physical case studies

• Greenland and Antarctica lose 100 billion metric tonnes of ice per year, which has raised sea levels by 7/10 of an inch
• Greenland

  • 1 mile thick
• Antarctica

  • 3 miles thick
• Greenland and Antarctica together hold 70% of the world's freshwater
• The River Don and EA Beck in South Yorkshire burst their banks due to peat removal, burnt moorland and course drainage
• 500 homes were flooded and 1000 homes evacuated in the South Yorkshire floods
• 60 new protection methods were implemented after the South Yorkshire floods
• The amount of rain in the UK has increased by 17% in the past decade
• The Amazon rainforest covers 40% of South America
• The Amazon rainforest is home to 20 million species
• The Amazon rainforest receives 2300mm of rainfall per year
• 30% of human (anthropogenic) carbon emissions are from rainforest burning
• In 1970, deforestation caused an 18 day delay in the onset of the rainy season in the Amazon
• Wood is 50% carbon, so releases a lot when burnt
• 27% of the Amazon will be without trees by 2030
• 75% of rainfall in the Amazon is intercepted by trees
• REDLACH


  Rational resource use
• TARAPOTO


  Forest growth/development
• The Amazon Cooperation Treaty (1995) was for cooperation, sustainability and well-being of natives
• Indonesia is the 3rd largest emitter of greenhouse gases and 85% of their emissions are derived from rainforest and peatland loss
• There is high demand for paper, plywood and palm oil, leading to deforestation in Indonesia
• Fires from 1997-1998 burnt 8 million hectares of forest in Indonesia
• In 2015, 10,000 fires raged across the islands of Indonesia
• During the last ice age (the Pleistocene), ice covered 33% of the Earth's surface
• Flamborough Head is a chank headland with lots of chemical erosion
• The Holderness coastline erodes at an average of 1.2 metres per year due to narrow beaches, unconsolidated sediment, and boulder clay that forms a suspension and flocculates at the mouth of the Humber
• Holmpton erodes the fastest at 5 metres+ per year
• Spurn Point is a 6km long spit
• Most waves are destructive and erode the Holderness coastline a lot
• Hornsea, a coastal resort, has a 'hold the line' shoreline management plan
• Cowden, a small settlement, has a 'do nothing' shoreline management plan
• Withernsea has a £6.3 million sea wall that is 2.2km long with rock armour
• Hornsea has 1.8km long groynes
• The Sundarbans coastal zone extends over 10,000 km2 and is formed by sediment deposits from the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus rivers
• The Sundarbans is located in the Bay of Bengal and forms an ecosystem of forest and swamps
• Tidal action forms long north-south channels (Kahls) that drain the land in the Sundarbans
• Monsoon winds blow sand into dunes in the Sundarbans, while finer silts wash into the bay and form islands
• Vegetation succession forms dense mangrove forests in the Sundarbans, which are home to 180 Bengal tigers
• The Sundarbans acts as a protective barrier against floods for people living in Khulna and the port of Mongla
• The Sundarbans coast is retreating by 200m per year