geog-mayflower

life works in mysterious ways

2009-01-12T09:11:00.001-08:00

I had a friend in JC - he worked real hard for 2 years, but still flunk his A's. Instead, he went on to polytechnic to do Aeronautical Engineering and consistently top his cohort. When I last met up with him in December, it hasn't change. His GPA was near 4.0, which is the max.

Had another friend in JC - she nearly got herself retained in JC1 despite working really hard. When it came to A's, she failed, despite studying like crazy. Instead, she went on to Nanyang Poly to do Biomedical Engineering, and achieve higher than 3.7 GPA. She's now in NTU.

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What's the point of telling you all these?

I too had a few times in life, where I didn't get what I wanted despite trying real hard. But it turns out to be better. Just like my 2 friends.

In the past, all computer text looked like this:

Yup. Ugly isn't it? All the alphabets are of the same width, when "i" and "l" are clearly smaller width than "T" and "W".

The person who manage to put the correct width to all the text in computers today studied calligraphy. He did it not because he liked it, he did it because he was forced to. Turns out it became something really useful to him in the future. It was because of his lessons in calligraphy was he able to know how to put the characters in computers to be in the right proportion.

The very same person went on to establish a computer company. It became very successful. Yet, eventually, he was kicked out of his own computer company! He went on to establish another one, which failed badly.

In 1997, the first company he established was going to close down. It was then they decided to invite him back to be their CEO. He manage to bring this company from closing down to one of the most successful computer company today. And he couldn't do it - if he wasn't kick out of his first company, to start another one where he met many talented people that helped him revive this company.

This person is Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer. If it had closed in 1997, the world wouldn't see the iPod.

------------------------------------------
He said "you can't connect the dots when you look forward, only when you look back".

Some of you gotten grades that you wanted, or better you've expected. I'm really happy for you :).
Some of you didn't, despite all the hardwork - yes I also think that you deserve better.

But it happened to me many times too. Work real hard, but I didn't get what I wanted. Turns out when I look back, it all connects and turns out better for me. It can be for you. What matters is what's next, not what could have happened. I had friends who had L1R5 of 7, but because they didn't make full use of "what's next", they screwed up their A's and couldn't go anywhere.

It may not be a choice you want, but it CAN be a choice that turns out better than what you wanted. It's up to you how you make it.

If you want to hear my story, tell me on MSN and I'll tell you. Hear Steve Jobs' Story:

open houses!

2009-01-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

Go take a look! Find out more about the courses available, what is exactly about.

DO talk to the seniors there (Highly recommended) Don't just talk to one. Talk to a few (multiple sources and cross-referencing) to get a more accurate view.

Find out more about the school culture and lifestyle. Different schools have different school culture that is suited for different people. It will either make you want to go to school more or make you hate going to school!

Find out how to get there(bus, MRT, drive whatever) via http://gothere.sg

Polytechnics

Republic Poly
7 AND 10 January
10 am - 6pm
Find out more at http://www.rp.sg/openhouse/

Singapore Poly
8 - 10 January
10 am - 6pm
Find out more at http://openhouse.sp.edu.sg/

Temasek Poly
8-9 Jan (12pm - 5.30pm)
10 Jan (11am-5.30pm, Jam & Hop: 7pm-1030pm)
Find out more at http://www.tp.edu.sg/events/openhouse/

Free Shuttle Bus (Bus schedule)
8 & 9 Jan Every 15 minutes from 12noon to 4pm.
10 Jan Every 15 minutes from 8.30am to 3.45pm.
Pick-up Points:

Sengkang
Beside pick-up point outside Sengkang MRT Exit C / UOB Bank.

Tampines Central
Outside Tampines MRT station; same queue as free shuttle service to IKEA.

Toa Payoh Central
Taxi stand in front of Toa Payoh Community Library and Block 179.

Nanyang Poly
8 AND 10 January (11am - 6pm)
9 Jan (11am - 9 pm, Night Open House: 6-9pm)
Find out more at http://www.ibuzz.nyp.edu.sg/OH09/

Ngee Ann Poly
8 - 10 January (11am - 6pm)
Find out more at http://www.np.edu.sg/openhouse/index.html
Free Shuttle Bus from Clementi MRT Bus Stop

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JCs

North Zone JCs - Anderson, Innova, Serangoon, Yishun
9 Jan, 9 am - 4 pm
Find out more at http://www.innovajc.moe.edu.sg/templates/innova_jc_main/openhouse.html

Anglo-Chinese JC
13 Jan, 1 pm - 6 pm
Find out more at http://www.acjc.edu.sg//article/410

Catholic JC
9 Jan, 1pm - 6pm
Find out more at http://www.cjc.edu.sg/?p=148

Hwa Chong Institution
Day of O'level Results Release : 1pm - 5pm
Day after O'level Release: 8am - 5pm
Find out more at http://www.hwachong.edu.sg/ViewEvents.asp?EID=62

Millennia Institute
17 Jan,
9am - 2pm
Find out more at http://www.millenniainstitute.moe.edu.sg/

Pioneer JC (My Alma Mater!)
8 Jan, 9.30am - 3.30pm
Find out more at http://www.pioneerjc.moe.edu.sg/pjc.php?p=61&id=82

Saint Andrews JC
14 Jan, 12pm - 6pm
Find out more at http://www.standrewsjc.moe.edu.sg/home/

Temasek JC
13 Jan, 10am - 4pm
Find out more at http://www.tjc.edu.sg/TJC_progsheet.pdf

Open House Information Not Available / Over
Jurong JC, Meridian JC, National JC, Victoria JC, Raffles JC, Tampines Jc

Nanyang JC: Jan 2009, exact date not announced http://nanyangjc.org/

Help yourself

2008-10-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

Go to this site for definition of terms
http://www.geographyinthenews.rgs.org/glossary/default.aspx

For an explanation of longshore drift
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longshore_drift

For farming in Sinagpore

http://www.ava.gov.sg/AgricultureFisheriesSector/FarmingInSingapore/AgroTechParks/

For Green Revolution
http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edsoftware/ir/files/geo-agriculture/index.html

The Green Revolution has improved agricultural processes and techniques that led to huge increases in the production of crops. Many countries such as India, China, Philippines and Indonesia have benefited from the Green Revolution. Though it has brought about many benefits to developing countries, the use of modern technologies in the form of hybrid strains and chemical fertilisers in agriculture have brought about environmental as well as socioeconomic problems.

Cumulative Causation:

the process by which economic activity leading to prosperity and increasing economic development tends to concentrate in an area with an initial advantage, draining investment and skilled labour from the peripheral area (part of the backwash effect).

Core periphery theory
areas with different degrees of economic development. Within any particular region or country, development is unlikely to take place evenly. Areas with geographical advantages (such as soil fertility, raw materials, and access to trade routes) will become more developed than others. These are the core areas, where capital, infrastructure, and employment are concentrated, leaving periphery areas that lack these resources. Core and periphery regions may be identified at many levels. On a national scale, for example, the UK has a northern periphery and southeast core.

Do not panic Just additinal insurance If you do not understand no porblem

2008-10-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

http://mayflower-firstaidkit.blogspot.com/2007/08/notes-on-map-reading.html

Map Reading Skills

1. Reading Grid References

a.Four-figure grid reference

Identify how a post office is represented on the map by reading the legend.

Look at the map and locate the grid square where the post office is found.

Read the easting (two figures – 10) and the northing (two figures – 37) that intersects at the bottom left corner of the grid square.

The four-figure grid reference is 1037.

b.Six-figure grid reference
Repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 of reading a four-figure grid reference.

Divide the space between the two eastings (08 and 09) into 10 equal parts. Number the parts 1 to 9.

Divide the space between the two northings (36 and 37) into 10 equal parts. Number the parts 1 to 9.

Locate the small square where the school is found.

Read the easting (three figures – 080) and the northing (three figures – 365) that intersect at the bottom left corner of the newly divided grid square.

Six-figure grid reference
The six-figure grid reference of the school is 080365.

Note: If the feature is very large, it is acceptable to accept any six-figure reference that lies within the boundary of that feature

2.Measuring Distances

a.Straight-line distance

To measure the straight line distance between the post office and school:
Locate the road (or feature) you wish to measure.

Place a piece of paper between the given points. Mark out their position at the edge of the piece of paper.

Put the paper on the line scale of the map.

Adjust your paper to read off the answer (if necessary).

Express your answer either in km or m.

b.Curved distance (using a string)

1.Locate the road you want to measure on the map.

2.Place a piece of string carefully along the road.

3.Mark the starting point of your measurement on the string.

This is step 2 even though the label is step 3 in the diagram.

This is step 3 even though the label is step 2 in the diagram.

4.Place the string along the line to be measured and mark the ending point.

5.Straighten out the string.

6.Move it to the line scale on your map and work out the distance.

3.Finding Direction and Bearing

a. Direction

The direction of one place to another can be determined by using compass points.

The main points are north, south, east and west.

The other points are northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest.

For more accurate directions, further divisions are made between the compass points.

Always take note of the key word ‘from’ in the question.

The location that comes after this word is where you begin your measurement.

If you are required to measure the direction of the post office (101376) from the school (080365):

Locate the school and the post office using the grid references given.

Draw a grid north arrow at the centre of the school.

The vertical line must be parallel to the easting and the horizontal line to the northing.

Draw a line to connect the centre of the arrow to the center of the post office.

Determine the direction assuming the top of the map is always the grid north.

The direction of the post office from the school is east-northeast.

b.Compass Bearing

They are measured in degrees clockwise from 0° to 360°.

To measure the bearing of the school from the post office:

Repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 used for the measuring of directions.

Using a protractor, place the 0° on the right side of the grid north arrow and read clockwise to obtain the grid bearing.

If it is more than 180°, the protractor must be placed on the left side of the grid north arrow.

The compass bearing is 243°.

Measuring Gradient
Gradient refers to the steepness of the slope.

Gradient =

Difference in vertical height between two points
---------------------------------------------------------
Horizontal distance between two points

The vertical height can be obtained by looking at the value of the spot height, bench mark or trigonometrical station.

You can also derive it by reading the contour lines.

The horizontal distance can be obtained by measuring the straight line or curved distance between the two given points.

Gradients are usually expressed in ratios such as 1:5, meaning that for every 5 units on the ground there is an increase/decrease in height by 1 unit.

To locate the gradient between the school and the post office:

Locate the school and the post office using the grid references given.

Derive the height of both the school and the post office by checking the contour lines.

Calculate the difference in height between the school (50m) and the post office (150m).

Last minute development scheme in Malaysia

2008-10-22T03:55:00.000-07:00

In case you need one more e.g. of development schmen in Malaysia
http://www.felda.net.my/felda/english/felda01.asp

Federal Land Development Authority, better known as FELDA is the foremost land development agency in Malaysia. FELDA was established on 1st July 1956 under the Land Development Act 1956 as a result of recommendation of Government Working Committee.

FELDA was established with the purpose to help the government carried out rural land development schemes and to uplift the economic status as well as living standard of the rural community.

Originally, FELDA was functioning as a board to manage and channel financial aids to the state Government to carry out land development schemes in the respective states besides coordinating land development in these states which include the movement of population within the states.
Later FELDA's function was enlarged by the government and from 1961 FELDA was entrusted to carry out on its own development and settlement schemes throughout the country.

Todate, FELDA has developed approximately 480 new areas totalling 853,313 hectares which became plantation and settlement areas.

A total of 112,635 people were chosen as settlers from among the rural poor and landless community. Together with their families, they were resettled in the new settlement. Land development and settlement in the rural areas has now brought economic and social development as well as political stability to the country.

Through land development and settlement, FELDA has uplifted the living standard of the rural community as well as narrowing the gap in the quality of the life between the urban and rural population

Mnemonics for food notes

2008-10-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Pg 10: Reasons for variation in food consumption:
A f*ing (AFfordibility)
Stupid (STability)
Ass (Accessibility)
TAAGs (>> Trade, Availability of ......etc)

PG 22: Part II: Factors affecting Food Productivity
Poly (POLItical)
Technic (TECHNology)
Stop (Social)
Physical (Physical)
Education (Economic)

Pg 36: Part IIb: Problems due to intensifying food production
Irritating (problems due to IRRIgation:)
Salty (salinisaiton)
Water (Waterlogging)

Chemically (problems due to use of CHEMICALS)
Imbalanced (Imbalance of soil nutrients)
Eeeky (Eutrophication)
Water (WATER pollution)

2008-10-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Students

Wednesday:
This is the final set of notes for the geog of food. It is also uploaded in the LMS.
I will not upload anymore notes. Good luck for those who are doing A Math.

http://www.transferbigfiles.com/Get.aspx?id=fe803444-b90d-4b91-966c-98f1ee283f87

Good luck for tomorrow.

Tuesday:
I have just seen the English exam paper. My daughter being a pte candidate managed to take home the paper. Does not look to bad.

What can you do from now to Thursday afternoon?
a.Practise your math
b. Go through this blog with a fine tooth comb and try to remember as many facts as possible. Egeog is still a lot of recall, explanation question so if you study you can score unlike ss where you have to think alot. Not that you do not have to think for egoeg.

Mr Luo and I have doen our best and the rest is up to you all. DO nto scroll down the blog too fast. Try to understand the answers.

Good luck.

Monday:
We are indebted to Mr Luo who worked hard to update the notes on food . I have already upload on the LMS and if you cannot get it, the link is here.

http://www.transferbigfiles.com/Get.aspx?id=553ee664-2534-43c7-b5b2-772f1f4341b4

There is an article about China land reform for those who are doing Geog of Food.If you cannot understand it is o.k.

I have posted additional question and answers on river, coast and natural vegetation to stimulate your mind. If yo udo nto understand do not panic. These are just extra for that extra insurance to get the A 1

Good luck for your chemistry today. By the time you see this blog
many who have done the paper.
You cannot change the past only the future.

Good luck for you English paper tomorrow.
Today I have posted two set of news articles .

The first is on development of Singapore.It is very important for you to read.

I have also posted three articles on hunger which were published by Straits Time. Hope this will help give you the additional edge.

Case study of Typhoon Nargis.( This question shows how the topic of river, coast and natural vegetation can be combined together with development))

2008-10-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Figure 1A
Source:. www.acc-tv.com/images/wjla/news/envna_myanmarcyclone

On 2 May 2008 tropical cyclone Nargis hit the coast of Myanmar and devastated large parts of the low-lying Irrawaddy delta. Winds exceeding 190 kilometres per hour ripped through the Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon for more than ten hours. Homes were flattened, more sturdy structures damaged, trees uprooted and power lines downed. In rural parts of the country up to 95 per cent of homes were wiped off the face of the earth. There was an estimated loss of
146 000 lives.

Figure 1B
Source: www.ifrc.org

1. Figure 1A is a map showing the path of Cyclone Nargis which caused a natural disaster in Myanmar on 2 May 2008. Figure 1B is a short write–up on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis on the southern coastal areas of Myanmar.

a) (i) Name the natural disaster related to tropical cyclone Nargis that happened to Myanmar.[1]

(ii) What evidence from Figure 1B suggest that the destruction caused by nature, Cyclone Nargis, was severe? [5]

(iii)Suggest 3 other natural causes that could have contributed to the severity of the natural disaster .[3]

b)What are some human activities that are likely to have contributed to the severity of the destruction brought about by Cyclone Nargis. Support your answer with examples.[8]

Suggested Answers
a(i) Name the natural disaster related to tropical cyclone Nargis that happened to Myanmar.[1]

Natural Disaster related to Cyclone Nargis or any tropical storm is FLOOD. ( 1)

(ii) What evidence from Figure 1B suggest that the destruction caused by nature, Cyclone Nargis, was severe? [5]

Evidence from write up pointing to the severity of destruction

· Estimate loss of lives was 146 000

· Flooding of large part of low lying Irrawady delta caused by strong wind pushing the waves inland making the floods more severe because Cyclone Nargis would have deposited a lot of rainwater as all tropical storms do.

· Strong wind tore away homes in Yangon the capital city.

· Rural area 95 % of homes ripped off- millions of people loss their homes

· Trees uprooted showing the strength of the storm

· Power lines fallen could have caused death by electrification of people in the vicinity .

[must infer that large number of people died. Must infer that urban areas tend to have more people of which Yangon is one of the places that the cyclone Nargis Swept through dumping lots of Rainfall..

(iii)Suggest 3 other natural causes that could have contributed to the severity of the natural disaster .[3]

· Melting of snow from the Himalayan mountains caused River Irrawady to swell and flood the banks.

· The floodplains of Irrawady delta are too low-lying resulting in floods whenever there is heavy rain .

· Rivers channel bed has become shallow due to heavy silting.

· Storm surge resulting from the strong storm winds .

b)What are some human activities that are likely to have contributed to the severity of the destruction brought about by Cyclone Nargis. Support your answer with examples.[8]

Clearing of forests

· Satellite pictures of Irrawaddy delta shows that deforestation on a large scale has caused heavy silting of River Irrawaddy and the extension of the delta further out into the Bay of Bengal .(1)

-Deforestation Increase surface runoff when less trees intercept the rainwater in tropical climate. (1)

--Heavy silting of river bed is the result of increased rate of erosion on bare slopes after deforestation. There are no roots to bind the soil on slopes. (1)

-Silting of river beds would mean the riverbed is shallow and hence has less capacity to discharge water into the sea giving rise to flooding when there is a storm surge (1) when strong wind pushes the sea water in inland through the delta region causing severe flooding

· Rapid growth in population and the fertile alluvial soil of Irrawaddy delta have attracted many poor people to settle in the delta region to practice subsistence farming. A delta being flat would have spurred growth of transportation resulting in large migration of people (1) to the delta region.
So when the tropical storm hit the area, more people are
affected as compared to a smaller population.(1)

· Urban development

Myanmar being an LDC would mean there is rapid urbanization because of rural-urban migration.
More roads and concrete pavement would be constructed to cater to heavy human traffic. (1)

Concrete pavement increases surface run off (1) resulting in rainwater flowing into the river channel quicker than a forested area. Result is severe flooding in urban areas

· Enhanced greenhouse effect

-Global warming has increased the intensity of tropical storms in recent years resulting in greater destruction e.g Katrina of 2005 hit Florida and New Orleans in USA.
So is the intensity of Nargis…the most powerful Tropical storm that Myanmar has ever recorded.(1)

-Increased atmospheric temperature has caused greater rate of melting of snow in the Himalayas (1)which is the source of Irrawaddy River. The greater melting of snow means more water in river channel. When the greater volume of water in the channel meets with the storm surge, there is a double whammy. Flooding will be very severe.

