres, they are the core of Egypt- many social services (schools, uni's, governmental offices, shops, airport, etc.) and the business centre of Egypt. Alexandria is also a port so lots of trade going on there.

3) Along the Red Sea- because of a) Tourism (it's exotic but not too far from Europe- an affordable holiday for a Westerner) and b)fishing (there are many fishing villages- the people there live off the sea).

The rest of the country is DESERT with LOW POPULATION DENSITY because it is....well, it's desert!!! You can't farm it, you can barely find enough water to drink and all you ever see is sand which is boring, except for a pyramid or two. O yes, and camels

Phew, now I'm tired,

Edited May 5, 2010 by hannah.mb

[91Jacob]

That's awesome hannah thanks a lot.

And yeh the name of that volcano is nuts. lol

Oh and as for India and food there's also the 1965 Green Revolution, the outcome of which allowed harvesting rice more than once a year.

Edited May 5, 2010 by 91Jacob

[fjooiks]

Many people keep coming to big cities. And the cities are growing at a very fast speed. The population in Chicago has increased so much within just a few years. And the reason is not just people coming to the city from the rural areas but also emigrants. A huge number of people from other countries keep coming to the US every year. And this process does not seem to stop or even slow down.