NIGER – RAPID POPULATION GROWTH

LEDC – One of the poorest countries in the world

Population Growth Rate of 2.9% (very high)
Almost half of the population is under 15 years old
Fertility Rate of 7.1 children per mother

Population Growth is due to falling death rates

-Reliable, clean water supply
-Babies are inoculated against disease
-Better diets are eaten
-More clinics + hospitals
-Better health education
-Women are becoming more educated
RUSSIA – FALLING BIRTH RATES + HIV
Population decline from 143m (2007) to a predicted 111m (2050)
Due to:
-High death rate (Low life expectancy – Male = 59y/o)
-High level of alcohol related deaths
-More than 1,000,000 Russians with AIDS
-Low birth rate (1.1 children per woman)
-Russian women are well educated and so do not want to have
large numbers of children
-Low level of immigration
-High level of emigration to other European countries, in search of
a better lifestyle
CHINA – BIRTH CONTROL POLICIES
L AT E R , L O N G E R ,
FEWER (1970-79)
China realised that there
would not be enough food,
jobs etc. and so introduced
this policy
Encouraged:
- delay before 1st child
- longer interval between
children
- fewer children overall
ONE CHILD POLICY
( 1 9 7 8 - P R E S E N T D AY )
The rapid population growth
seemed to be stalling China’s
development and so they
introduced this policy
One child per family
Population growth has slowed
down – China has avoided
having an extra 300,000,000
births
However:
- there are many female
orphans
- much pressure is place on
the child to succeed
- too many boys/not enough
girls
SINGAPORE – PRENATAL POLICIES
In the 1980s, the Singaporean government decided that it
needed a young, vibrant work force to develop its economy
- encouraged rapid population growth through natural
growth and immigration
- even though Singapore already has a high
population density
- encouraged more educated women to have more children
Introduced ‘Stop at Two’ in 1970 to slow down birth rates
(successful)
- gave grants of US$7000 to less well educated women who
agreed to be sterilized after 2 children
Introduced ‘Have Three or More, if you can afford it’ in the mid
1980s to raise the birth rate
- tax rebates for the 3rd child
- subsidies for day-care
- priority in enrolling in the best schools
EU - MIGRATION
Almost 500m people are able to travel freely between the EU countries
- no need for a visa or even show a passport
Lots of movement between the EU countries
Advantages
- mixing of culture
- job vacancies are filled quickly
- EU funds can improve infrastructure
Disadvantages
- loss of distinctive culture
- racism
- conflict
- over migration in some places