Award marks for efforts in explaining processes involved e.g deforestation and erosion, increased surface runoff and silting of rivers.

Award marks for candidate who show application of knowledge of rapid snow melting due to global warming and silting plus the dumping of rain by the storm that have contributed to the severity of storm- a case of nature and man creating this horrendous event.

c) Evaluate the effectiveness of management strategies that can reduce the negative impact of floods.[8]

Strategies in reducing negative impact of floods.

1.Building artificial levées and dykes
Walls of sand, stone and concrete are built along river banks to increase the capacity of the river to hold water.

2.Construction of dams
Dams control the amount of water flowing into the rivers, using gates to hold back or release water.

3.Building control
Maps showing flood-prone areas provide information for developers to ensure that floods would not affect the buildings they construct.

4.Watershed management
Programmes can be implemented to manage the entire watershed by conserving vegetation cover or re-planting trees so as to reduce surface run-off.

5.Flood insurance
Residents in flood-prone areas can have their property insured against flood, so that they can afford to repair their property if floods occur.

6.Monitoring and education
Scientists can use modern technology to monitor weather patterns and warn of floods in advance.
Citizens can be educated on how to react when floods occur.

7.Post-flood management measures
Plans can be made by authorities to evacuate victims when floods occur.
Foreign aid may also be offered to help flood victims.

Level 1 (0-3m)
States/ describes the measures of flood control
Provides no/ brief examples with little details of how effective those measures are in flood control

Level 2 (4-6m)

Candidate gave his judgement statement such as ‘to a certain extent’ and gave reason(s) why he said so.
Provides explanations with 2 details but provides one –sided e.g only hardwares like building of dams, dykes, artificial levees and did not give the software measures like educating people on deforestation impact and what to do in a flood.
Citing of examples like Singapore River that had undergone resectioning to deepen and widen the river channel to increase its capacity to discharge storm water.

Level 3 (7-8m)
Judgement statement and indicating how some strategies are more feasible in Less Developed Countries because of lack of funds to construct or maintain the hardwares like construction of dykes, dams

Provide more than 3 measures and weigh the feasibility of each measure especially in the context of LDCs.

Application of knowledge of how corruption of govt officials can derail flood management by diverting funds meant for such flood management into their own pocket
how poverty can make buying of flood insurance a non feasible measure e.g in LDCS like Myanmar.

Worksheet on River and Coast ( Combination of River and Coasttopic)

2008-10-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

1 a. Figure 1A is a graph showing surface runoff into a river channel from an urban area and a forested area.

a(i)Describe the differences in the surface runoff into the river channel from the urban and the forested areas. [4]

(ii)Explain why there is a difference in the surface runoff into the river channel. [6]

b. Account for the different characteristics of a river in its upper and lower course. [7]

Suggested Answers

a(i)Describe the differences in the surface runoff into the river channel from the urban and the forested areas. [4]

Urban area
Description of graph
· The graph shows that the surface runoff into river channel for urban areas is much higher than the runoff in forested areas. (1)
· The graph also shows a shorter time taken for the peak shown representing the discharge into the river channel (1) from the urban areas.

Forested area
Description of graph
· The graph shows that less water is discharged into the river channel from forested area(1)
· The graph also shows the rainwater takes a longer time to reach its peak in the river channel(1)

(ii)Explain why there is a difference in the surface runoff into the river channel. [6]

Urban Area

Explanation of graph

· In an urban area, there will be very high surface runoff and little infiltration into the asphalt and concrete surfaces

· Rain which falls immediately gets channelled into drains and from there into the river. (1)

· There is no interception or absorption because of asphalt and concrete ground (1).

· Rapid rise of water in river channel soon after the rain will likely cause floods.

Rural Area

· Less concrete and more natural vegetation to intercept rain resulting in less surface runoff immediately after the rain.(1)

· Percolation of rainwater into the ground which acts like a sponge would mean water will travel underground and fill up the water table before excess water finds its way back into the river channel somewhere further downstream.

This explains why the forested areas have less surface runoff that goes into the river channel which will cause flood.

b. Account for the different characteristics of a river in its upper and lower course. [7]

1 m for each pairing of description

1 m for each pairing of description

Explanation for the shape and other characteristics

Upper course
· In the upper section of the river, the river water is moving very fast because
· the gradient is steep.(1)
· The rocks that the river carries are very potent in eroding the bed of the river because they act as tools to help chisel the sides and bed of the river .
· More vertical erosion takes place resulting in (1)
· a steep-sided V shape valley and gorges and waterfalls

Lower course
· In the lower section of the river, the river valley acquires a wide V shape because

· the river is moving slowly due to loss of gradient, increase in load in channel and consequent loss of energy

· so more lateral erosion occurs resulting in a broad channel and

· deposition of fine river alluvium takes place resulting in formation of floodplains after several episodes of flooding.Max of 4m—any plausible explanation

Figure 1B shows one coastal management strategy.

Identify the coastal management strategy shown in Figure 1B.
Evaluate the effectiveness of several strategies in coastal protection.

Candidates may include the following :

Groynes
· Constructed at right angles to the coast to encourage deposition of materials transported by longshore drift

· Materials are deposited on the side of the groynes facing longshore drift
· However, groynes deprive the coast further down from receiving fresh supply of materials and hence aggravate erosion of the coast on the opposite side of the groyne that does not face the oncoming longshore drift i.e the downdrift side.
· Need to build a series of groynes to protect the entire stretch of the coast
· Short term protection.

Breakwaters
· Waves are made to break offshore at a distance from the coast causing destructive waves to lose energy

· Create a zone of quiet waters between the breakwaters and the coast
· Waves may deposit sediments to create a beach Over time, they serve to extend the coast seawards in the form of a beach.
· Breakwaters only encourage deposition along the part of the coast that is protected.
· The other parts of the coast that is left unprotected will
deprives the coast further down from receiving fresh
supply of materials

· Need to build a series of breakwaters to protect the entire stretch of coast

Seawalls.
· A seawall is usually made of concrete which absorbs the energy of the waves and protects the coast against strong waves.

· Does not guard against backwash, resulting in base of seawalls being eroded away. Seawalls can collapse over time.

· It is costly to build and maintain a seawall.

Soft engineering
· Plant mangroves along shore. Protect the coast against erosion by strong waves and winds. Roots of mangrove bind loose soil
· Prop roots trap sediments and reduce coastal erosion
· Increased sediment buildup may result in shallower coast – affect port activities
· However, coasts with destructive waves do not support mangroves.

· Planting of marran grass along the beach may help to trap sand .

· However all forms of soft engineering would still require human cooperation in the form of limiting human activities in order for nature to take root.

Candidates at each level will show the following characteristics:

Level 1 (0-3m)

May not refer to a measure or be vague in expression
No place reference or very general references to location
No mention of effectiveness, or simple statements only eg. “it worked”, “it was a lot better”

Level 2 (4-6m)

One or more measures considered

Allow assessment of measures
Brief statements of effectiveness, ‘it stopped erosion taking place,’ or ‘erosion occur less often’

Level 3 (7-8m)

Several measures considered in detail. Both hard and soft engineering methods discussed.

Clear statements of judgement such as ‘ high/ low degree of effectiveness ‘

CHINA'S LAND REFORMS

2008-10-19T21:18:00.001-07:00

Oct 20, 2008

Farmers working in the fields of Wenxian County, Longnan City, in north-west gansu Province. There is hope the new reforms will boost rural incomes in China. -- PHOTO: XINHUA

740m farmers benefit from new policy
They have rights to pool their land for the first time since 1949
By Peh Shing Huei

BEIJING: China's top leaders finally announced yesterday the bold land reforms which its 740 million farmers have been waiting for - a week after observers feared it may have been torpedoed internally.

For the first time since the communists took over the country in 1949, farmers would have the formal rights to 'sub-contract, lease, exchange and swop their land use', reported the official Xinhua news agency.

But the land remains collectively owned and not privatised.
By allowing farmers to pool their land, it is expected to lead to greater economies of scale and boost productivity through modern machinery.
That, hopefully, would boost rural income, as the countryside has been left behind during China's economic boom in the last three decades.
Experts say farmers' bargaining power over their land is expected to increase substantially with the new policy, especially if land leases are increased. At present, farmers can lease land for a maximum term of 30 years.

And while yesterday's document did not specify the new tenure, it stated that land contracts would be 'unchanged over time' (chang jiu bu bian), a departure from previous policy statements which just said 'over the long term' (chang qi bu bian).

This could mean that land leases may likely be extended to over 30 years, driving up the land value significantly. Observers had speculated that it could be 70 years, as is the case with urban residential land.

'This is great for the farmers,' said rural sociologist Zhu Qizhen of China Agricultural University in Beijing. 'They can demand a higher price for their land if they want to sell. Now, local officials offer them a pittance when they take their land, since their leases are only for 30 years.'

If leases were indeed extended, farmer Wang Yuling, 55, from north-eastern Liaoning province, says he would be able to 'invest more in fertiliser and irrigation systems for the land, and produce more crops'.

Giving farmers more say over their land would hopefully guard against rampant land grabs by local officials, who seize plots for sale to property developers and factories.

Almost half of the tens of thousands of peasant protests every year is related to land grabs - a particularly alarming statistic for the Chinese leaders, acutely aware that peasant rebellions were usually the cause for regime change in imperial China.

The rise of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was itself backed by peasants and it has been careful in showing that it has not forgotten its roots.

Yesterday's document tries to assuage these fears, asserting that the transfers must be on the farmers' own accord. Food security of the nation must also not be compromised, with reforms not allowing farmland to be converted to other use.

Local authorities were urged to firmly safeguard the 120 million hectares minimum farmland baseline.

Even though the new policy was approved last Sunday by the CCP's decision-making central committee at a key political meeting, it ended without any mention of land transfers.

The omission led observers to wonder if there had been a disagreement within the party, with the traditionalists opposing bacause they feared that farmers could end up with no land and no jobs in the cities.
There were also concerns Beijing would be more cautious about reforms in the light of the financial crisis.

Prior to the plenum, President Hu Jintao made a public visit to an Anhui village, promising farmers the right to transfer their land. 'Land is the life of the people. It directly affects the country's social stability and that relates to political change,' said rural policy expert Hu Xingdou of the Beijing Institute of Technology.
shpeh@sph.com.sg
Additional reporting by Sim Chi Yin

Little Green Dot (From a backwater town to a sparkling metropolis)

2008-10-18T01:36:00.001-07:00

Development of Singapore Then and Now.

Study the following set of pictures which shows how development in Singapore has taken place. Then read the following two articles.

THEN: Images of the garbage-choked Singapore River are perhaps the starkest reminder of the country's polluted past. A 10-year programme to clean up Singapore's waterways was launched in 1977 by then-prime minster Lee Kuan Yew. -- ST FILE PHOTO

NOW: Singapore's waterways are not only clean, but they also have an essential role as water catchment areas. In addition, they will soon be places of recreation under the Active, Beautiful and Clean Waterways project by the national water agency, the PUB. -- TNP FILE PHOTO

A photo from the book depicts the dismal state of Singapore's garbage disposal system in the 1960s. Bins groaning with rubbish are emptied into a lorry. -- PHOTO: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

THEN: Workers collecting buckets of nightsoil in 1961. Human waste had to be removed in this way as the sewerage network was not as extensive or advanced as it is today. -- ST FILE PHOTO

NOW: The Deep Tunnel Sewerage System transports waste water via a network of tunnels up to 60m underground. The $7 billion 'superhighway' channels used water to a treatment plant in Changi. -- ST FILE PHOTO

THEN: Up till the 1970s, hawkers lined the streets, dumping their food waste and refuse onto sidewalks and into rivers. To improve public hygiene and standards of food preparation, hawkers were moved into purpose-built centres across the island. -- PHOTO: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

NOW: Singapore's hawker centres have become a mainstay of local cuisine, with many becoming tourist attractions in their own right. A major upgrading exercise launched in the 1990s has given more than half of the island's over 100 hawker centres a facelift. -- ST PHOTO FILE

Oct 18, 2008
BOOK REVIEW

From a backwater town to a sparkling metropolis

A book documenting Singapore's environmental journey will be launched next week. Clean, Green And Blue shows how the Republic has grown from a dirty, resource-poor town into a bustling cosmopolitan centre for green technology. Professor Asit Biswas, the 2006 Stockholm Water Prize winner, reviews the book.

I VIVIDLY recall a discussion that I had when Singapore became an independent country in August 1965, at the Faculty Club of the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, where I was teaching then.

The topic of our discussion was the future of Singapore. My four colleagues were somewhat pessimistic.

They did not see how a small state of about 600 sq km at the time, with a population of only about 1.5 million, no natural resources, per capita GDP of around US$1,500 (S$2,220), and no significant manufacturing and industrial base, could have a bright future.

My view was different.

I argued that behemoths such as India and China would find it difficult to turn on a dime.

However, a small nation like Singapore could be nimble, provided it had enlightened and strong leadership and good governance.

Looking back, it turns out that I was closer to the truth.

By 2005 - a period of only 40 years - the country had nearly four million people and a per capita GDP of close to US$27,000, an astonishing increase of 18 times over 1965.

The questions that need to be answered at present are how did Singapore do it, and what were the enabling conditions that made this country a miracle in the history of development?

My view has not changed during these four decades. The main reasons for this remarkable transformation have been enlightened and strong leadership and good governance, from which every strand of development has flowed.

Thus, it is appropriate that the book is dedicated to former prime minister (now Minister Mentor) Lee Kuan Yew, whose leadership ensured this miracle.

In this authoritative book, Mr Tan Yong Soon, who is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, with the help of his colleagues Lee Tung Jean and Karen Tan, explains objectively and candidly the country's long environmental journey over the past 40 years.

It explains how Singapore made this transformation, as well as the background and the rationale for the policies that were formulated and, what is more important, successfully implemented; as well as the institutional evolutions that occurred which made this possible.

Right from its very independence, its leaders realised that environment and development are two sides of the same coin.

One affects the other and, in turn, is affected by the other.
For example: the Water Catchment Policy that was introduced in 1983 to control developments within unprotected catchment areas.

Less intensive development in these areas, coupled with stringent pollution control measures, helped ensure the good quality of water collected.

MM Lee clearly pointed out as early as 1968 the importance of maintaining 'a clean and green city'.

This was four years before the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Stockholm, when the world started to realise the importance of maintaining a good environment, concurrent with population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation.

The main ingredients which ensured where Singapore is today are:
Continuous clear vision of its leaders as to where the country should go in the future, and strong endorsement of this vision by its people;

Transformation of the vision into long-term plans, which have regularly evolved over time as the world and national conditions have so warranted;

Continuous consideration of management, technological and institutional innovations in the planning process; and

Ensuring that the vision, plans and programmes are practical and do-able, and can be implemented cost-effectively and within a stipulated time period with the full support of its people.

This approach has worked not only in the area of environment, but also in all aspects of the nation's development.

The book analyses how this overall philosophy was successfully implemented to control and manage air, land and water pollution.

It shows a nation that was transformed from a backwater town into a vibrant metropolis with cutting-edge water technology.

This remarkable and very readable book will not only make all Singaporeans proud of their environmental achievements and heritage, but also provide many valuable and practical lessons to other countries - both developed and developing - as to how their own environment can also be successfully managed.

In a world where gloom and doom stories take centre stage, it is refreshing to see a comprehensive analysis which shows categorically that, given good leadership (both political and professional), environment-development problems can be solved.

For anyone interested in such issues, and even if you read only one book a year, I would have no hesitation recommending that you read this remarkable and uplifting story of Singapore's environmental journey.

There is much to learn from this success story.

The writer is president of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico, and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School for Public Policy. He won the 2006 Stockholm Water Prize - the highest honour in the water profession. His work has been translated into 32 languages.

Oct 18, 2008

Little Green Dot

A new book shows how Singapore achieved environmental and water sustainability in just 40 years

By Tania Tan

BALANCING two big 'E's - the economy and the environment - will be Singapore's biggest challenge in the years to come. But if history is anything to go by, the little red dot has what it takes to live green and prosper.

A new book, which tells the Singapore story from the viewpoint of the environment, is now out.

Clean, Green And Blue spans the early days when getting clean water to citizens was a challenge, to the cutting-edge water technologies being developed here today.

Singapore has seen it all in the space of 40 short years.
In the coming uncertain times, economic growth may have to take precedence, but not at the expense of the environment, said Mr Tan Yong Soon, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, who penned the book along with his colleagues from the ministry.

'There will be some trade-offs if you want to achieve both,' he added. 'But it's doable.'

Published by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, the book is a 'how-to guide' for anyone interested in replicating Singapore's environmental success, said Mr Tan.

It gives a detailed look at how Singapore went about achieving environmental and water sustainability, which he hopes will 'urge Singaporeans to continue to support the environment'.

And because the green journey is a 'never-ending one', each person has a role to play, said Mr Tan.

The book is also a showcase of Singapore's environment and water achievements that its authors hope will help inspire other countries to achieve green gains.

'That's not to say that we have arrived,' said Mr Tan. 'There's always room for improvement.'

But the nation has always tried to live by the principle of balancing economic growth with liveability.

The 450-page book took about a year to write and is chock-full of
examples of the constant struggle between the two.

For example, then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's bold decision in the 1970s to enforce legislation by the Anti-Pollution Unit, which imposed strict rules on polluting industries, seemed to threaten industrial growth in the fledgling nation.

But the decision to stand firm resulted in minimal smoke pollution - ensuring Singapore enjoyed good air quality alongside industrial growth.
It took foresight and practicality to progress without destroying the natural environment.

Singapore in the 1960s was a cesspool of filthy waterways and rudimentary sewerage systems - a situation many countries still face.
The first step was to bring clean water to people and build proper waste management facilities. Creating jobs by boosting the manufacturing industry without causing pollution was another hurdle that needed to be crossed.

For a nation without its own water supply or other natural resources, water independence was also put high on the national agenda - a move that resulted in the production of Newater some 30 years later.

Cleaning up the country's waterways, keeping industrial air pollution at bay and maintaining public hygiene have been the result of 'hard work and far-sightedness' from top leaders, especially from Mr Lee, now the Minister Mentor.

'We were very fortunate that our leaders had a clear vision, without which I doubt we would be where we are now,' noted Mr Tan.

