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Geography case studies. Topic 1: global hazards Typhoon Haiyan fact file: Causes: Formed over the pacific ocean. Sea temperature was over 26 degrees and over 60m deep. The Coriolis effect caused the storm to start spinning. As it moved west it passed little land, so it gained more energy from warm water. Once it reached the Philippines, it used winds of 315km/h to destroy the islands. The low air pressure meant that storm surges caused coastal flooding. strong winds battered homes. people were made homeless, particularly around Western and Eastern Visayas. roads were blocked by fallen trees and other debris. Leyte and Tacloban experienced a 5-metre storm surge, and 400mm of rainfall flooded an area of up to 1km inland. 90% of Tacloban was destroyed. 6190 people died. 4.1 million people were made homeless. 14.1 million people affected. The overall cost of damage was around $12 billion. 1.1 million tonnes of crops destroyed. 1.1 million houses damaged. 1 million farmers and 600,000 hectares of farmland affected. Primary effects: 6000 people died from drowning or fallen debris. 30,000 fishing boats were destroyed. Storm surges led to 600,000 people displaced and 40,000 homes were damaged. 5 metre storm surges hit Tacloban and 90% of city was destroyed. Strong and heavy winds destroyed buildings and damaged crops. Over 400mm of rainfall fell causing catastrophic flooding. Secondary effects: 14 million people were left without food or water. Flooding caused landslides. Because there were so many deaths, graveyards were full, and identification became difficult. Flights and ferries were disrupted which stopped aid from coming in. power supplies were cut off. Looting and violence broke out in Tacloban. Philippines: The government issued warnings on 6 November so that people could evacuate. Total population 99 million, 50% rural population. GNI per capita $3000. Percent in poverty 25%. Life expectancy 65. Islands 7100. Responses: The government put 7 provinces under a state of national calamity, controlling price of goods and beginning relief effort. Emergency aid was top priority. UN appealed for £190 million of emergency aid. WHO helped manage healthcare workers from around the world. Emergency aid effort in areas such as Tacloban faced many difficulties as airport was destroyed so aid couldn’t be flown in. social media was used to promote aid and volunteers being sent to Philippines. Red cross warned people to be careful when returning home because buildings were unstable and electric lines could electrocute. Once initial response was tackled, the government and NGOs refocused on long-term aid. By April 2014, services had been restored to 560 schools, 220 rural health centres and 30 hospitals. Also, 1500km of drainage canals were fixed. Schemes were set up to give training to support small businesses. UK drought: In 2012 much od England and Wales suffered from drought; it was one of the worst droughts ever recorded in southern England leading to low levels in reservoirs and water shortages. From April 2010 to May 2012 most of England received less than 85% average rainfall with some areas getting less than 75%. Causes: The area affected only received 55-95% average rainfall. Unusual wind patterns brought dry wind from eastern Europe instead of wet wind from west. The weather was also warmer, so more water evaporated from reservoirs. It was difficult for the rain that did fall to soak into the ground as it was too solid and dry which meant that crops couldn’t absorb water and grow. People in the UK use large amounts of water every day. Massive amounts are also used in farming and agriculture which leads to 1.7 billion litres of water being used everyday. Consequences: Farmers didn’t have enough water for crops and animals. Dry areas could catch fire. River water was used to boost water supplies. Water restriction in homes. Responses: Water companies were allowed to use water from rivers. Hosepipe bans to conserve water. Companies got people to use less water by turning off taps. Nepal earthquake fact file: The earthquake occurred at 11:26 (local time) on Saturday the 25th of April. Estimated at 7.8 to 7.9 on the Richter scale. Aftershocks followed, one at 6.7 on Sunday the 26th of April. On 12 May 2015 at 12:35 another massive aftershock occurred with a moment magnitude of 7.3. The epicentre was near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mt. Everest. More than 200 people were killed and more than 2,500 were injured by this aftershock. Causes: the earthquake was approximately 80 km to the northwest of the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu. The Indian plate is converging with Eurasia at a rate of 45 mm per year towards the northeast, driving the uplift of the Himalayan mountain range. The India plate is subducting under the overriding Eurasian plate. The earthquake occurred as the result of this movement thrusting through a fault running off the plate margin. Where the plates meet strain energy builds up which, when released, violently shakes the ground with its seismic energy. Effects: 8,632 dead 19,009 injured. Worst earthquake in Nepal in more than 80 years. Centuries-old buildings were destroyed at UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley, including some at the Changu Narayan Temple and the Dharahara Tower. Thousands of houses were destroyed across many districts of the country. Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless with entire villages flattened. 1.7 million children had been driven out into the open. harvests reduced or lost this season U.S. Geological Survey initially estimated economic losses at 9 percent to 50 percent of gross domestic product, with a best guess of 35 percent. The steep valleys of the area suffered many landslides, the village of Ghodatabela was covered killing 250 people The earthquake triggered avalanche on Mount Everest, killing 17 people. Estimates put the number of trekkers and climbers at base camp at the time of the quake at up to 1000 Estimates of damage put at $10billion by Nepalese government The earthquake massively reduced tourism over the long term, a key industry for this mountain kingdom Responses: Tent cities sprung up in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Responses were criticised as slow - the hardest hit Gorkha-Lamjung epicentre area was visited by helicopter the day after the earthquake and hundreds were feared dead in this area. 90 percent of soldiers from the Nepalese army mobilised to worst hit areas, but efforts were hampered by landslides and damaged infrastructure On May 1st international aid agencies like Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and the Red Cross were able to start medically evacuating the critically wounded by helicopter from outlying areas. GIS tool “Crisis mapping” was used to coordinate the response. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided a USD$3 million grant to Nepal for immediate relief efforts; and up to $200 million for the first phase of rehabilitation. Aid was donated by a huge number of countries. The UK gave £73 million, of which £23 million was donated by the government and £50 million was donated by the public. The UK also provided 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid and 8 tonnes of equipment. Finally, the UK offered expert help by sending around 100 search and rescue responders, medical experts, and disaster and rescue experts deployed by the Department for International Development; engineers from the British Army's Brigade of Ghurkhas, three Chinook helicopters. International aid was provided by India and China who in total committed over $1 billion to help support Nepal. A new government taskforce was created to help deal with future earthquakes. Two years after the quake, only about 28,000 of those homes and buildings that qualified to receive government assistance for reconstruction. A year later, about 113,000 of the total were rebuilt.