Polish Workers in the UK

-Perform many unskilled jobs
-Boomerang Migrants
- work hard in UK
- then return to Poland to set up a business
READING – CBD AND INNER CITY PLANNING
Construction of The Oracle Shopping Centre (late 1999) revitalised
Reading’s shopping facilities, providing more and larger modern shops,
attracting more shoppers (wide sphere of influence), to support
Reading’s economy
Encouraged by the local authority by making the planning easy for the
developers
Pedestrianised Broad St., the road just outside the Oracle to make it more
attractive to shoppers and to raise the footfall in these areas, benefitting
local shops
-Added street furniture (benches and public art) to make the area
more aesthetically pleasing to the shoppers
-Because of these developments it turns into a secondary high
order shopping area, but still manages to keep a traditional
high street, which compliments the Oracle
ATLANTA – URBAN SPRAWL
Fastest growing metropolitan city in USA
Population increase from 1.4m to over 5m in 36 years – results in urban sprawl (expanding
into rural areas – RURAL-URBAN FRINGE
Problems Created
- air + noise pollution is the 4th worst in the US – 90% of residents drive to work –
respiratory illnesses are common (bronchitis, asthma etc.)
- suburbs along Chattahoochee river increase run-off and contaminate drinking water –
septic tanks are necessary
- farmland has been bought up and replaced with shopping malls etc. – farmers’
livelihoods taken
- 125 hectares of trees are lost per day by deforestation in the city
- concrete and asphalt mean that surface water cannot drain away – FLASH FLOODS +
CONTAMINATION
- Hotlanta: concrete and removal of trees leads to a heating effect – 10ºC higher than in
the countryside
CAIRO – POLLUTION, SHANTY TOWNS + CONGESTION
1950-2000: Population rose from 2m to 18m - Infrastructure not able to cope
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
- lack of housing - satellite + dormitory towns
- 80% of Cairo covered by built around the city
illegally built brick houses on
farmlands by the Nile - ring road built around the city
- 2-3m people set up homes - people with donkey carts
amongst the tombs of Old Cairo
licensed to collect + recycle
- congestion
rubbish
- in the last 30 years, no. of cars
rose from 100,000 to >1m - the Greater Cairo Waste
- slow journeys to work Water Project extended and
- pollution repaired the sewage system
- burning of fuel leading to - modern metro system was
heavily polluted air built
- leaking sewers
- homes + public services were
- illegally dumped waste upgraded in the most run
contaminating ground water
down parts of the city
CHAITEN, CHILE - VOLCANO
2 May 2008 Chaiten Volcano erupted – previously thought to be dormant
Caldera volcano
Formed at a convergent boundary
- sits on edge of South American and Nazca plates (beneath because sea plate)
- subducting plate melts and pressure builds up due to friction between plates
- magma tricked through plate boundary and built up huge chamber under crater
4000 people fled homes
- evacuation was difficult because of terrain
- evacuated by Naval ship
Ash went 20km up and settled over Chile and Argentina
Town coated in ash 15cm thick
Forests set on fire
Schools used as shelters
HAITI - EARTHQUAKE
Haiti lies on the Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden Fault which is a product of the transform
plate boundary between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate.
- these plates, after much friction, moved violently apart, creating the earthquake
Death toll was so high due as the earthquake took place during the evening rush hour
- lots of children coming back from school (unsupervised)
- workers coming home from work
- crossing unstable bridges and going past unstable buildings
- unstable because there was not enough money in the country to build
stable buildings as the country is nearly always in major debt due to the common
nature of hazards in the country
Epicentre right underneath the capital city, Port-au-Prince – most densely populated
part of Haiti – many tall buildings affected by the earthquake
7 on the Richter Scale
It was not the major earthquake that caused the damage, but the smaller scale
aftershocks which collapsed all of the ready weakened buildings
MADAGASCAR - RAINFORESTS
9th poorest country in the world
78% of workers work in the primary sector
Deforestation people have used land for agriculture
- lots of species under threat because of deforestation (eg. flying fox) – LOSS OF
BIODIVERSITY
People are cutting down rainforests because countries exports rely on agriculture (70%) so
need to grow fast crops like rice in more areas
Woods such as ebony and rosewood can be sold worldwide at a high price
Trees are burned to create farm land
- ash supplies nutrients for a while
- crops grow well for number of years
- heavy rainfall washes away nutrients – SOIL EROSION
- crops no longer grow because all nutrients used up
- FARMERS MOVE ON – SHIFTING CULTIVATION
Animals lose food and habitat
SAHARA AND THE SAHEL - DESERTS
The Sahel: the transitional zone between the true desert to the north and
the savanna grasslands to the south – currently moving further south
- average rainfall of 300-600mm per year
Desertification: the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically
as a result of drought, or inappropriate agriculture
- overcultivation
- overgrazing
- deforestation
- overpopulation
- climate change
Topsoil erosion by wind due to lack of rain + lack of vegetation protecting it
MALI - DESERTIFICATION
Largest country in West Africa but one of the poorest in the world
80% of Mali’s population work in agriculture
65% of Mali’s land is desert or semi-desert
- large amount of drought and food shortages in these areas
Overcultivation in the areas south of the SAHEL (due to a population
growth rate of 3%) leads to LAND DEGRADATION
- results in topsoil erosion by wind due to a lack of vegetation +
moisture to protect it
- extends the SAHEL south
MYANMAR – CYCLONE NARGIS
3rd May 2008 – Cyclone Nargis hit
Myanmar
Wind Speeds between 200-300km/h
Flooding & mudslides due to heavy
rainfall.
3.6 meter storm surge flooded
Irrawaddy Delta
2.4 million people affected
140,000 people killed or missing
Infrastructure damage
Agricultural damage
LONG TERM DAMAGE
- homelessness
- lack of food and clean water
supply
- rise in food prices
TROPICAL STORM – HOW IS IT
FORMED
Warm air from North meets warm air
from South in tropics
Sea temp. 27ºC and sea 60m deep,
winds begin to circle
anticlockwise due to the Earth’s
rotation
Intense low pressure creates the eye
of the storm as the spiralling air
rises to create low pressure
along the equator. Tropical
storms develop as depressions
and wind speeds increase.
Easterly winds at high levels move
them east to west at first, as they
move further from the equator it
loses power as the sea
temperature decreases.
Die out over land as there is less heat
and no water to keep them going.
AUSTRALIA - DROUGHT
The Murray-Darling rivers provide over 70% of irrigation to the farming areas
which produce 40% of Australia’s food (New South Wales and Victoria)
Since 2002, rainfall has been well below average and rivers + reservoirs are too
low to provide enough water for crops and livestock to survive
- Average rainfall in outback can be 336 mm per year - very low
In Goulburn, farmers cannot keep livestock in the hills as the Pejar reservoir has
run dry
- abattoirs and wool plants cut consumption by 30%
- tap water is unfit for human consumption, so bottled water must be bought
In Melbourne, residents are fined or imprisoned if they wash their cars, fill
swimming pools or sprinkle gardens
In Sydney, after 4 years of drought, the main reservoir is at 40% capacity + bush
fires regularly occur due to the dry weather
MOZAMBIQUE - FLOODS
February 2000: Zambezi, Limpopo and Save rivers flood
Many of the country’s 19m people live on the floodplains of these rivers
- most of the population are farmers, and these are the most fertile soils
The banks of the Limpopo river burst, causing severe flood damage
About 2 weeks later, Cyclone Eline hit the Mozambique coast near Beira,
north of the areas previously affected by flooding
Flash floods inundated low farmlands around Chokwe + Xai-Xai
- more than 180,000 people affected
Dirt roads easily turned to mud + so it took 2 days for a food lorry to travel
200 miles from the port at Beira to Caia, the town used as a food
distribution centre
INDIA – SUBSISTENCE RICE FARMING
Rice is the staple of the diet in SE Asia
Grown to feed themselves and their families
- labour intensive and requires the whole family
The farmer would also grow a secondary crop on the same land – beans,
lentils or peas. They may also keep chickens for eggs or meat
Grows best in the heavy monsoon seasons or where irrigation water can be
provided
The floodwaters are usually useful from the Ganges however
- floods can be catastrophic + destroy the rice crop
- some years rainfall is lower than expected + the crop is ruined
Rice gives a high yield per hectare
Heavy alluvial soils provide an impervious muddy layer
NEW ZEALAND – COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE
Warm, wet climate ideal for growing grass – great for pastoral farming
HARWOOD’S FARM, NORTH CANTERBURY
- over 1500 hectares in size – mostly hill country or rolling downs
- special grasses planted on this land, providing high quality feed
for large herds of sheep + cattle during the winter
- fed on hay + silage when it snows in winter
- Corriedale sheep: provide good quantity of meat + wool
- Hereford cattle: sold for meat in October to save the cost of feeding
them over the winter
- Rabbits are regularly culled to stop them from eating large quantities
of grass