Another little-known detail is that the country has spent more than $10 billion on major environmental infrastructure works over the past 30 years.

The book will be given to schools and institutions and used as a reference for foreign delegates participating in training workshops here.
Environmental proponents are looking forward to the tome.

The book gives 'interesting insights' into Singapore's environmental experience, especially in solving water problems, said Dr K.E. Seetharam, director of the Institute of Water Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew
School of Public Policy.

World-renowned water expert Asit Biswas, founder of the Third World Centre for Water Management in Mexico, also gave Singapore the thumbs up for its environmental journey so far.

But he was quick to add that many improvements could still be made in energy conservation.

'I walk into buildings and I'm frozen solid,' he told The Straits Times. 'The key will be whether this country can maintain its success in the years to come.'

Certainly, the Government is not leaving that to chance.
After the National Environment Agency launched a five-year, 10 per cent Energy Challenge campaign in April, the average household monthly consumption went down almost 4 per cent between May and August, compared to last year.

As Mr Tan wrote in the book: 'Going forward, Singapore needs to do more through setting higher standards for energy efficiency, regulations, and finding the right mechanisms and incentives to achieve the desired improvements in energy efficiency.'
taniat@sph.com.sg

Global financial crisis threatens aid to the world's hungry, warns World Food Programme official

2008-10-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Pakistani people receive donated food at a distribution centre in Lahore on the eve of World Food Day. The UN's food-aid arm is US$2 billion short of the funds it needs to feed over 90 million hungry people worldwide. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oct 17, 2008
UN agency issues SOS for food aid

Global financial crisis threatens aid to the world's hungry, warns World Food Programme official

By Radha Basu

THE global financial crisis has put the world's hungry at risk of not getting the food they need.
Given this year's skyrocketing food prices and more natural disasters, the World Food Programme (WFP) needs to raise US$6 billion (S$8.9 billion) - twice as much as last year - to feed 90 to 95 million people in more than 80 countries.

Its spokesman for Asia, Mr Paul Risley, told The Straits Times that if funds are not forthcoming, it may have to cut back on programmes or the number of people it helps.

'We are concerned that donor countries will reduce their commitments in view of the financial crisis,' he said. 'That's really the last thing we need.'

The food-aid arm of the United Nations is the world's largest humanitarian agency, providing rations to people from the poorest communities, conflict zones and areas decimated by natural disasters.

Ahead of World Food Day yesterday it said that it is still short of US$2 billion to feed the hungry this year.

Mr Risley said it is important for governments, companies and ordinary folk to open their wallets, even during difficult times.

'Millions of the world's poor are but a single natural disaster away from calamity,' he said.

In Myanmar, for instance, many people had sacks of rice stored in their kitchens but Cyclone Nargis devoured their supplies when it hit in early May.

'Living as we do in a world made very small by air travel and e-mail, helping is just the humane thing to do,' he said.

While disaster relief often spurs generosity, Mr Risley said that chronic hunger still lies below the radar of many donors.

'Hunger and malnutrition remain the biggest risk to health worldwide - greater than Aids, malaria and tuberculosis combined - claiming one child's life every five seconds,' he said.

Indeed, 25,000 people die every day from hunger-related causes, mostly in India, Bangladesh and sub-Saharan Africa.

A doubling in the prices of rice, wheat and maize early this year worsened the plight of the hungry.

The World Bank says the price hikes pushed an estimated 100 million people back into extreme poverty and malnutrition.

The number of malnourished people will rise to 967 million this year from 820 million two years ago, it says, wiping away years of gain from hunger-eradication programmes.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick said last week that while the financial crisis is the centre of attention, 'many forget that a human crisis is rapidly unfolding in developing countries. It is pushing people to the brink of survival'.

Citing the contributing factors, Mr Risley said that countries have been investing less in agriculture, with richer industrial nations preferring to import staple foods like rice.

In Asia, growing urbanisation has led to farmlands being eaten up by factories, and low-value crops like rice being replaced with cash crops like oil palm.

At the same time, rapid economic growth and burgeoning populations in developing countries have meant greater demand than ever for food.

It has not helped that food-exporting nations like the Philippines, India and Pakistan have become importers and imposed export bans.

Pakistan's ban on wheat exports, for example, directly affected millions in Afghanistan. 'Almost overnight, we had an additional 2.3 million mouths to feed in Afghanistan,' said Mr Risley.

Mr Risley, who visited Singapore recently, hoped the Government, companies and individuals would donate more to the programme.

Some, like Yum Foods, have already shown the way. The restaurant company. which owns Pizza Hut and KFC, raised US$118,000 for the WFP here in Singapore last year as part of a global campaign. A similar fund-raising effort this year will end next week.

'Money is the quickest means to transfer food from one plate to another - and provide a tangible gift of life,' said Mr Risley.

radhab@sph.com.sg

To donate, log on to www.fromhungertohope.com or http://www.wfp.org/

Oct 17, 2008

Oxfam appeals for funds: 'Nearly a billion people face starvation'

LONDON: Oxfam launched an urgent appeal to mark UN World Food Day yesterday, saying that even as hundreds of billions of dollars were being directed to tackle the financial crisis, the number of people worldwide facing starvation has risen to nearly one billion.

'Rich countries are directing their attention to high fuel prices and turmoil in the financial sector, but the number of malnourished people in the world rose by 44 million in 2008,' the British-based international aid charity said.

'Nearly one billion people are now going hungry. When you consider the speed of the world's response to the credit crisis, the delay in acting is shocking.'

Oxfam said it needed an extra US$26.2 million (S$38.8 million) for its humanitarian work, a sum that is paltry compared to the billions made available in days to bail out Western banks.

It also noted that five months after countries promised to give more than US$12 billion to address the global food emergency, under US$1 billion has been given.

'These are tough times for many of us, but huge increases in food prices mean that the world's poorest are being hit hardest,' said Oxfam chief executive Barbara Stocking.

The charity said higher food prices meant people were eating less and lower quality food, while children were being pulled out of school and farmers were migrating to city slums.

The Oxfam report contrasts the global food crisis with the huge profits being made by the farm and food companies, the Guardian reported.
'The trend in agriculture, as in international finance, has been towards deregulation and a reduced role for the state,' Ms Stocking said. 'It is time the world woke up to the need for developing country governments to support their poor farmers, and the obligation of developed countries to help them to do so.'

In a global opinion poll released on the eve of World Food Day, Britain's BBC World Service reported that almost two-thirds of people surveyed in the Philippines, Panama, Kenya and Nigeria say they are now eating less because of the rise in food prices.

While world grain prices have been tumbling back down the steep slope they climbed early this year, food bills from London to Manila remain 9 per cent to 16 per cent higher than a year ago, according to the latest national reports.

And experts worry that the wild swings may turn uphill again.
The global financial crisis 'puts us in a precarious position', said United Nations' food economist Abdolreza Abbassian, who fears farmers frustrated by falling prices and credit shortages will plant less.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WHILE more can be done to shore up food production, cutting wastage is an equally urgent need, says Mr Paul Risley of the World Food Programme.
'The terrible waste that occurs in developed societies is frustrating to people who have seen the face of hunger in so many countries,' he says.
When The Straits Times first meets him, he is at Lau Pa Sat amid tables laden with half-eaten pratas, laksa and satay.

'Too much food is in the wrong places at the wrong time,' he says, acknowledging that what is wasted cannot quite be shipped to starving folk elsewhere.

'But if all of us pledge that we won't buy and waste so much and donate the money saved instead, we could see real changes.'

those who downloaded the development notes

2008-10-16T05:53:00.001-07:00

The following videos are suppose to accompany some of the strategies to uneven development at a national scale stated in the development notes.

REMEMBER:
What matters is not the quantity of strategies you remember. What matters more is how you are able to link it to reducing uneven development.

India's Free Lunch Programme

Micro-financing

Further understanding of how micro-financing works (just for general knowledge purpose)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrUQKuvsmvw

2008-10-15T09:54:00.001-07:00

Please go to the following site for revision

1. Construction of cross section
http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edsoftware/ir/files/geo-construction-of-cross-sections/index.htm

2.Contours and slope
http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edsoftware/ir/files/geo-contours-and-slopes/index.htm

3.Grid reference
http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edsoftware/ir/files/geo-grid-reference/index.html

4.Gradient
http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edsoftware/ir/files/geo-triathlon/index.html

Check list of your revision

2008-10-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

Check to see if you know all the following

NATURAL VEGETATION
1. Types of Natural Vegetation (distribution and characteristics)

• Tropical rainforests and mangroves
• Tropical monsoon forests
• Coniferous forests
2. Adaptation of the Natural Vegetation to the Environment (particularly climate)

• Diversity of plant species
• Structure of the forest
• Density
• Leaves
• Flowers and fruits
• Roots
• Bark
3. Uses of Forests

• Habitat (humans, flora and fauna)
• Water catchment
• ‘Green Lungs of the Earth’
• Timber
• Medical
4. Case Study of Deforestation in a Tropical Rainforest

• Causes of deforestation in a tropical rainforest (agriculture, logging, forest fires, urbanisation, housing, industrial activities and transport)

• Problems caused by deforestation
o Loss of habitat and extinction of species
o Changes in the nutrient cycle
o Changes in water quality (pH level and sediment level)
o Air pollution (haze)

• Management of tropical rainforests
o Sustainable management (controlled logging, afforestation and conservation)

RIVERS AND COASTS
1. River Processes and Their Related Landforms

• River system
• River processes
o Erosion (corrasion/ abrasion, attrition, hydraulic action and solution)
o Transportation (solution, suspension, saltation and traction)
o Deposition

• Landforms and features resulting from river processes
o Waterfalls (e.g. Niagara Falls, USA; Kota Tinggi Falls, Peninsular Malaysia)
o Gorges (e.g. Rhine Gorge, Germany; Three Gorges, China)
o Valleys (e.g. Rhine Valley, Germany; Ganges Valley, India)
o Floodplains (e.g. Mississippi, USA; Ganges, India and Bangladesh)
- Meanders, oxbow lakes and levees
o Deltas (e.g. Yangtze Delta, China; Mekong Delta, Vietnam)
- Distributaries
2. Coastal Processes and Their Related Landforms

• Coastal processes
o Erosion (waves and currents)
o Transportation (sediment movement and longshore drift)
o Deposition

• Landforms and features resulting from coastal processes
o Cliffs (e.g. White Cliffs of Dover, England)
o Headlands, shore platforms (e.g. Southern Dorset Coast, England)
o Bays (e.g. Emerald Bay, Peninsular Malaysia)
o Beaches (e.g. Changi Beach, Singapore)
o Spits (e.g. Hurst Spit, England)
o Tombolos (e.g. Loch Eriboll, Scotland)
3. River and Coastal Management

• River channel management
o Channelisation (re-alignment, re-sectioning, bank protection, planting of vegetation)

• Coastal protection measures
o Soft engineering (stabilising dunes, planting of vegetation, beach nourishment, encouraging the growth of coral reefs)
o Hard engineering (seawalls, breakwaters, groynes, gabions)

GEOGRAPHY OF FOOD
1. Trends in Food Production and Distribution Since 1960

• Variations in food consumption between DCs and LDCs
o Different levels of food consumption between DCs and LDCs
o Changing food preferences (e.g. rice, meat, fruits) in DCs and LDCs
o Production of non-staple food (e.g. coffee, olives) replacing production of staple food in the LDCs

• Reasons for the variations in food consumption between DCs and LDCs (adequacy of food availability, stability of food supply and access to food) and the resulting impact
2. Factors Affecting Intensity of Food Production

• Factors affecting intensity of food production with reference to relevant examples
o Physical (relief, soils and climate)
o Social (land tenure and land fragmentation)
o Economic (demand and capital)
o Political (government policy)
o Technological advances (Green Revolution and Blue Revolution)
3. Developments in Food Production

• Continuing intensification of food production activities (irrigation and use of chemicals) on water and soil quality

• Development of genetically modified food crops
o Benefits (economic and regional development)
o Threats (health and native species)

DEVELOPMENT
1. Variations in Development in the World

• Uneven development exists between DCs and LDCs
o Core-periphery relationships between DCs and LDCs
– Economic (income per capita, employment structure and employment opportunities)
– Health (life expectancy, infant mortality rate, water supply and sanitation)
– Education (literacy rate)
2. Reasons for Variations in Development in the World

• Reasons why uneven development exists between DCs and LDCs
o Historical (colonial history)
o Physical (raw materials and climate)
o Economic (process of cumulative causation)
o Social (education)
o Political (conflict and leadership)
3. Strategies to Alleviate Uneven Development

• National development (e.g. water supply, population policy, education, health)
• International co-operation
o Role of international organisations (World Bank and Asian Development Bank)
o International agreements (United Nations Millennium Development Goals and United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea)

2008-10-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

1(a) Using well-labelled diagrams only, explain how a waterfall and plunge pool is formed. [6]

(b) In managing river discharge, many countries have built dams, like the one in Fig. 1. Discuss the threats they pose to the human and physical environment
in employing such methods. [6]

(c) With reference to Fig. 2B which shows a sketch of the photo in Fig. 2A, explain how features Y and Z are formed by marine processes.[5]

(d) Study Fig. 2B, identify and evaluate suitable measures at the respective
places to protect tourists’ beach at X and the area at Z. [8]

Suggested answers

1 (a) Using well-labelled diagrams only, explain how a waterfall and plungepool is formed. [6]

Diagrams- 2m…..

4-5 diagram s— must show development of waterfall and the deepening of plunge pool

DRAW DIAGS

Waterfall
-sill, More Resistant rocks
-Less Resistant rocks lies downstream
-as river flows downstream
-dominant erosional processes- abrasion
-pebbles and rocks chiseled into the bed of the river
-causes the Less Resistant to erode more than the More Resistant
-changes in gradient of river channel
-steeper after prolong erosion, river flows over the steeper gradient that develop on the river bed
-As the water plunges over the steep gradient formed to the river bed below
-A waterfall is formed
-the sheer force of the water plunging [hydraulic action] over a steep gradient
-and the grinding action from eroded rocks and pebbles that are carried by the river
-leads to the formation of a plunge pool
-abrasion- widens and deepens the pool
-hydraulic action-deepens also
-so at base of waterfall a deep plunge pool forms

(b) In managing river discharge, many countries have built dams, like the one in Fig. 2. Discuss the threats they pose to the human and physical environment in employing such methods. [6]

Human environment

· Financial costs that must be incurred in
o construction of those structure.
o Maintenance of these structures, if not
· Poor maintenance will lead to cracks, which will lead to degeneration due to heavy rainfall and so structures will give way which will lead to the flooding of the lower course of the river
· Recent Earthquake in China, close to 300 dams inspected had cracks
o Huge financial strain to repair all affected dams.
o Dams collapsed, massive number of human deaths, destruction of settlements, farms downstream
· Sediments trapped behind dams
o Decrease in depth, leading to smaller capaityc of reservoir and river.
o Increase chance of flooding during heavy rainfall upstream
· Less food for riverine ecosystem
o Decrease in amount fish, shellfish etc
o Affect fishermen and farmers

Physical ENVIRONMENT
· Downstream deprived of sediments ,and less opportunity for flooding
· Formation of Depositional features such as floodplain, delta would be affected
· Decrease fertility of soil as there is less alluvium
· River dynamics after dam as the downstream is changed
· River has less sediments, therefore greater energy to erode

(c) With reference to Fig. 2b which shows a sketch of the photo in Fig. 2a, explain how features Y and Z are formed by marine processes? [5]

Z - Headland
Y - Bay

· alternating resistant and less resistant rocks
· Adjacent to the coast
· Less Resistant rocks - most erosion which gives rise to bays
· leaving more Resistant rock outcrops as headlands
· now as headlands receives highest energy waves – refraction
· so vulnerable to erosion more than the sheltered bays because wave energy dissipated at the bays which experience low energy waves- accumulation of sand
·
(d) Study Fig. 3b, identify and evaluate suitable measures to protect tourists’ beach at X and the area at Z. [8]

L1 0-3
Describes the suitable measures of breakwater, groynes and beach nourishment.

L2 4-6
Describe effectiveness OR ineffectiveness of 1 measure
Describe effectiveness OR ineffectiveness of 2 measures structures
Assess 3 effectiveness OR 3 ineffectiveness of 3 measures
OR
Assess all effectiveness AND ineffectiveness 3 measures with no refernce to
corresponding places—max 4

L3 7-8
Assess all effectiveness AND ineffectiveness of 1 measure and briefly for 2nd .
Assess all effectiveness AND ineffectiveness of 2 measures and briefly for 3rd
structure.
Assess all effectiveness AND ineffectiveness 3 measures

At Z…. Breakwater
- an artificial reef mage of cement or rocks
- built // to coast at some distance from the sea
- just in front of the headland

Function/Advantages
• Break force of waves at some distance from coast
• Creating a zone of quiet water, energy, deposition of materials behind break-water is slack

Disadvantages
1. costly to build and maintain
2. costly US$1m
3. breakwater can be unsightly, spoil scenery of beach. adds to the cost.

At X… Groynes and beach nourishment

Groynes
• Built perpendicular to coast

Function/advantages
• Stop movement of material from coast
• Interrupts Long Shore Drift
• Deposition on side of groyne facing Long Shore Drift -updrift side
• Widens the beach

BUT/disadvatages

• Erosion on the other side-downdrift side
Without regular maintenance of groyne systems they degrade and can become dysfunctional
· Spoils the natural beauty of the area
Tourists activities can be disrupted as this is a tourist beach

Beach nourishment

Advantages
• Simply means sand / beach replenishment
• i.e. rebuilding beaches
• Instant beaches
• Overnight beach

Disadvantages
• Very nice in the beginning
• Very expensive too
• US$1m to 6m per mile
• Temporary measure
• Erodes 10 time faster than natural beach
Lifespan of 10 years to 2 months

2008-10-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

1. (a) Figure 1 shows an aerial view of a river. Name and describe the features labelled “X” and “Y”. [2]

(b) Figure 2 shows sketch diagrams of the formation of a river landform Z in the upper course of a river. Identify the river landform Z and describe how the feature is formed. [6]

(c) Describe the problem faced by people living near floodplains and suggest why they do not want to move away. [3]

(d) Name three coastal features that are formed by the erosion of large waves. [3]

(e) Spits and Tombolos (Figure 3) are depositional features found in certain coastal areas with low energy waves.

