case study’s

• Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines


  • 6300 people died
  • 170mph average wind speed
  • 14 million affected (Shortages of food, water and aid supplies)
  • Outbreak of disease
  • 90% of city destroyed
  • Airports, ports, public services damaged
• • 6 million loss of income
  • 60,000 displaced
  • 40,000 homes destroyed
• Looting and violence broke out in Tacloban
• Environmental impact


  • 5m storm surge
  • Flooding, heavy rain causing landslides
• Economic impact


  • 30,000 fishing boats destroyed
  • 400mm widespread flooding (hospitals, shops)
  • Disruption to income
  • Crops destroyed
• Schools were affected
• Immediate response / emergency aid

  1. International and local organisations responded quickly (road, water, and supplies)

  2. Emergency supplies (Red Cross supplied 1.1 million with clean water)

  3. Canada, USA deployed military aircrafts

  4. 1200 evacuation centres
• Long-term aid


  1. United Nations provided financial and technical assistance

  2. Cash for work programmes (paid to cleanup)

  3. WHO (World Health Organisation) helped vaccinate thousands

  4. Rebuilding: typhoon shelters, airport, roads, homes

  5. Oxfam helped replace boats

  6. Rice farming and fishing established over time
• Case study


  An in-depth analysis of a single example
• Hot desert environments


  • Extreme temperatures
  • Limited water supply
  • Inaccessibility
  • Lack of rainfall
• Native Cocopah people


  • Lived in earth houses that naturally kept cool
  • When migrants first arrived they built houses with flat roofs to collect rainwater, small windows to stop sunlight getting in and whitewashed walls
  • People nowadays still whitewash walls but everyone has air conditioning
• Water supply


  1. Colorado River has been dammed and Lake Mead created to hold water

  2. Transported via aqueducts and pipes such as the Central Arizona Project to where it is needed

  3. With a growing population in the Western desert and thirsty golf courses there is a water security problem and Lake Mead is at record low levels
• Inaccessibility


  • Roads are rough and the extreme temperatures make it dangerous if your car breaks down
  • Little road signs and off-roading can be perilous
  • Some railways connect cities like Las Vegas with other major cities but most people fly - Las Vegas airport receives 40 million people each year - much safer than driving
• People wanted green lawns but the watering was draining the limited water supplies in the desert. People have switched to fake grass lawns and having desert planting like cactuses that don't require much water.
• Farming


  • In the rural areas of the Western Desert people make their money from agriculture
  • The warm temperatures and sunlight are good for growing but water is an issue
  • Therefore irrigation is important
  • Agriculture makes up 10% of the economy
• Mineral extraction


  • The Western Desert is rich in minerals like copper, uranium, lead, zinc and coal
  • Not all of these minerals have been exploited because they think it will cause conflict with local farmers
  • Copper mining has taken place in the Sonoran Desert near Ajo, Arizona
  • Open cast mining takes place on a large scale here
• Energy - solar


  • The Sonoran Solar Project in Arizona is a new solar power plant project that will produce energy for 100,000 homes
  • Jobs will also be created in construction on this project
• Tourism


  • The National Parks offer tourists the chance to see the Grand Canyon and the Joshua Tree National Park
  • Las Vegas attracts 37 million tourists per year
  • People enjoy boating on Lake Mead
  • The heritage of Native Americans are celebrated at the Colorado Museum in Parker, Arizona
• The USA's Western desert region is made up of 3 different hot deserts: the Mojave desert, the Sonoran desert (part of it), and the Chihuahuan desert (part of it).