Describe and explain how they are formed. [5]

(f) To what extent are hard engineering methods such as seawalls and groynes useful in preventing wave erosion along the coasts? [6] (Refer to the notes on beach management that I have posted earlier on)

Suggested answers

1. (a) Figure 1 shows an aerial view of a river.
Name the features labelled “X” and “Y”. [2]
X = Ox bow lake, Y = Meander

(b) Figure 2 shows sketch diagrams of the formation of a river landform Z in the upper course of a river.
Identify the river landform Z and describe how the feature is formed. [6]

1. River landform Z is a waterfall.
2. A river flows across rocks of different resistance.
3. The river erodes the less resistant rock more rapidly
4. And this causes a change in the gradient of the river course.
5. Over time the river plunges from a great height
6. To hit the river bed below with tremendous force.
7. Repeated pounding of the river bed may leave a depression at the base of the waterfall (creating a plunge pool)

(c) Describe the problem faced by people living near floodplains and suggest why they do not want to move. [3]
1. They face the problems of flooding when the river overflows.
2. They do not want to move as the soil is very fertile / good for growing crops
3. This fertility is renewed every year when the river floods.

(d) Name three coastal features that are formed by the erosion of large waves.
[3]
Any 3 of the following:
Arch, stack, stump, cliffs, headlands, bays and wave-cut platforms

(e) Spits and Tombolos (Figure 3) are depositional features found in certain coastal areas with low energy waves.
Describe and explain how they are formed. [5]
1. A spit is formed when longshore currents encounter a bay or a bend in the coast with shallow sheltered water
2. And materials they carry will be deposited,
3. Resulting in a long narrow ridge of sand with one end attached to the mainland over time.
4. Tombolos are created when spits continue to extend seaward and
5. Sediments accumulate between the mainland and an island to join them together.

(f) To what extent are hard engineering methods such as seawalls and groynes useful in preventing wave erosion along the coasts? [6]

Level 1

No supported usefulness or using simple statement.
Eg. Hard engineering methods are useful.

Award 1m for the above and an additional mark for any supporting details.

Level 2

Describes one or more hard enginnering coastal protection scheme(s).
Brief statements of usefulness.

Eg.
Ø To protect a coast from erosion, people have built seawalls in front of a cliff or along the coast.
Ø A sea wall is usually made of concrete, which absorbs the energy of the waves and protects the coast against strong waves, especially during storms.
Ø Therefore, it stops the waves from rushing onto the beach and successfully helps to prevent wave erosion.

Award 3m for describe one method and an additional mark for any further supporting details to explain its usefulness.

Level 3

L2 + Explains the usefulness AND non usefulness of the coastal protection methods.
Clear statements of degree of effectiveness.

Eg.
Ø To protect a coast from erosion, people have built seawalls in front of a cliff or along the coast.
Ø A seawall is usually made of concrete, which absorbs the energy of the waves and protects the coast against strong waves, especially during storms.
Ø Therefore, it stops the waves from rushing onto the beach and successfully helps to prevent wave erosion.
Ø However, a seawall may not protect a coast from erosion in the long run.
Ø As waves break against the seawall, the energy from the waves is redirected downwards, to the base of the seawall, resulting in a strong backwash.
Ø The backwash wears away the base of the seawall, causing it to weaken and eventually collapse.

Award 5m for a description of a coastal protection method and an explanation of the effectiveness and ineffectiveness in implementing the method and an additional mark for any further supporting details/explanations of other methods to a maximum of 6m.

Note from the ESS

2008-10-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 14.10.2008
Tonight two interesting questions asked on the MSN.

First what is wave refraction and does it occur if the beach is straight. My answer is that it should not.
Please got to this website for great animation
http://www.wiley.com/college/strahler/0471480533/animations/ch19_animations/animation2.html
Next some one asked what is the difference between a V shaped valley and a gorge

Please go to this website to see.

http://geobytesgcse.blogspot.com/2006/11/upper-course-of-river-v-shaped-valleys.html

This is a steep sided valley

A gorge like the Grand Canyon is very muc deeper and steeper.
In fact the Grand Canyon is one mile deep.

Hope this will help
ask and you shell receive

What is it about Human Geography you're studying?

2008-10-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before in one of my first lessons, Geography is the study of places. For physical geography, you're studying how physical elements change places. Example, how rivers create landforms, how sea water create landforms, why and how climate cause the vegetation in different areas to be different.

As for human geography, you're learning what cause humans to change a place. For example, a cultural geographer would attempt to understand how the culture of one person changes the place, and how a place can affect the culture of a person. A tourism geographer would attempt to understand how tourism cause people to change a place, and how a place can affect tourism. Hence, do understand how culture affects places, one must first understand the culture first, which is the job of anthropologist. For a tourism geographer to understand how tourism change places and vice-versa, he must first understand tourism well first, which is what tourism studies do.

This is how the universe is like to most Southeast Asians in the past. The centre of the universe, which is a tall mountain called Mount Meru, is where the Gods and mythical animals live in

How do you think this have caused Southeast Asians to design their temples to be like this? Do you see how it is similar to their idea of what the universe is like?

Development geography and development studies are 2 different fields. Development studies are only concerned with how to make development better. They are people who try to find ways to improve education level, improve health, sanitation etc.

However, a development geographer sees development in a different way. Firstly, a development geographers study how development affect places and its distribution. Next, development geographers study how places affect development. Hence, to a geographer, the reason why a place has low level of development is not just because of low education level, poor sanitation etc. But rather, it is a result of its relationship with another place. For example, a periphery is less developed than the core because of its relationship. A colony is less developed than its colonial master because of their relationship between the 2 places. BUT a development geographer must first understand development first, before he or she can understand how it change places, and vice-versa. That is why you had to study how development is measured at the beginning.

As for food geographers, we do not see food as a innocent thing. Food is not just something that is consumed for nutrition purposes. Rather, food has the power to change and affect places, and conversely, places can change how food is produced, distributed and consumed.

For example, you've learn why food consumption and preferences have changed due to changes in food production, and how the distribution of this pattern have changed. You have also learnt how one place can change the food produced in another place. For example, why is Singapore importing seafood from an African country? Why is that country producing seafood in the first place? How does them producing seafood for Singapore change their landscape?

However, to be able to understand how food change places and vice-versa, you have to first understand what food is all about. Hence, you learnt concepts that seem to be from Food and Nutrition, such as staples, calories, etc.

Congrats!

2008-10-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

You've all graduated!

Ok, stop complaining how you're not really graduated as you have to return to school.

But it is more of a symbolic end to a phase of your life.

Here's one song that's rather popular when I was graduating from secondary school(it's only 7 years ago. I'm not that old!). Think it's pretty meaningful for you all.

When you look back in your life,
about your secondary school days,
what will stick out is not the grades nor the homework,
but the relationships.

your relationships with your friends,
your relationships with your teachers,
your relationships with your b*******d/g********d

Graduation (by Vitamin C)

The Problem with Cumulative Causation

2008-10-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

Some of you have downloaded the Development notes (in PDF format) from the LMS, and have asked me why is it that the cumulative causation in the notes has links with core-periphery model, which is not the case in your textbook.

First, cumulative causation is under economic factors that lead to UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT. Hence, cumulative causation is suppose to explain WHY one place is MORE DEVELOPED than the other.

There are 2 popular definitions of cumulative causation.

The first definition is the one given by your textbook, which is how the start of one industry leads to a chain of other events, which leads to the creation of more industries, and the cycle is repeated, leading to more development. (http://www.answers.com/topic/cumulative-causation)

This definition is popularly used by economists. It does explain why a place becomes more developed, but it does not explain WHY there is uneven development between 2 places.

The 2nd definition, which is used in the notes, is more frequently used by geographers. It is an expansion from the first definition, but with some difference. The essence of the 2nd definition is as follows - cumulative causation is a process where an economic activity at the core leads to the core becoming more developed (this is where the first definition stops) than the periphery, by draining resources and labour from the periphery (adapted from Royal Geographic Society: http://www.geographyinthenews.rgs.org/glossary/?word=cumulative%20causation)

Hence, the notes used the 2nd definition, as that definition of cumulative causation explains WHY one place (the core) is more developed than the other (the periphery), which was the reason why you all learnt cumulative causation - to explain why there is uneven development. Also, in this way, it is easier to tie in the concept of spread effect and backwash.

Coastal Management Techniques

2008-10-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

The traditional 'hard' defence is the sea wall.
In the past sea walls were vertical and deflected the energy of the waves away from the coast.
In doing so, however, they suffered a lot of expensive damage in a short period of time.

Modern sea walls have a slope and curved top which breaks up the energy of the wave and prevents water going over the top of the wall during heavy storms. Sea walls are very expensive (£2000-£5000 per metre) but should last 20-30 years.

A breakwater is often used to protect a harbour but may be used to protect a stretch of coastline. They are usually made of concrete or blocks of stone but recent cheaper alternative suggestions have included oil drums and used tyres. They have to be strong enough to take the full force of the waves. Since they have to be built in deep water they are, like sea walls, expensive to build.

The best form of natural defence is a beach which efficiently absorbs the energy of the waves. Along many coasts, however, longshore drift causes the beach to thin out in places and erosion of the land behind becomes a problem. Groynes are designed to slow down longshore drift and build up the beach. They are usually made of tropical hardwoods which are more resistant to marine borers and erosion. A few are made of concrete, steel or in more recent times large rocks. They are built at right angles to the shore and spaced about 50-100 metres apart. Groynes may have a life of 15-20 years but often have to be replaced rather than repaired.

A cheaper alternative to sea walls is the revetment (about £1200 per metre). This is a sloping feature which breaks up or absorbs the energy of the waves but may let water and sediment pass through. The older wooden revetment consists of posts fixed into the beach with wooden slats between. Modern revetments have concrete or shaped blocks of stone laid on top of a layer of finer material. Rock armour or riprap consists of layers of very hard rock with the largest, often weighing several tonnes, on the top. Riprap has the advantage of good permeability plus it looks more natural.

The gabion is a metal cage filled with rocks, about 1 metre by 1 metre square. They are stacked to form a simple wall. They are used to protect a cliff or area in the short term only, since they are easily damaged by powerful storm waves and the cages tend to rust quite quickly. Gabions have the advantage of ease of use and are relatively cheap but their life span is short.

Where longshore drift is a serious problem and the supply of beach material is poor, it may be necessary to supplement the natural system by adding lorry loads of sand and shingle to the beach. The natural processes will then spread the material along the coast to help build up the natural defences. This is called beach nourishment. Sometimes dredgers may be anchored offshore and the sediment sprayed on to the beach using high pressure hoses.

Application on Coastal management

2008-10-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

Now that you have read the post on coastal management, look at the following pictures.

This set was taken at Changi Ferry Point where we take a bum boat to Pulau Ubin

What are these structure called?

Why are they built?

Recap
The traditional 'hard' defence is the sea wall.
Sea walls were vertical and deflected the energy of the waves away from the coast.

In doing so, however, they suffered a lot of expensive damage in a short period of time.

Sea walls are very expensive but should last 20-30 years.

Do you think this kind of protection is effective?

This set of pictures were taken at the Singapore Sailing Centre

What is this structure called?

Close up view of the structure.

Another view of the structure

Recap
A breakwater is often used to protect a harbour but may be used to protect a stretch of coastline.

They are usually made of concrete or blocks of stone but recent cheaper alternative suggestions have included oil drums and used tyres.

They have to be strong enough to take the full force of the waves.

Since they have to be built in deep water they are, like sea walls, expensive to build.

Access the effectiveness of using breakwater as a form of coastal management.

This set of pictures were taken when I went for the Sce 2 Camp at the camp cantre in East Coast.

What are these structure call?

This is how they are made at the beach.

Notice how a simpel chicken wire mash is made into a box?

Rocks are then filled up and place at the beeach where protection are needed.

Recap
The gabion is a metal cage filled with rocks, about 1 metre by 1 metre square.

They are stacked to form a simple wall.

They are used to protect a cliff or area in the short term only, since they are easily damaged by powerful storm waves and the cages tend to rust quite quickly.

Gabions have the advantage of ease of use and are relatively cheap but their life span is short.

Why do you think we use the gabions instead of sea wall and breakwater here?

http://www.georesources.co.uk/leld.htm

2008-10-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

go to this website .It is great

Land and sea meet along the coastline.

The coast is shaped mainly by the action of the waves which reach the shore.

Waves are created by the winds which blow across the surface.

Friction results in the transfer of energy from the wind to the waves.

The size of the waves depends on three factors:

the strength of the wind

the length of time that the wind blows

the distance over which the wind blows [the fetch]

The most common direction in which the waves move is determined by the prevailing winds i.e. the direction from which the winds blow most often.

A wave will break when it reaches shallow water. As the water rushes up the beach it forms the swash and as it returns down the beach, the backwash.

Some waves build up beach material [constructive waves] whilst others drag sand and pebbles down the beach [destructive waves].

Waves erode or wear away the coast and transport the eroded material along the coastline - a process called longshore drift.

Eventually the material will be deposited on a beach or will form a larger feature such as a spit.

Erosion works in four ways:

Hydraulic action - this results from the force of the water hitting the cliffs.
Corrasion - this is caused by the waves picking up stones and hurling them at the cliffs.
Attrition - any material carried by the waves will become rounder and smaller over time.
Corrosion [solution] - the dissolving of rocks by sea water.

The nature of a coastline is often determined by its geology. Some coastlines are very dramatic, with tall, vertical cliffs whilst others are low-lying or marshy. Some coastlines are straight for miles and miles whilst others are indented with many headlands and bays.Long, fairly straight coastlines result where the rocks are very similar or just one type. If there are many rock-types and they vary in their resistance to erosion, then headlands and bays will form.

Many areas have cliffed coastlines. The nature of the cliff again depends on the geology of the rocks. Hard, resistant rocks form tall cliffs with a jagged upper section and a smoothed wave-cut notch at the base. If the rocks have many joints(vertical cracks) then erosion will be greater at some points and a cave may form. As the waves erode back into the cliff, the upper section becomes unstable and eventually collapses. In time the material from the cliff will be eroded into smaller and smaller pieces to form new beach material.
If the rocks are soft, particularly clays, then the cliffs will be lower, caves rarely form and landslips may be common.

Beach material almost always moves along the beach in a particular direction which is determined by the prevailing winds. If the winds blow the waves parallel to the shore, sand and pebbles are washed up and back down the beach. If, however, the wind blows so that waves come in at a sharp angle to the coast, the swash carries the pebbles at an angle up the beach. When the backwash moves by gravity back down the beach, the pebbles end up at a different position. This process is repeated and pebbles gradually shift along the beach, a process called longshore drift.

If the coastline has well developed headlands and bays, the headlands often show a variety of erosional landforms. Joints in the headlands are eroded back to form caves which over time are further eroded to form arches. The gaps in the headlands eventually collapse and leave tall stacks at the ends of the headlands. The stacks continue to be eroded by the waves until only stumps are left and these eventually disappear altogether.

Go here to see the coastal management technique
http://www.georesources.co.uk/coastman.htm

Questions on River and Coast

2008-10-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

1. (a) Study Figure 1 below which shows a section of coastline in Australia.

Figure 1

(i) Identify the two coastal landforms labelled X and Y in Figure 1. [2]

(ii) With the help of well-labelled diagrams, describe how the landforms above are formed. [6]

(b) Suggest why some parts of a coastline are always hit by powerful waves and how these coasts are able to withstand such powerful waves. [5]

(c) Using Figures 2 and 3, identify Structures A and B and describe how the structures can protect the coast from erosion. [6]
Fig 2

Fig 3

(d) The construction of seawalls is a common coastal protection scheme used by many countries to protect their coastal areas. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a seawall to prevent coastal erosion [6]

Question on River and Coast

2008-10-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

1. (a) Study the Zambezi River found on the topographical map of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (1:25 000) carefully. (apologies for not providing maps)

(i) Identify two major river features shown on the map. (2)
(ii) Using evidence only from the map, explain two important uses of the river to the people living around it. [4]

(b) Figure 1 below shows a sketch of a river valley.

Source:http://www.geographyalltheway.com/ib_geography/ib_drainage_basins/imagesetc/river_profile.jpg
Figure 1

Using the sketch and studies you have made, describe the shape of the river channel and its gradient in the upper and lower course. [4]

(c) Briefly explain how the presence of vegetation affects the volume of water in a river and how roughness of a river channel affects the speed of the river. [6]

(d) (i) Name three measures that may be used in the management of river channels to reduce the problems of flooding. [3]

(ii) Discuss the effectiveness of the measures named in (c)(i) in the control of floods. [6]

Suggest Answer

1. (a) Study the Zambezi River found on the topographical map of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (1:25 000) carefully.
(i) Identify two major river features shown on the map. [2]

1. rapids (7613)
2. meanders (7912)
3. waterfall - Rainbow Falls (7918)
4. gorges - Second Gorge (eg 7817 )

(ii) Using evidence only from the map, explain two important uses of the river to the people living around it. [4]

1. tourist attraction
2. eg hotels along the river, network of transport; presence of town/city Victoria Falls Waterfall
3. recreational activities
4. eg chalets along the coast
5. domestic or commercial use
6. eg presence of pump houses (GS7718) to pump water from the river

(b) Figure 1 below shows a sketch of a river valley.
Using the sketch and studies you have made, describe the shape of the river channel and its gradient in the upper and lower course. [4]

1. In the upper course, the river channel tends to be narrow and deep
2. While the gradient is steep
3. In the lower course, the river channel tends to be wide and shallow
4. While the gradient is gentle

(c) Briefly explain how the presence of vegetation affects the volume of water in a river and how roughness of a river channel affects the speed of the river. [6]
Answers that only explain one factor are to be awarded a max of 3m.

Presence of vegetation
1. The presence of thick vegetation in a drainage basin will result in less surface runoff.
2. The vegetation cover intercepts much of the rain that falls and allows some of it to infiltrate into the soil.
3. The increase in infiltration of water also results in a longer lag time for the water to reach the river channel so the volume will be lower.
4. In contrast, in a drainage basin with little or no vegetation, a greater amount of surface runoff occurs as there is no interception of rain and little infiltration into the ground.
5. Therefore, rivers in drainage basins with little or no vegetation cover experience a more rapid increase in the water level.

Roughness of a river channel
6. Increased channel roughness increases the amount of resistance in the river.
7. More energy will be used to overcome the resistance and added friction.
8. The effect is a slowdown in the flow of water.
9. Little obstacles or low channel roughness will have lesser amount of resistance in the river.
10. River flow will be faster as lesser energy is used to overcome the minimal friction by the obstacles.

(d) (i) Name three measures that may be used in the management of river channels to reduce the problems of flooding. [3]

Any 3 of the following:

1. River channelisation / Re-alignment
2. River re-sectioning
3. Bank protection
4. Planting Mangroves
5. Stabilising sand dunes
6. Growing corals

(ii) Discuss the effectiveness of the measures named in (c)(i) in the control of floods. [6]

Level 1 (describe one or two measures, no comment on whether they are effective or not ) 1-2m

- rivers can be deepened using re-sectioning or building bank protection.

Level 2 (describe one or two measures and briefly explain how effective they are in reducing floods) 3-4m

- re-sectioning is done by deepening a river using dredging.
- this is done to prevent the river water from reaching flood height and are generally effective.

Level 3 (describe two or three measures and explain effectiveness clearly with reference to positive and negative effects) 5-6m

- re-alignment helps to straighten the river channel
- it increases the speed of flow which will prevent the water from ever reaching flood height.
- it is an effective long-term measure.
- however, a lot of resources and manpower are required to carry them out.

Question on River and Coast

2008-10-12T08:24:00.001-07:00

1(a) The diagram shows differences in the speed of flow of water in a river channel along a straight part of a river’s course (Click to see a bigger picture)

(i) Describe and explain the differences in the speed of flow

A) from the river bank to the middle of the river channel at the surface (from X to Y) [5]

B) from the surface of the river channel to the river bed near the middle of the river (from Y to Z) [4]

(ii) Explain how the speed of flow in a meander channel might differ from that shown in the diagram above and state the resulting features at the meander sides. [6]

1b. Figs A and B show a section of coastline before coastal defences were built and after coastal defences were built.

(i) Describe the coastal section shown in Fig A and explain how it was affected by natural processes. [4]

(ii) Evaluate the success of the coastal defences shown along this section of the coastline as shown in Fig B. [6]

cumulative causation? core? periphery?

2008-10-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

I was going through some development stuff with my kids today and found out that there are some common misconceptions to these 3 terms. Here's to clear it up:

1) Core-periphery is to DESCRIBE the relationship between two countries / places, not to explain why there is uneven development
Eg: I'm a teacher, you're a student. Teacher-student will be the terms used to DESCRIBE our relationship, but it doesn't explain why I have more authority over you.

2) Cumulative causation is the PROCESS that leads to the uneven development between core-periphery

In summary, cumulative causation is the process in which the core becomes more developed than the periphery, by draining resources and labour from the periphery. Hence, the process explains why core and periphery, starts from being equally developed, to the core becoming more developed than the periphery.

THEREFORE
It will be inaccurate to say, one place BECAME more developed than the other because of core-periphery relationship.

Rather, it will be more accurate to say that one place BECAME more developed than another due to cumulative causation.

However, you can use core-periphery relationship to explain why the periphery is KEPT less developed than the core. To explain HOW it becomes less developed than the core, it will be more accurate to say that it is because of the PROCESS of cumulative causation.

Question on Development Core- periphery relationship.

2008-10-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

1.a Study Fig.1which shows the HDI ranking as well as the development indicators of Australia and Nigeria.

Based on Table 1, explain why Australia is more developed than Nigeria. [5]

• Australia’s GDP per capita is higher at US$ 30677 than Nigeria’s US$835.

• This shows that the average income of the citizen in Australia is much higher than Nigeria. With the higher income, the people have a higher purchasing power and can afford to ulfil their needs and attain a higher standard of living. Higher purchasing power—> able to afford more goods and serives.

• Australia has a higher literacy rate of 99% than Nigeria’s 14.4%.

• This indicates that Australia is more developed than Nigeria because the government in Australia can provide the people with education. With higher education citizens are more efficient and productive

• More likely to work in the secondary and tertiary industries the people can have better jobs and earn higher income

• Nigeria has a Human Development Index value of 0.281 while Australia has a HDI value of 0.955. The closer the index is to 1, the higher the level of development. It is a holistic assessment of development. From the table, it can be seen that Australia has a much higher HDI than Nigeria, indicating that it is more developed than Nigeria.

• Life expectancy refers to the average number of years a person is expected to live. A developed country usually has a higher life expectancy than a less developed country. Nigeria’s life expectancy is 44.4 years old while Australia’s life expectancy is 80.3 years old.

• higher life expectancy is an indication that people live in a clean environment, have better access to health care, have enough food to eat higher standard of living.

• Answers can also accept other national measures to improve social well being such as improving education, sanitation facilities and eradicate slum

• However answers should not include economic measures to improve industrialisation

• Details should be pertaining to India and China

Level 1 ( 0 – 3 marks)
One or two general statements about the measures taken, eg. The China government introduced the one child policy
No assessment of how effective measures are
No supported effectiveness or simple statements, eg. it worked, it helped the poor people to improve their standard of living

Level 2 ( 4 – 6 marks)
Max 4m for one sided perspective view
Description of at least 3 Measures
Answer may have depth over a very narrow area, or have little detail but may touch on many relevant points
Brief statements of effectiveness

Level 3 ( 7 - 8 marks)
Well explained Measures/ methods of addressing social needs of people with details pertaining to China and India
There should be a balance of measures to weigh the success and failures the measures
A clear indication of effectiveness

1.d. With reference to example (s), assess the effectiveness of strategies to alleviate uneven development on an international scale among developed and undeveloped countries (7)

Candidates may include the following material:

International strategies to alleviate uneven development
- international cooperation
- international organisation
- World Bank
- Asian Development Bank
- International agreements
- United Nations Millennium Development Goals
-United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

International organisations:

• The World Bank funds the Kecamatan Development Programme, which helps to reduce poverty in Sleepy Tirtomoyo, Indonesia

• Provided financial and technical support to villagers in Sleepy Tirtomoyo
• The financial aid enables the locals to dig wells to tap on underground water source and build pipelines so as to provide water supply to homes
• Kecamatan Development programme gives villagers the empowerment to utilise the funds on the basis of their needs and priorities thus reducing poverty
• The Asian Development Bank funds the Jamuna’s Multipurpurpose Bridge Project in Bangladesh that aims to improve the country’s transport infrastructure
• The bridge connects Bangladesh’s less developed northwestern region to its more developed eastern region
• Provided financial and technical support to construct the bridge that has roads, railway, gas pipelines and telecommunication lines
• Encourages economic growth in less developed northwestern region by increasing passenger and goods traffic
• Improved living conditions through improved infrastructure and removing existing traffic congestion
• Bridge connects agricultural areas of Dhaka and the port of Chittagong, making it easier for farmers to transport their produce to the markets for sale

International Agreements
• United Nations Millennium Development Goals target at reducing poverty by achieving greater development in the less developed countries such as in Vietnam

• Provides training for people living in poor communities to equip them with skills and knowledge to look for jobs
• They can afford basic necessities and improve their standard of living when they have a steady source of income
• Increase the access to basic social services for the poor
• Carry out educational campaigns to raise awareness of the dire situation of poverty in the country and exert pressure on the government to create more jobs and increase rural income
• Increase primary education for everyone in the world
• Increase enrollment in schools
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea helps to control the usage of resources in the seas and oceans
• Expensive and advanced equipment in the larger fishing boats from DCs enables them to spot fishes easily and compete with the poor fishermen from Peru
• Establish an Economic Exclusive Zone

• Ensure that the fishermen in the LDCs can have access to good fish stock despite not having high-tech fishing vessels

A full answer does not need to include all the above points

Level 1 ( 0 – 3 marks)
One or two statements about measures taken, eg. World Bank & Asian Development Bank gives financial assistance to LEDCs
No assessment of how effective measures are
No supported effectiveness or simple statements , eg. it worked, it helped the poor people to improve their standard of living

Level 2 ( 4 – 6 marks)
Measures need to be specific, eg. World Bank provides KDP with funds to improve sanitation & water supply; ; ADB provide Vietnam with financial and technical assistance in the urban areas
Limited indication of how well people cope/ how effective measures are. Eg. Their standard of living improves as there is now proper irrigation….
Answer may have depth over a very narrow area, or have little detail but may touch on many relevant points
Brief statements of effectiveness

Level 3 ( 7 - 8 marks)
Measures/ methods of alleviating uneven development needed with detail
There should be a balance of measures to weigh the success and failures of both International cooperation
Clear statements of how well these measures help people cope needed
A clear indication of effectiveness
International Cooperation may not be the one and only measure to alleviate uneven development; different countries have different sets of problems which can be solved through National Strategies such as population policy etc

Question on Development

2008-10-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

1 (a) Fig. 1A above shows the natural resources and GDP per capita of a few countries.

With reference to Fig. 1A, describe the relationship between the availability of natural resources in a country and its GDP per capita. [5]

(b) Explain how cumulative causation affects development in core areas. [4]

(c) Discuss how education affects the development of a country. [4]

(d) Suggest reasons why it is difficult to use various indicators to make an accurate comparison of the level of development between any two countries. [4]

(e) Read the extract below by an environmental activist, and assess the feasibility of organic farming replacing “modern farming methods” in the long term. [8]

Today’s modern farming methods are destructive to both man and nature, and should no longer be carried out further. Organic farming is a more environmentally sustainable system over the long term.

Suggested answers

Suggested Answer

With reference to Fig 1A, describe the relationship between the availability of natural resources in a country and its GDP per capita. [5 marks]

• Based on Fig 1, there is no direct or distinct relationship between the availability of natural resources in a country and its GDP per capita.

• Among the four countries, Brazil has the most natural resources, but has the lowest GDP per capita of US$8 600.

• On the other hand, Singapore has no natural resources, but has the second highest GDP per capita at US$30 000.

• This does not mean that there is an inverse relationship between the availability of natural resources in a country and GDP per capita, as Norway is well-endowed with many natural resources, and boasts the highest GDP per capita among the four countries.

• This could suggest that countries need to utilise their natural resources well in order to boost their economy and GDP per capita, and that there are also other factors affecting GDP per capita.

(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

b. Explain how cumulative causation affects development in core areas. [4 marks]

• The process of how the movement of people and resources from a periphery area increases the wealth of a core area is known as cumulative causation.

• A core area attracts workers from the periphery area, as the core often receives new investments for development of industries, and creates more employment.

• As more people live and work in the core area, there is an increased demand for goods and services.

• With increased demand, the core area would draw further investments, leading to the expansion of existing industries and the establishment of new businesses. As more jobs are generated, the general wealth of the people living in the core increases as well. This helps to raise the level of development of the core.
(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

(c) Discuss how education affects the development of a country. [4 marks]

• Education, measured in terms of literacy rate, often determines the types of industries a country’s population can work in. With more people in the country being able to read and write, they have the capability and required skills to work in the secondary and tertiary industries, which contribute more to a country’s GDP.

• On the other hand, low literacy rate in a country would mean that a high proportion of its population is unskilled and only able to work in primary industries such as agriculture, which generate less income.

• With a workforce that has a high literacy rate, a country is more likely to attract foreign investors that employ skilled workers, thus driving the development of the country.

• Education may also play a part in other areas affecting development. For example, people who receive education may be more knowledgeable about the importance of sanitation or infant care. This helps to raise their standard of living, reduce infant mortality, and improve the country’s overall level of development.

(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

(d) Suggest reasons why it is difficult to use various indicators to make an accurate comparison of the level of development between two countries.
[4 marks]

• Different countries may interpret indicators differently. For example, when collecting data on literacy rate, countries may differ on the level of education a person has before he or she is considered literate.

• There may be problems gathering a complete set of data in certain countries. It may be easier to collect data from a country with a highly urbanised population, as compared to a country where many rural areas may be inaccessible or too sparsely populated to gather data accurately.

• When comparing GDP or GDP per capita, it should be noted that the data does not include income generated in the informal sectors. Hence, a country with a low GDP per capita may not truly reflect a low level of development, as its people may be greatly involved in these informal sectors.

• Sometimes, data might be obtained from different sources at different time periods. Hence, data collection or calculation methods may differ from country to country, and data may be more up-to-date in some countries than others.
(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

(e) Read the quote below by an environmental activist, and assess the feasibility of organic farming replacing “modern farming methods” in the long term. [8 marks]

Today’s modern farming methods are destructive to both man and nature, and should no longer be carried out further. Organic farming is a more environmentally sustainable system over the long term.

• Today’s farming methods include the use of chemicals as well as the development of genetically modified (GM) crops. These methods help to increase the production of food, but may bring about adverse effects to both man and nature, as mentioned by the environmental activist.

• For example, the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides may lead to environmental effects such as water pollution and destruction of animal life. In addition, they may also be harmful to the health of consumers, as strains of these chemicals may be found in the food that is produced.

• GM food also contains risks such as the loss of natural species if GM crops genetically pollute natural crops. Potential health hazards are also possible if the food contains genes or substances that are harmful to humans.

• Organic farming minimises these risks, as they practice farming methods that do not use chemicals or GM crops.

• For example, instead of using chemical fertilisers, organic farmers make use of animal manure as fertiliser. They also rear natural predators to pests, instead of spraying pesticides on crops that may end up polluting water bodies or being consumed by man. They also practise crop rotation so as to keep the soil fertile over a long period.

• If current farming methods are employed, the environment may not be sustainable as more and more pollution occurs. By replacing these practises with organic farming, both man and nature would benefit in the long term.

• However, there are several limitations of organic farming that must be overcome if it was to be feasible. As the world’s population grows, the demand of food is ever increasing. Organic farming practises may not be able to produce enough quantity of food to supply the world’s population.

• As organic farming methods require higher costs, these costs would also be transferred to the consumers, thus making food more expensive. This would greatly affect consumers, especially those in less developed countries (LDCs), since they may not be able to afford expensive organic food products. More people may go hungry and suffer from starvation as a result.

Question on Development Case study of Ghana, Thailand, India and Bangladesh

2008-10-06T01:43:00.000-07:00

1. (a)
i. What do you understand by this term ‘income per capita’? [2]
ii. With reference to examples, explain why income per capita should not be the only indicator to measure the development of a country. [4]

(b) The table below shows development issues in Ghana.

Life in Ghana today:

Politically stable
Need US$6 Billion to develop infrastructur
GNI is US$477 per capita
Highly dependent on aid
Common for people to love with no electricity that produces hydroelectric power.
Almost all electricity generated sold to aluminum smelters and process of electricity are high
Most people work in informal sector and never declare income 70% are farmers but still imports food
Export cocoa beans to UK
People commonly go hungry and families rarely eat meat.
3 buckets of water per day cost 10-20% of average daily income of 1 person
One of the best schools in Ghana has fees of US$600/year.

i. Suggest why Ghana faces difficulty in developing its economy. [6]
ii. Using the problems identified in (i), explain what the Ghanaian government can do to increase the standard of living. [5]

(c) With reference to studies made, evaluate the success of strategies used
by governments in Less Developed Countries to promote national
development in education, health and the economy. [8]

As usual try to attempt the question first before looking at the answer.

1 (a) i. What do you understand by this term ‘income per capita’?

Average income each worker in a country receives in a year
Indicator of wealth of people in a country and the standard of living
Take the total income of a country divide by total population
Examples of measurements would be gross domestic product per capita or gross national product per capita [2]

ii. With reference to examples, explain why income per capita should not be the
only indicator to measure the development of a country.

Indicates only the average income earned per person, will not know the
income gap in the country
Countries like China and India may appear to have lower gdp/capita but
there are extremely rich pp. (big / wide y distribution)
Rural poor, urban migrant workers vs. small % of urban rich
Limited in showing social development / quality of living especially in education and health e.g Middle Eastern countries … rich because of production of oil but education and health
Infrastructure not comparable to income per capita. e.g Singapore … high income per capita but not considered developed in terms of % of population with tertiary education, lagging behind DCs such as USA and Japan. [4]

(b) Fig. 1 shows development issues in Ghana.
(i) Suggest why Ghana faces difficulty in developing its economy. [6]

Low income per capita (US$477) = government has little revenue to develop country and need US$6b to develop infrastructure
Highly dependent on aid = in debt (not all aid are free)
Poorly developed infrastructure : water supply, education, electricity supply
Income gap between rich and poor is wide, most are poor farmers
70% are farmers but there is insufficient food
agric products are cash crops, low value.
Agriculture are exported without processing
public utilities such as water supply is barely existent… and expensive.Had to buy buckets from water vendors, 20% of income
there is electricity but not for the population, channeled for mining and smelting.
Schools are not readily available and accessible except to the very rich … high school fees of US$600 per year.
If only cut and paste info from the table, max 3m.

(ii) Using the problems identified in (i), explain what the Ghanaian
government can do to increase the standard of living. [5]

Add value to agric products such as cocoa beans like process them into cocoa powder
Overtime, manufacture chocolate
Diversify in to food crops that can meet population’s needs, cheaper than importing food.
Plant GM food / HYVs, fertilizers etc to increase yields especially food crops, sell/export surplus
Mechanize farming
All these measures will reduce aid and dependency on imported food and yet earn revenue from export.
Use political stability to set up tax system to collect more revenue.
Reduce reliance on foreign aid This source of income can be used to develop infrastructure public utilities, proper public water services and supply, electricity supply and education facilities.
Add value to al by processing them into steel.
Create employment for population, higher salary than working as a miner.

(d) With reference to studies made, evaluate the success of strategies used by
governments in Less Developed Countries to promote national development
in education, health and the economy. [8]

L1 0-3
Describe strategies only. Brief statements on success. Country example only.

L2 – 4-6
Must have evaluation of success, specific egs to get highest of L2.
4m Covers 1 in depth
5m Covers 2 in depth
6m Covers 2 in depth, 1 superficially

L3 – 7-8 Covers all 3, clear evaluation and specific egs.

Education
Thailand’s hill tribe community project in 1998
77 established in 1998 under government’s policy to provide, ‘Education for All’
Formal and non-formal education programmes developed to suit needs of communities, eg

i. Academic subjects and life skills taught
ii. Sustainable farming methods taught to local farmers

Result
i. Many are able to obtain employment in cities
ii. Agricultural production increased
iii. General increase in income has helped in improving the standard of living of the people in the country.

Constrains
i. BUT depends on availability of volunteer teachers from more developed region teach in community learning centre.
ii. Communication barriers.. strong culture
iii. Adaptability to changes by the hill tribe. Resistance to formal education,
iv. suspicious of westerners from NGOs.
v. Geographically isolated, poor transport and accessibility.
vi. Difficult for government to reach out to all and attract volunteers
vii. Politically unstable area, Myanmar and Thai border, danger element and instability o livelihood.

Health (water supply and sanitation facilities)
Case of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India

· Parivartan Slum Networking Programme
· Aims to help region develop by improving lives of slum dwellers
· Site and Services Scheme (new housing site).
· Provision of basic infrastructure: water supply and underground sewerage
· Supported by local government, funded by local banks
· Monthly monitoring meetings, future planning sessions
· Training sessions on proper use of facilities
· Benefited 56,000 people in >40 slums/squatters
· Expanded to include 59 more slums
·

Results
o Death rates declined from 6.9 per 1,000 people to 3.7 per 1,000 people
o Fewer people falling ill, Increased standard of living, Helped region to develop.

Problems
o Slum dwellers unwilling to move should they have to shift out to an improved area.
o Could be at the fringe of the city, far away from the workplace, too lowly paid to afford transport despite better water supply and sanitation facilities, jobs in the city centre
o Culture and tradition, generations have been there.
o Economy by creating jobs and financial assistance

Economic Growth
“Linking Arms Against Poverty” OR Grameen Microfinancing in Bangladesh

· Aims to increase employment rate and income of the poor

· Benefit
o Resources provided to informal sector
o Government works with NGOs to assess viability to business ventures before loans are offered.
o Microfinance, or small loans, were given to small businesses
o Ultra-poor given interest free loans
o Programme supported by several other NGOs and private organizations
o Poor given training and advice to run businesses effectively 600,000 agricultural jobs created in rural areas, 3 million businesses assisted,1.7 million provided employment through job placement schemes.

Problems
o Income gap still very wide bet rich and poor.
o Little access to markets to sell their products which are usually handicraft.
o Insufficient volunteers in the microfinance programme to give loans, provide training, reach out to the more enterprising poor especially in isolated areas.

How NOT to answer a question

2008-10-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Background information
The US$700 billion bailout plan is basically a financial plan by the US government to spent US$700 billion on helping banks and financial institutions recover their losses(which they created), if not, which might cause a worldwide financial crisis.

Question:
Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries? … Instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

Answer
PALIN: Ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy– Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions.

Mistakes made
1) Links are not clearly Elaborated.
eg: how is does the bailout plan leads to helping those concerned with healthcare? (and job creation. What has reducing taxes got to do with all these by the way(and then to trade....wait...how does all these link to the bailout plan?)
2) Evidence?
3) Did not Link back to the question
(the question was more of about why it is better to spend money on those financial institutions instead of helping people cope with the cost of living?)

Our Chicken comes from Brazil???

2008-10-05T05:25:00.000-07:00

(click on the image for a larger picture to read the article)

Questions to ponder
1) How is Singapore ensuring food stability?
2) Are most of the countries that export food to Singapore LDCs or DCs?
3) Why do you think these countries are major producers of food, especially non-staples?

2008-10-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

Dear studnets
read this article by a Muslim published in The News the Internet edition of The News International newspaper with the latest stories from Pakistan.

By: Dr. Farrukh Saleem*

Why are Jews so powerful?

There are only 14 million Jews in the world; seven million in the Americas, five million in Asia, two million in Europe and 100,000 in Africa. For every single Jew in the world there are 100 Muslims.

Yet, Jews are more than a hundred times more powerful than all the Muslims put together. Ever wondered why?

Jesus of Nazareth was Jewish. Albert Einstein, the most influential scientist of all time and TIME magazine’s ‘Person of the Century’, was a Jew. Sigmund Freud — id, ego, superego — the father of psychoanalysis was a Jew. So were Karl Marx, Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman.

Here are a few other Jews whose intellectual output has enriched the whole humanity:

Benjamin Rubin gave humanity the vaccinating needle.
Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine.
Alert Sabin developed the improved live polio vaccine.
Gertrude Elion gave us a leukaemia fighting drug. Baruch Blumberg developed the vaccination for Hepatitis B.
Paul Ehrlich discovered a treatment for syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease).
Elie Metchnikoff won a Nobel Prize in infectious diseases.
Bernard Katz won a Nobel Prize in neuromuscular transmission.
Andrew Schally won a Nobel in endocrinology (disorders of the endocrine system; diabetes, hyperthyroidism) .
Aaron Beck founded Cognitive Therapy (psychotherapy to treat mental disorders, depression and phobias).
Gregory Pincus developed the first oral contraceptive pill.
George Wald won a Nobel for furthering our understanding of the human eye.
Stanley Cohen won a Nobel in embryology (study of embryos and their development).
Willem Kolff came up with the kidney dialysis machine.

Over the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 15-dozen Nobel Prizes while only three Nobel Prizes have been won by 1.4 billion Muslims (other than Peace Prizes).

Why are Jews so powerful?

Stanley Mezor invented the first micro-processing chip.
Leo Szilard developed the first nuclear chain reactor.
Peter Schultz, optical fibre cable;
Charles Adler, traffic lights;
Benno Strauss, Stainless steel;
Isador Kisee, sound movies;
Emile Berliner, telephone microphone and
Charles Ginsburg, videotape recorder.

Famous financiers in the business world who belong to Jewish faith include

Ralph Lauren (Polo),
Levis Strauss (Levi’s Jeans),
Howard Schultz (Starbuck’s) ,
Sergey Brin (Google),
Michael Dell (Dell Computers),
Larry Ellison (Oracle),
Donna Karan (DKNY),
Irv Robbins (Baskins & Robbins) and
Bill Rosenberg (Dunkin Donuts).
Richard Levin, President of Yale University, is a Jew.
So are Henry Kissinger (American secretary of state),
Alan Greenspan (fed chairman under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush),
Joseph Lieberman,
Madeleine Albright (American secretary of state),
Casper Weinberger (American secretary of defence),
Maxim Litvinov (USSR foreign Minister),
David Marshal (Singapore’s first chief minister),
Issac Isaacs (governor-general of Australia),
Benjamin Disraeli (British statesman and author),
Yevgeny Primakov (Russian PM),
Barry Goldwater,
Jorge Sampaio (president of Portugal),
John Deutsch(CIA director),
Herb Gray (Canadian deputy PM),
Pierre Mendes (French PM),
Michael Howard (British home secretary),
Bruno Kreisky (chancellor of Austria) and
Robert Rubin (American secretary of treasury).

In the media, famous Jews include Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Barbara Walters (ABC News), Eugene Meyer (Washington Post), Henry Grunwald (editor-in-chief Time), Katherine Graham (publisher of The Washington Post), Joseph Lelyyeld (Executive editor, The New York Times), and Max Frankel (New York Times).

Can you name the most beneficent philanthropist in the history of the world?
The name is George Soros, a Jew, who has so far donated a colossal $4 billion most of which has gone as aid to scientists and universities around the world.

Second to George Soros is Walter Annenberg, another Jew, who has built a hundred libraries by donating an estimated $2 billion.

At the Olympics, Mark Spitz set a record of sorts by wining seven gold medals. Lenny Krayzelburg is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Spitz, rayzelburg and Boris Becker are all Jewish.

Did you know that Harrison Ford, George Burns, Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Sandra Bullock, Billy Crystal, Woody Allen, Paul Newman, Peter Sellers, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Cary Grant, William Shatner, Jerry Lewis and Peter Falk are all Jewish?

As a matter of fact, Hollywood itself was founded by a Jew. Among directors and producers, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Oliver Stone, Aaron Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210), Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), Andrew Vaina (Rambo 1/2/3), Michael Man (Starsky and Hutch), Milos Forman (One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest), Douglas Fairbanks (The thief of Baghdad) and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) are all Jewish.

To be certain, Washington is the capital that matters and in Washington the lobby that matters is The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Washington knows that if PM Ehud Olmert were to discover that the earth is flat, AIPAC will make the 109th Congress pass a resolution congratulating Olmert on his discovery.

William James Sidis, with an IQ of 250-300, is the brightest human who ever existed. Guess what faith did he belong to?

Question: So, why are Jews so powerful?
Answer: Education.

Why are Muslims so powerless?
There are an estimated 1,476,233,470 Muslims on the face of the planet: one billion in Asia, 400 million in Africa, 44 million in Europe and six million in the Americas. Every fifth human being is a Muslim; for every single Hindu there are two Muslims, for every Buddhist there are two Muslims and for every Jew there are one hundred Muslims.

Ever wondered why Muslims are so powerless?

Here is why: There are 57 member-countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and all of them put together have around 500 universities; one university for every three million Muslims. The United States has 5,758 universities and India has 8,407. In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiled an ‘Academic Ranking of World Universities’ , and intriguingly, not one university from Muslim-majority states was in the top-500.

As per data collected by the UNDP, literacy in the Christian world stands at nearly 90 per cent and 15 Christian-majority states have a literacy rate of 100 per cent.

A Muslim-majority state, as a sharp contrast, has an average literacy rate of around 40 per cent and there is no Muslim-majority state with a literacy rate of 100 per cent.

Some 98 per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Christian world had completed primary school, while less than 50 percent of the ‘literates’ in the Muslim world did the same.

Around 40 per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Christian world attended university while no more than two per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Muslim world did the same.

Muslim-majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims. The US has 4,000 scientists per million and Japan has 5,000 per million.

In the entire Arab world, the total number of full-time researchers is 35,000 and there are only 50 technicians per one million Arabs (in the Christian world there are up to 1,000 technicians per one million).

Furthermore, the Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while the Christian world spends around five per cent of its GDP.

Conclusion: The Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.

Daily newspapers per 1,000 people and number of book titles per million are two indicators of whether knowledge is being diffused in a society.

In Pakistan, there are 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 Pakistanis while the same ratio in Singapore is 360. In the UK, the number of book titles per million stands at 2,000 while the same in Egypt is 20.

Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge.

Exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports are an important indicator of knowledge application. Pakistan’s exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports stands at one per cent.

The same for Saudi Arabia is 0.3 per cent; Kuwait, Morocco, and Algeria are all at 0.3 per cent while Singapore is at 58 per cent.

Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to apply knowledge.

Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren’t producing knowledge.

Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren’t diffusing knowledge.

Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren’t applying knowledge.

And, the future belongs to knowledge-based societies.

Interestingly, the combined annual GDP of 57 OIC-countries is under $2 trillion. America, just by herself, produces goods and services worth $12 trillion; China $8 trillion, Japan $3.8 trillion and Germany $2.4 trillion (purchasing power parity basis).

Oil rich Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services (mostly oil) worth $500 billion; Spain alone produces goods and services worth over $1 trillion, Catholic Poland $489 billion and Buddhist Thailand $545 billion (Muslim GDP as a percentage of world GDP is fast declining).

So, why are Muslims so powerless?
Answer: Lack of education!

(The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist. This article was published in The News)

Please note: (This is an article written by a Muslim with facts, figures and data provided to support his conclusion. This article is published in Parkistan.

Whta do I want you to learn?
Like social studies, if you make a claim, you must have the data to support your claim.

Like in Geography of development, education and knowledge based economy is the key to your future.)

Data question for agriculture of food

2008-09-29T00:25:00.000-07:00

This set of question focus on how you use data to answer question.

Question 1

Based on Fig. 1, and with reference to examples you have studied, describe the measures taken to increase crop production.

Food production in relation to population, i.e. food grain production went up as did population

Within 40 years, it increased from about 50mt to 200mt this is in contrast to population from 361m to 1000m
Land use and yields were optimised -> introduction of hydroponics and aeroponics

Educating the farmers

Use of irrigation to dry areas

Introduction of HYVs eg IR8 etc

Introduction of the Green Revolution

Better farming techniques

Quick maturing seeds make it possible to practice double cropping

Introduction of fertilizers and pesticides are used

Mechanization instead of traditional farming methods

Credit facilities and co-ops have been extended to farmers to enable them to buy items

Punjab in India etc for egs

(maximum of 2 marks given for use of Fig)
(maximum of 3 marks given for describing measures)

Question 2
Figures 2A and 2B below show the agricultural productivity in Punjab, India between 1960s and 1980s.

With reference to the production of rice, describe and account for the information presented in Figures 2A and 2B. [8]

Describe Fig. 2A

· rapid rise in the production of rice from 1965 to 1980,
· especially after 1970
· from below 1 million tons in 1965 to nearly 5 million tons in 1980

Fig. 2B
· rapid increase in rice yields, between 1965 to 1980
· yield of rice exceeded that of wheat after 1970.

Account for Fig 2A

advent of the “Green Revolution” (GR) in the 1960s …
· The GR created a tremendous rise in agricultural production of crops in the cereal family – including rice and wheat; achieved through :
Use of High Yielding Varieties (HYVs)

Increased mechanization

Irrigation

Wide use of fertilizers and pesticides

Farm reforms

The High Yield Varities were :

higher yielding

faster maturing … thus allowing – double cropping \more disease and drought resistant
· All the above resulted in rapid increases in rice production ….

Give reasons to explain why the green revolution did not succeed in achieving its goal of helping countries improve their living condition.[4]

-poor countries could not afford the technology. Rich become richer.
Poor became poorer.

-some poor farmers lost their farms and their jobs as they could not repay the loans they took to pay for the new technology.

-new varieties of grain were not the staple food of people in poor countries.

-the technology was not successful in hilly areas and low lying areas that tended to flood.

-use of pesticides created pollution. Water supplies were also polluted.

-loss of plant diversity. Dangerous because when everyone plants the same crop variety, and a pest or diseases attacks, all crops will be destroyed. The consequences are far greater than if only part of the crops were to fail.

2008-09-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

Study Figure 1A which shows the distribution of malnourished people in the world, 2001-2003.

1a.Describe the global distribution of malnourished people

1b. What is meant by ‘ malnutrition’?

1c. Some possible reasons for malnutrition includes:
1 Purchasing power
2 Lack of food stability and security
3 Lack of technology in agriculture

Discuss ,using examples of countries you have studied, the above reasons to show how they can cause malnutrition among the people.

Read the following article which gives information of the Blue Revolution.

Like the Green Revolution of the 1960s, the Blue Revolution a decade later was supposed to increase global food production miraculously and stave off widespread hunger.

By 1985, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and a variety of other international aid agencies were pumping $200 million a year into aquaculture projects. Mangrove forests in the Philippines, Thailand and Ecuador were chopped down to make way for shrimp ponds.

The compelling attraction of intensive commercial aquaculture is that it generates export revenue. In addition, it's relatively efficient: beef cattle require seven pounds of grain to produce a pound of meat. Catfish require only 1.7 pounds of grain to produce a pound of fish.

Intensive coastal fish farming has also been linked to 'red tides' - an explosive growth of toxic algae that can kill fish and fatally poison people who eat contaminated seafood.

Philippine prawn farms are not producing food for the hungry, nor are they providing employment for hundreds of jobless sugar workers.

Others were simply schemes that allowed the wealthy to privatize what had previously been a public resource used by subsistence farmers and fisherfolk.

Adapted from new internationalist issue 234 - August 1992

1d. Referring to the article, discuss the impacts of the Blue Revolution.

The figure 1B below shows problems experienced by many poor farmers in India while Figure 1C shows the solutions introduced to help them.

Fig 1B

“A massive development effort led by pioneering scientists and American foundations, it introduced high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat, expanded the use of irrigation, pesticides and fertilizers, and transformed these northwestern plains into the breadbasket of India”

adapted http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/18/business/indiafood.php

Fig 1C

Discuss how the above solutions helped to solve the problems faced by Indian farmers. How successful were the solutions?

Do the questions first before you see the solution.

1a. Describe the global distribution of malnourished people.

Sub-saharan Africa, China, India and Asia/Pacific regions show highest numbers of malnourished people (range from 150 million to 206million

Latin America, Caribbean, Middle East and transitional countries range from 25million to 52million.

while Industrialised countries only show 9million malnourished people.

1b. What is meant by ‘ malnutrition’?

condition where there is imbalanced of nutrients due to lack of food or eating too much of a particular type of food , to the exclusion of others.

How the World Eats

2008-09-28T03:59:00.001-07:00

Each picture depicts the amount of food eaten by all the people in the picture for a week. Take note of the following
1) How is their food preferences (staple, non-staple) different?
2) How is their food consumption (amount the eat) different? (especially between DCs and LDCs)
3) Who is consuming more processed food, and who is consuming more 'healthy' food?
4) Look at the food consumed by those in DCs. Can you identify any food that doesn't belong to their country or culture? Why is it consumed?
5) Are the staples consumed the same? Which countries consume cereals, pulses or tubers as their staple?

The Melanders Family, Germany

Family from Chile
Family from a Middle Eastern Country

The Casaleses from Mexico
The Ukitas from Japan

The Aboubakars from Chad
Family from Tibet

(Adapted from "How the World Eats", Time June 25 - July 2 2007 Issue)

Question on Agriculture of Food : Drought, Starvation and Green Revloution

2008-09-28T01:15:00.000-07:00

1(a) Fig. 1 is an extract from a news article of Los Angeles Times on hunger in Ethiopia, Africa.

By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer August 5, 2008

JEE, ETHIOPIA -- They call it the green hunger.Four-foot cornstalks sprout from rain-soaked earth, and wind billows fields of teff, the staple Ethiopian grain. Goats and cattle are getting fat on lush grasses -- but the children are still dying.

"It's strange to see hunger and starvation when everything is so green," said Wariso Shete, 26, a southern Ethiopia farmer who recently buried his 3-year-old son. "But there is no food. The boy just starved."

Once again, images of emaciated children are emerging from this Horn of Africa nation, rekindling memories of the 1984 famine that killed nearly 1 million people. This time Ethiopia has been grappling with a double whammy: drought in its traditional breadbasket and a global food crisis that has pushed prices sky high.

Green hungers are just one oddity of Ethiopia's long struggle to feed itself. The country, considered the water tower of East Africa because its highlands are the primary source of the Nile, suffers chronic drought. It is Africa's second-largest corn producer, but requires hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid every year.An exploding population is one cause.

Ethiopia, with an estimated 80 million people, has doubled in size since the mid-1980s.Others point to a socialist-leaning government that's been slow to embrace market-based policies. And everyone agrees that international donors spend too little -- less than 5% of all aid -- on long-term development, such as irrigation.

Simply put, the nation, in which 85% of people toil as small farmers, has reached a point where it can't easily grow enough food to meet its needs. Although agricultural production has increased overall, it has declined per capita, according to the World Bank.

(i) Explain what is meant by ‘drought’ and ‘starvation’. [2]

(ii) Fig. 1 made mention of Ethiopia receiving aid from international donors for
the development of the country. Explain why foreign aid is not a long-term solution for the receiving country to rely on to eradicate starvationand poverty, and improve the living conditions of its people. [4]

(iii) Describe more effective solutions to eradicate starvation and poverty, and improve the living conditions of people in the less-developed countrie.(LDCs). [5]

(b) Use Fig. 2 to help outline the benefits and drawbacks of the Green Revolution in agriculture. [6]

Fig 2

Excerpts of articles on the Green Revolution in Agriculture

HYVs raises farm yields
With faster-growing varieties and irrigation, farmers grew more crops on their land each year. It more than doubled cereal production in Asia between 1970 and 1995. Instead of widespread famine, cereal and calorie availability per person increased by nearly 30 per cent, and wheat and rice become cheaper.

Richer Farmers
The Green Revolution raised farmers’ incomes. With greater income to spend, new needs for farm inputs, and milling and marketing services, farm families led a general increase in demand for goods and services. This stimulated the rural non-farm economy, which in turn generated significant new income and employment of its own.

Is a Green Revolution Finally Blooming in Africa?
According to the World Bank's World Development Report 2007, "agricultural growth in sub-Saharan Africa has accelerated from 2.3 percent per year in the 1980s to 3.3 percent in the 1990s." As a result, the report stated, "rural poverty has also started to decline in 10 of 13 countries analyzed. Also, countries, like Malawi, have gone from net food importers to net food exporters."

Green Revolution – Not Benefiting All
The Green Revolution spread only in irrigated and high-potential rainfed areas, and any villages or regions without access to sufficient water were left out. The benefits were rarely sufficient to prevent further widening of income gaps. In India, for example, poverty in many low-potential rainfed areas has improved little even while irrigated and high-potential rainfed areas have progressed.

Greater Environmental Damage
Excessive and inappropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides has polluted waterways, poisoned agricultural workers, and killed beneficial insects and other
wildlife. Irrigation practices have led to salt build-up and eventual abandonment of some of the best farming lands. And heavy dependence on a few major cereal varieties has led to loss of biodiversity on farms.

(c) Genetic Modification is another way to increase crop yields. However,
some people in developed countries oppose its use. Do you think genetic

modification should be used in the production of food crops? Give

reasonsfor your answer. [8]

Do the above questions first before you study the answers below.

1 a. (i) Explain what is meant by ‘drought’ and ‘starvation’.

starvation : a state of extreme hunger resulting from lack of essential nutrients over a prolonged period

drought: A long period of abnormally low rainfall, especially one that adversely affects growing or living conditions.

Fig. 4 made mention of Ethiopia receiving aid from international donors for the development of the country. Explain why foreign aid is not a long-term solution for the receiving country to rely on to eradicate starvation and poverty, and improve the living conditions of its people.

becomes dependent on aid

not able to grow future food supplies

limited to a certain area / can be disrupted

food types supplied are not traditional ones

aid may not reach the people who really need it

a significant amount of aid was given as the form of loans which have to be repaid with interest, and these will accumulate as debts that the recipient countries repay out of their future earnings

most aid end up in the hands of corrupt government officials or be invested in military equipment because of ongoing civil war

often, aid enables the rich to get richer while the poor remain poor

e.g. in 2003, the per capital income of Ethiopia was only US$94 despite having received over US$1 billion in aid between 1982 and 1985 as the government spent about 90% of the aid on military development.

(iii) Describe more effective solutions to eradicate starvation and poverty, and improve the living conditions of people in the less-developed countries (LDCs).

laws passed in countries affected to have locally processed foods fortified with iron and vitamin A

intensive publicity campaigns to educate the public on the need for measures to improve nutrients of their local processed foods

modernize and improve agriculture, forestry and fishery practices

help farmers improve their cultivation methods in order to increase the productivity of their farms e.g. use of modern farming technology and scientific research to develop new high-yield seedlings, improvements in irrigation and an increased use of chemicals fertilizers, e.g. India, Indonesia and Philippines during the ‘Green Revolution

setting up agricultural training colleges for new farmers, forming advisory groups to deal with problems such as soil erosion

financing and building infrastructure such as dams for irrigation, draining of wetlands to create new farmland and constructing roads and ports to transport surplus produce to the markets for sale, e.g. Ethiopia

provide or improve the basic infrastructure essential for industrial development such as reliable water and power supplies, efficient transportation and communication networks and good port facilities, e.g. South Korea

overcome problems caused by rapid population growth by reducing population growth through family planning or educating couples on the benefits of having fewer children, forced sterilizations performed on women, financial incentives given to those who voluntarily undergo abortions, e.g. India

implement social strategies like improving availability of clean water, sanitation, housing standard, access of healthcare services and educational opportunities, e.g. Singapore and South Korea.

Allow development of points

(b)Use Fig. 5 to help outline the benefits and drawbacks of the Green Revolution in agriculture.

Benefits:

increase in food production

increase in national income

self-sufficiency in food supplies

decrease in famines

greater prosperity for many farmers

surplus food available for export

Drawbacks:

Requires expensive inputs (eg. chemical fertilizers and pesticides

Benefits mainly the richer and more educated famers

Increased environmental damage e.g. water pollution

Increasing resistance of pests to pesticides

Increase in rural unemployment

Perfect balance not needed but max 3 if only benefits/drawbacks. Allow 1 mark per point and up to 2 further marks for development.

Genetic Modification is another way to increase crop yields. However, some people in developed countries oppose its use. Do you think genetic modification should be used in the production of food crops? Give reasons for your answer.

Candidates may include the following material:

Pros:

Some people support the growth of GM crops because they can produce higher crop yields/ increase the productivity of farms. Many are genetically engineered to grow faster with less water and fertilizers .

This can solve the problem of food shortage in the developing countries which are experiencing rapid population growth

There can also be quality alteration to improve crop adaptability to harsh weather conditions/ ability to resist pests and diseases

Cons:

Many concerns:- GM varieties of grains and their accompanying farming practices will lead to loss plant diversity, and also loss to resistance to disease attack.

There is a lack of scientific evidence from both independent research and the companies producing such foods to prove that GM food is safe for consumption.

GM food may contain food substances that may harm people with food allergy. For eg. People who are allergic to nuts may have adverse reactions after eating GM food that contain traces of nuts, as labels might not fully reveal the exact contents of the food.

There are religious concerns over GM food, as some may contain substances that are originally found in those food not permissible for people of a certain religion to eat.

GM opponents fear that GM crops may indirectly contaminate non-GM crops through wind or insect pollination.

It can also be expected that innovations resulting from a biotechnology focus will lead to an increase in food production, causing prices to fall drastically.

This may drive small-scale farmers out of business, hence more gets trap in the poverty cycle which was already exacerbated by green revolution.

There may be potential environmental and health hazards eg the growth of super weeds and health risks, though not conclusively proven so.

A full answer does not need to include all the above points.

Candidates at each level will show the following characteristics:

Level 1 (0 – 3 marks)

One or two general comments on pros/cons of GM, e.g. increased yields, do not know how they affect health

No presentation of other view

Level 2 (4 – 6 marks)

More detailed development of the comments, e.g. increased yields therefore increased profit, helps reduce food shortage and famine/death

Some indication of awareness of other view

Level 3 (7 – 8 marks)

Details on the pros and cons

Examples may be used to illustrate points, e.g. GM rice in China or BT – corn and the effect they have had on crop yields

Clear indication of awareness of other views

Questions on Agriculture of Food : Food production, pattern of consumption,agro business

2008-09-27T18:27:00.001-07:00

1a. Read the extract provided in Fig. 1A below. Identify and describe the possible consequences that this trend may have on the production and supply of food in the world. [5]

With the increasing use of biofuels in automobiles in places such as the USA, Europe and Japan, farmers all over the world are turning away from their usual crops to grow maize, palm oil and sugar cane, which can be turned into ethanol or other biofuels. Today, almost all the land in the USA that is growing maize is now being harvested to make ethanol, instead of food for humans and farm animals. Observers are worried about the impact of this trend on food prices.

Fig 1 A

1b. Fig. 1B below shows a summary of a report from the United States Department of Agriculture. Account for the trend as stated in the table. [4]

Higher income households in the USA tend to consume…
• Less pork, beef, eggs and potatoes

• More fruits, vegetables, fish, cheese, yogurt and food away from home

Fig 1B

1c. Explain why many people in Africa and South Asia continue to suffer from starvation and lack of food, despite the availability of methods to intensify food production today. [4]

1d. Fig. 4C below shows the projected changes in food consumption in the USA between 2000 and 2020. Describe the trend in these changes, and state how these projected changes may affect food producers, as well as consumers in less developed countries. [4]

1e.Assess whether agri-businesses can help to solve the problem of starvation in the less developed world. [8]

Try to do the question first before you look at the answer.

Suggested Answer

1a. Read the extract provided in Fig. 1A below. Identify and describe the possible consequences that this trend may have on the production and supply of food in the world. [5]

More food crops are being used for biofuels, hence reducing the amount of crops produced for food around the world.

This may push prices of crops such as maize, palm oil and sugar cane up drastically, as the supply of these crops for food decreases.

The price of other types of food such as meat would also increase, because farm animals that are fed food such as maize would become more expensive to rear.

There may also be not enough food produced to feed the world’s population as a result.

This could lead to widespread hunger and starvation.

(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

1b. The Fig.1B below shows a summary of a report from the United States Department of Agriculture. Account for the trend as stated in the table. [4 marks]

People with higher incomes tend to be more educated. Hence, they are likely to be more knowledgeable about nutrition from food, and will be more health conscious.

Thus, they are more likely to avoid fatty meats such as pork and beef, or products with high cholesterol such as eggs. Instead, they prefer healthier food such as fruits and vegetables.

Households with higher incomes are also able to afford more expensive food products such as fish, and luxury products such as cheese.

They may also move away from more staple and cheap products such as potatoes.

Lifestyle may also affect the types of food consumed. As people with higher income may tend to be away from home most of the time due to busy careers, they are more likely to consume food away from home.
(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

1c.Explain why many people in Africa and South Asia continue to suffer from starvation and lack of food, despite the availability of methods to intensify food production today. [4 marks]

In many parts of Africa and South Asia, natural disasters may destroy crops, leading to famine and the lack of food supplies. For example, Bangladesh is a low-lying coastal area that experiences severe seasonal flooding, which could affect food production.

The occurrence of war and conflicts in Africa, such as the civil wars in Sudan and Uganda, also result in less food produced. Farmers may abandon their fields to flee the war, or crops may be destroyed during on-going wars.

Many areas of countries in Africa and South Asia also have very limited access to food. For example, the lack of proper transport networks may result in the disruption of food supplies to rural areas.

Farmers in Africa and South Asia may not have sufficient capital to purchase farming inputs that can help to intensify food production, such as chemical fertilisers and high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds.

(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

1d. The Fig. 4C below shows the projected changes in food consumption in the USA between 2000 and 2020. Describe the trend in these changes, and state how these projected changes may affect food producers, as well as consumers in less developed countries. [4 marks]

There is a projected overall increase in the quantities of food consumed in the USA between 2000 and 2020.

The percentage increase in consumption differs between the types of food. The highest projected increase is in citrus fruit and fish at 27 and 26 per cent respectively, while potatoes only have a projected 8 per cent increase in consumption over this period.

As the USA is a large consumer market, food producers may respond to these projected changes, and switch from crops with lesser increase in consumption, such as potatoes to crops with higher demand such as citrus fruit.

As potatoes are considered staple food in the diets of many people in less developed countries, the lowered production of potatoes may affect their livelihoods, as they are not able to afford more expensive food like fish.
(1 mark for one point above, accept any other plausible answer)

1e.Assess whether agri-businesses can help to solve the problem of starvation in the less developed world. [8 marks]

Agri-businesses consist of a whole chain of industries that produce, process, distribute and sell farm products in large quantities.

As agri-businesses are often large multinational companies (MNCs), they have the resources to distribute their food to all parts of the world, including less developed countries (LDCs).

For example, they may set up food outlets in LDCs, thus increasing the accessibility to food in these areas.

Agri-businesses may also employ farmers in LDCs to grow certain crop. This ensures that farmers have a stable income, and this will help countries in the less developed world to export more crops and improve their economies. With rising affluence, LDCs can fight against the problem of starvation.

There is an intensity of food production by agri-businesses, thus increasing food supplies in the world. With a large amount of food crops, prices of food have fallen, thus benefiting the poor of the less developed world.

On the other hand, as agri-businesses are profit-driven, they may find it more viable to supply their food mainly to developed countries (DCs), where demand and consumption is higher. In this case, access to food in LDCs does not improve.

Farmers in LDCs who are employed by agri-businesses may switch from crops that were previously supplied to the local population, to crops that cater to consumers in the DCs. This would add to the problem of starvation instead.

Furthermore, farmers in LDCs who are not employed by agri-businesses may find it difficult to compete with these large companies, as they do not have the capital to purchase good farming tool or make use of modern farming technologies such as an irrigation system.

As a result, they may be driven out of business, thus affecting the supply of food to the local population, and adding to the problem of starvation.

In the long term, low food prices may adversely affect the economies of countries in the less developed world. Farmers suffer a loss of income when exporting their products, and less money will be made available to alleviate the problem of starvation in these countries.

Level 1 (0–3 marks)
• Generic responses without details on how agri-businesses may or may not solve the problem of starvation
• Simple statements about agri-businesses
• No attempts at evaluation

Level 2 (4–6 marks)
• Brief descriptions on how agri-businesses may or may not solve the problem of starvation
More developed statements about agri-businesses
• Some attempts at evaluation, e.g. ‘Agri-businesses, while increasing the amount of food produced, may not benefit the people in the less developed world.’

Level 3 (7–8 marks)
• Detailed descriptions of how agri-businesses may or may not solve the problem of starvation
• Clear statements about agri-businesses
• Evaluation of the pros and cons of agri-businesses, e.g. ‘with a large supply of food crops, prices of food have fallen, thus benefiting the poor of the less developed world. However, in the long term, low food prices may adversely affect the economies of countries in the less developed world. Loss of income from selling crops results in less money available to alleviate the problem of starvation.

Question on Agriculture of Food Organic Farming vs GM

2008-09-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

Read the extract below by an environmental activist, and assess the feasibility of organic farming replacing “modern farming methods” in the long term. [8]

Today’s modern farming methods are destructive to both man and nature, and should no longer be carried out further. Organic farming is a more environmentally sustainable system over the long term.

Answer

· Today’s farming methods include the use of chemicals as well as the development of genetically modified (GM) crops. These methods help to increase the production of food, but may bring about adverse effects to both man and nature, as mentioned by the environmental activist.

· For example, the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides may lead to environmental effects such as water pollution and destruction of animal life. In addition, they may also be harmful to the health of consumers, as strains of these chemicals may be found in the food that is produced.

· GM food also contains risks such as the loss of natural species if GM crops genetically pollute natural crops. Potential health hazards are also possible if the food contains genes or substances that are harmful to humans.

· Organic farming minimises these risks, as they practice farming methods that do not use chemicals or GM crops.

· For example, instead of using chemical fertilisers, organic farmers make use of animal manure as fertiliser. They also rear natural predators to pests, instead of spraying pesticides on crops that may end up polluting water bodies or being consumed by man. They also practise crop rotation so as to keep the soil fertile over a long period.

· If current farming methods are employed, the environment may not be sustainable as more and more pollution occurs. By replacing these practises with organic farming, both man and nature would benefit in the long term.

· However, there are several limitations of organic farming that must be overcome if it was to be feasible. As the world’s population grows, the demand of food is ever increasing. Organic farming practises may not be able to produce enough quantity of food to supply the world’s population.

· As organic farming methods require higher costs, these costs would also be transferred to the consumers, thus making food more expensive. This would greatly affect consumers, especially those in less developed countries (LDCs), since they may not be able to afford expensive organic food products. More people may go hungry and suffer from starvation as a result.

Level 1 (0–3 marks)
• Generic responses without details on how modern farming methods are unsustainable

• Simple statements about organic farming

• No attempts at evaluation

Level 2 (4–6 marks)
• Brief descriptions on how modern farming methods are unsustainable

• More developed statements about organic farming

• Some attempts at evaluation, e.g. ‘Organic farming is less harmful to man and nature, but may also not be sustainable.’

Level 3 (7–8 marks)
• Detailed descriptions of how modern farming methods are unsustainable

• Clear statements about organic farming

• Evaluation of the pros and cons of organic farming, e.g. ‘there are several limitations of organic farming that must be overcome if it was to be feasible. As the world’s population grows, the demand of food is ever increasing. Organic farming practises may not be able to produce enough quantity of food to supply the world’s population.’

Question on Agriculture of Food. Productivity, Blue Revolution

2008-09-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

Photo A

Photo B

Study Photo A and B carefully.

a) i) Which photograph shows a higher productivity per unit of land area?
Why? [2]

ii) With reference to Photo A and B, describe 2 ways to measure the
productivity in food production. [4]

b) Describe, with examples, how economic factors influence the productivity of land.

Photo C

Each of 10 salmon cages at a farm near Vancouver is 100-feet square, 80-feet deep, and holds 100,000 baby fish.Source : discovermagazine.com/2002/sep/featblue

c) Fish farming like the one in Fig. 5 is increasingly popular. Explain how the
blue revolution has influenced the intensity of food production and helped
to solve the world’s food problem. [5]

Marguerite Holloway “Fish farming is rapidly becoming a bigger enterprise than beef ranching. Critics contend it is also destroying land along coasts and hastening the demise of wild fish.”

Evaluate the success of the Blue Revolution, using examples you have studied. [8]

Please attempt the questions before looking at the answer below.

a) i) Which photograph shows a higher productivity per unit of land area?
Why? [2]

Photo B shows a higher productivity
Less workers are needed because of the use of machines

ii) With reference to Phot A and B, describe 2 ways to measure the
productivity in food production. [4]

1. Productivity in food production is measured by the amount of food produced compared with the amount of resources used to produce the food.

2. The resources used are usually land and labour.

3.Productivity is measured in terms of labour per unit area. Here, the same amount of crops on a unit area of land is produced using less labour.

4.Output per unit area is another way to measure productivity. This refers to the amount of food produced on a unit area of land with a certain number of workers.

b) Describe, with examples, how economic factors influence the productivity of land. [6]

1.Demand
High demand encourage food producers to increase output & productivity so as to earn more money.

eg. Coffee drinking lifestyle of people around the world increase high demand for coffee beans and more coffee plantations as coffee producers increase their output & productivity
2.Capital = sum of money used to start or expand food production
money used to buy machinery, fertilisers, pesticides, seeds etc play a role in improving productivity

eg. Purchase & use of expensive equipment in fishing to detect schools of fish means that fishing becomes more productive as catch increases

eg. $ invested in R&D enables farmers to cope better with problems & raise productivity

c) Fish farming like the one in Fig. 5 is increasingly popular. Explain how the blue revolution has influenced the intensity of food production and help to solve the world’s food problem. [6]

1. fish farming = farmers rear fish in tanks, ponds and enclosed areas under special conditions that promote growth, instead of catching fish from the oceans.

2.Medicine and vaccines used to improve the health and nutrition of fish.

3.International organizations spent about S$ 400 million a year on fish farming projects
R&D : FAO helped to start the CIFA to conduct research on carp, catfish and prawns.

4.Scientists were able to increase fertility of fish, improve their growth rate and their resistance to diseases.

Eg. tilapia been developed to grow faster than the normal breed

5.Ensure a significant amount of fish available à stable supply of fish & food to many

c) “Fish farming is rapidly becoming a bigger enterprise than beef ranching. Critics contend it is also destroying land along coasts and hastening the demise of wild fish.” Marguerite Holloway

Evaluate the success of the Blue Revolution, using examples you have studied. [8]

1. provide fish for an ever-growing number of consumers & helps feed world’s growing population

2.food for 1 billion chronically malnourished people worldwide who need protein.
3.contribute greatly to both food security and wealth in developing regions
4.fish and other farmed species need far less food than other terrestrial species to produce the same amount of protein.
5.Help save rapidly disappearing wild fish as raising domestic species can reduce pressure on stocks in the wild, especially those that are over-fished or exploited
6.However, it is destroying land along coasts and causing water pollution
7.Excrement from shrimp and other cultivated species, including salmon, carp, tilapia, and catfish, can sully water adjacent to farms, driving away wild fish and other sea creatures.
8.Feaces rich in nitrogen trigger the growth of algae, which can clutter and then choke bodies of water—a process called eutrophication.
9.Farmed fish eat wild fish. Eg. each year roughly 66 billion pounds of these fish are used as feed, a growing percentage of which is going to aquaculture
10. Organic wastes from fish cages in public waters can have a significant effect on the surrounding water quality. Waste from fish farms can include: fecal matter and uneaten food, along with chemicals used in farming such as pesticides, herbicides, and antibiotics.
example: In New Brunswick, despite the fact that salmon farming sites occupy less than 0.01 percent of the coastal area in their region, scientists have found significant degradation of the water in the surrounding area
11. concerns that fish will escape from the fish farms and either breed with wild fish—affecting genetic diversity and decreasing their survivability—or else compete for food and spread diseases.
e.g. Over the past decade, nearly one million non-native Atlantic salmon have escaped from fish farms and established themselves in streams of the Pacific Northwest.
e.g Example, when the cages are crowded, uneaten feed, fish wastes and antibiotics are released from the cages. As a source of nutrient pollution, these wastes create high levels of nutrients that increase the growth of phytoplankton and algae.
12. The eventual degradation of algae drastically reduces the levels of oxygen in the water, which will kill fish or other organisms. Subsequently, wild fish suffer from poor water quality, the loss of bottom habitat, and the outbreaks of disease.

Level 1 (0-3m)
Simply describe one or various aspects of Blue revolution, without assessment of why the success of Blue revolution was debatable
Brief/ general statements on explanation –
‘Blue revolution increase yield’ or ‘increase use of chemicals’
No place reference or examples
No attempt at evaluation
Level 2 (4-6m)

Describe in detail and assess one or various aspects of Blue revolution, considering both advantages and disadvantages of the aspects of Blue revolution, but without reference to detailed examples.
Some detail required in explanation –‘Blue revolution increase yield’ i.e. candidate must be aware of a both positive and negative effects of
blue revolution.
Place reference given but little detail eg. in USA
Brief disagreement eg. but organic wastes from fish cages in public waters can have a significant effect on the surrounding water quality.

Level 3 (7-8m)
Suggestions have some detail (often linked to location chosen)
Place reference is fairly specific eg. In New Brunswick, despite the fact that salmon farming sites occupy less than 0.01 percent of the coastal area in their region, scientists have found significant degradation of the water in the surrounding area
Detailed /supported argument clear eg. but the seas are too big to police

Question on Natural Vegetation: Mangrove

2008-09-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the small photo.Just click on the picture to see a larger version.

Photos A to C show different features of the mangrove forest.
Describe and explain how each feature adapts to its environment. [6]

Photo A :
Feature: Colourful flowers with bright colours
Adaptations: Flowers are generally colourful and bright to attract insects to carry out pollination.

Photo B
Feature: Elongated fruits/elongated shape with sharp tips
Adaptation: Allows fruits to drop directly into the soft muddy soil and take root

Photo C
Feature: Stilt or prop roots/roots that protrude out of the soil
Adaptation: The roots anchors the trees firmly to the soft muddy soil of the mangrove vegetation

Question on Natural Vegetation:Mangrove

2008-09-27T05:36:00.000-07:00

With the help of Fig. 1, describe the distribution of this type of natural
vegetation and the climate in which they are found.[5]

Temperature is uniform and high through out the year
highest mean monthy is 27 and lowest is 25
Therefore annual temp range is very small – 2
mean annual rainfall---high 2850mm
rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year
tropical rainforests is found bet tropical/ equatorial region-10 north and south
most of south east Asia- Indonesia, Malaysia,Africa-congo/Zaire basin
Central America, South America- Brazil

Show how mangrove adapts to the saline and waterlogged conditions in the
environment in which they are found. [5]

efficient salt glands in the leaves to secrete excess salt
old leaves that store excess salt so that when the older leaves fall, the excess salt is removed too
prop roots and buttress roots anchor the mangrove trees firmly to the muddy ground so that the trees are not easily washed away
soil lacks oxygen, breathing roots help the trees take in oxygen directly from the atmosphere
(- Prop roots contain air holes / lenticles)
Long Tube-Like Fruits germinate while still on trees when ripen, they fall into the mud, take roots and continue to grow

Question on Natural Vegetation : Biomass

2008-09-27T05:15:00.000-07:00

Study the graph below carefully.

(i) Explain the term biomass. (1 mark)

Biomass refers to the combined weight of all organisms, which is measured in terms of kilocalories of stored energy and represents the total amount of food available in an ecosystem.

(ii) Using evidence from the diagram, identify which three ecosystems are able to support more living things and how they are able to do so. (6 marks)

The three ecosystems which are able to support more living things are:
o Tropical rainforest
o Swamp and Marsh
o Estuary (delta)
They are able to support more living things because their biomass is very high.
The vegetation in these ecosystems provides food for animals (herbivores) that feed on them.
The vegetation also provides nutrients to the soil which allows the vegetation to regenerate.

Question on Natural Vegetation :Difference between coniferous forest and tropical rain forest

2008-09-27T05:08:00.000-07:00

1 Study the map which shows the global distribution of coniferous forests below carefully.

(a) Based on the map above, what kind of conditions favour the growth of coniferous forests? [4]

Coniferous forests are found in areas between 60 and 70°N of the Equator.
These areas experience the cool temperate climate.
Areas at this latitudes experience four seasons with winters as cold as -40°C and summers averaging 21°C.
Precipitation at these areas is between 300 to 635 millimetres throughout the year.

(b) What are the differences between how coniferous forests and tropical rainforests adapt to their environments? [6]

Coniferous forests have no distinct layers with tall trees which are generally 20 to 30 metres in height. There is also little undergrowth because of the low amount of sunlight received and low soil nutrient level.
On the other hand, tropical rainforests have five distinct layers — the undergrowth layer, the shrub layer, the understorey layer, canopy layer and the emergent layer.
Only a few species of trees grow in the coniferous forests because not many plants can adapt to the low temperatures and precipitation.
However, a tropical can support many diverse species of flora. 1 hectare of tropical rainforest may contain more than 750 species of trees and 1500 species of plants.
Tropical rainforests are extremely dense due to high temperatures and rainfall.
The trees in coniferous forests are not as dense as the low temperatures and precipitation cannot support dense vegetation growth.

Question on Natural Vegetation : Differences between Tropical rain forest and Coniferous forest

2008-09-27T04:44:00.000-07:00

Fig.1a Forest, North West Territories Canada

Fig.1b Amazon forest, Brazil.

Mean Temperature: 27.0oC
Annual Precipitation: 2275mm

Fig.1a and Fig.1b show pictures of two types of natural vegetations
Using these two photographs,

i. Identify the natural vegetation found in Fig.1a and Fig 1b.
Fig. 1a shows a coniferous forest while Fig. 1b shows a tropical rainforest. (1m)

ii. Describe two differences between the two types of natural vegetation you have identified in (a) i.
The coniferous forest has less variety of trees compared to the tropical rainforest which have a larger variety of trees, shrubs and bushes.

Because the forest in Fig. 1a is located in Canada, I can infer that the growing season for this forest is short while the growing season in Fig. 1b is all year round as the forest is located in Brazil. (2m)

b. Fig.1c shows the climate graph of a particular climatic region.

i. Determined whether the climate graph represents the climate found in Fig. 1a or Fig. 1b?Explain how this climate affects the forest identified in (b) i.

This climate graph show the climate for the forest found in Fig.1b.

High Temperatures (27°) and Rainfall (2275mm)
Able to support a great variety of plants (High Biodiversity), 1 hectare – 400 species of trees
Trees are able to grow to a great height
Leaves that fall to the ground rots quickly and easily.
High, almost continuous rainfall throughout the year
No need for plants to shed leaves
Trees are largely broadleaved evergreens.
Nutrients are leached away easily due to high rainfall so forest soil lack nutrients.

Note Students must use information from the graph (information underline) to explain who this will affect the forest to get full marks.

Question on Natural Vegetation: Impact of deforestation on the environment

2008-09-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

With reference to examples, how does the loss of the rainforest impact the
physical environment? [7]

Decrease in species of flora and fauna … extinction
Upset in nutrient cycle- no decomposition of leaves whi is important
For formation of humus which makes soil fertily
• Accelerated soil erosion--
• Soil erosion-No Vegetation (roots, bind soil, retain moisture) ---
no protective cover to intercept and break impact of rain)
¨ loss in soil fertility/ loss of top soil..deforested … loss of protection, inc rate of surface runoff, reduce infiltration, accel soil erosion. topsoil loses fertility
Increases flooding downstream …
• runoff,
• sediments deposited
Raises river bed, decreases depth
• Increase water pollution
Disruption to hydrological cycle
• 50% of O2 ss fr rainforest
Decrease in forest leads to global warming as CO2 inc
• 25% fresh h2o ss from the Amazon Basin
• Less rainfall … decrease in trees … decrease in transpiration … decrease in moisture /vapour

Question on Natural Vegetation : The function and usefulness of tropical rainforest

2008-09-26T05:27:00.000-07:00

Evaluate the functions and usefulness of tropical rainforests. (8 marks)

Level 1 (0–2 marks)

List functions briefly.
No evaluation of usefulness.

Level 2 (3–5 marks)

Describe functions briefly.
Brief evaluation of usefulness.

Level 3 (6–8 marks)

Explain functions in detail.
Detailed evaluation of usefulness.

Rainforests are important to people because they make good water catchment areas.
- They maintain the quantity of the water supply by playing a significant role in the water cycle through releasing water vapour into the atmosphere, thus encouraging cloud formation and rain.
- The trees and leaves intercept water and protect the soil surface, thus allowing water to seep into the ground to be stored as groundwater.
- They also support natural processes of filtering water which make water suitable for drinking and supporting life.
Rainforests are important to people because they maintain the quality of air.
- The trees and plants replenish oxygen and remove carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and also help to regulate the temperature of the Earth.
Rainforests are important to people because they are a source of useful materials such as timber and chemicals for medicine.
Rainforests prevent floods that would have destroyed the environment.
- They maintain soil nutrients because the roots of vegetation hold the soil particles together preventing them from being washed away by rain.
- As the vegetation allows water to seep into the ground, they prevent soil erosion. This prevents rivers from being filled with sediment and overflowing, thus preventing floods.
Rainforests are important to the Earth’s ecosystem and the environment.
- They form the habitat of the world’s flora and fauna. Without the rainforest ecosystem, many plants and animals are not able to survive.
Therefore, rainforests are very important in the following ways:
• Maintaining the water supply
• Maintaining nutrients in the soil
• Replenishing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide
• Habitat for flora and fauna
• Protecting the coast
• Natural treatment of waste water
• Habitat
• Recreation
• Research and education

Conclusion: Destruction of rainforests will eventually destroy the balanced ecosystem, with the loss of biomass, loss of biodiversity, casing changes in the nutrient cycle, quantity and quality of water and eventually destroying the habitat man is depending on for food, habitat and other research and educational values.

(Pupils with this conclusion will be able to get 8 marks, if not only 7 marks will be awarded, when no evaluation is seen)

Question on Natural Vegetation : Reason for Deforestation

2008-09-19T05:07:00.002-07:00

“The current rate of deforestation is 1.3 million hectares per year.”
With references to studies you have made suggest reasons why this is so in Kalimantan.

1. Logging
a. Kalimantan has been rapidly deforested for the past 30 years due to logging. In West Kalimantan, an average of 1656 km2 of forest is lost annually through logging.
b. This is due to timber companies speeding up the pace of logging to ensure their wood processing facilities are fully utilized.

2. Mining
c. A number of minerals, such as gold, silver and copper are found in the ground underneath the Kalimantan
Rainforests.
d. When a mining company discovers the minerals in the ground and wish to extract it, it must first clear the vegetation to expose the ground underneath to mine the minerals.

3. Growing Housing demand
e. Indonesians who were resettled into Kalimantan by the Transmigration Programme.
f. Majority of the migrants cleared the forests to establish their homes and farms.
g. Some of the migrants move to the city, resulting in the city having to expand into nearby forests to meet the increase in housing demand.

h. Example: Balikpapan, East Kalimantan
1. Major city, a business centre for logging, mining and oil extraction companies 2. Next to protected area, Sungei Wain Rainforest
3. Protected area reduced from 98.7km2 to 35 km2 between 1997 and 1998
4. Due to the urbanization of Balikpapan to meet growing housing demands.

4. Transport Network
i. Transport networks, like roads and railway tracks, are constructed to link settlements in Kalimantan.
j. Such networks cut through previously remote forested areas in Kalimantan, allowing easier access to the forest.
k. The improve in accessibility has made it easier for people

1. Example: Trans-Kalimantan Highway 230 km long links Banjarmasin and Balikpapan

5. Forest Fire
l. Forests fires in Kalimantan are usually deliberately set by people.

m. The method of burning the forest to clear the land has several advantages.
1. Cheaper than employing labourers to clear the forest.
2. Fertilizes the soil in the forests

n. However, unlike the native Dayaks, these people do not know how to control the fire, resulting in large-scale destruction of the forest.
o. Forest fires occur more frequently at logged areas, as the vegetation debris left behind catch fire easily.
p. More than 23 750 km2 of rainforest in Kalimantan has been destroyed by forest fires between 1997 and 1998 alone.

Additional Questions
Read the website on Causes of deforestation
1.Explain the difference between direct causes and underlying causes of deforestation

Question on Natural Vegetation : Consequence of deforestation

2008-09-19T05:07:00.001-07:00

“Environmental degradation is the only consequence of deforestation.”
With reference to a case study that you have done, how far do you agree with this statement? (8m)

Level 1 (0–2 marks)
• List degradation only
• No link to deforestation

Level 2 (3–5 marks)
• Explain how environmental degradation is the consequence of deforestation
• But no reference to other kind of consequences like social consequence and economic consequences

Level 3 (6–8 marks)
• Explain environmental degradation in detail with relevant example and
• Appropriate reference to social and economic consequences.

Consequence of deforestation

1. Environmental Degradation
a. Loss of biomass
i. Earth’s biomass has been decreased as the rainforest of Kalimantan form a significant portion of the Earth’s biomass.
ii. Lesser animals higher up the food chain and ecosystem can be supported.

b. Loss in biodiversity
i. Kalimantan rainforests have a very high biodiversity of plants and animals which is diverse and fragile.
ii. When biomass is reduced, it will be able to support less plants and animals leading to a drop in the biodiversity
1. 80% of habitat of Orang Utans has been destroyed by deforestation
2. about 5 000 die every year due to deforestation.

c. Air pollution due to Haze
i. Clearing of forest by burning
ii. Huge forest fire eject huge amount of dust and smoke into the air
iii. Resulting in haze to be experienced in many other areas.

2. Social Consequences
d. Natives of Borneo Island, The Dayaks :Practices slash-and-burn subsistence farming
e. Harvest a variety of plants from the rainforest for day-to-day use.
f. Have the knowledge to control the extent of fires
g. Knows how to grow complementary crops to sustain fertility of the soil and methods to speed up the regeneration of the rainforest.
h. With deforestation less forest available for the Dayaks. Affect the way of life of the Dayaks.

3. Economic Consequences
i. Lost of forest will lead to lost of attraction for eco-tourism
j. Tourist cannot use the forest for camping or observing wild life.
k. Tanjung Puting National Park is a 400,000 hectare forst that have been conserved.

Additional Questions.

1.Go to the website Beheading a Dayak Ritual.
Read the article. Explore other links from that website.

Explain some of the social consequences of deforestation.

Here are some clues to help you.

Transmigration--- to Kalimantan--- Madurese.---- Dayak--- beheading.

2.Go to the website Tanjung Puting National Park A case study
Explain the consequence of illegal logging.

Do post your response so that I can give comments.

Question on Natural Vegetation Approach taken to save the rain forest

2008-09-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

With reference to relevant examples or a case study, assess the multipronged
approach undertaken by the local government in saving the rainforests.[8]

L1 0-3
Describes methods adopted by the govt to reduce deforestation

L2 4-6
Describe effectiveness OR ineffectiveness of 1 measure
Describe effectiveness OR ineffectiveness of 2 measures
Assess 3 effectiveness OR 3 ineffectiveness of 3 measures

L3 7-8
Assess all effectiveness AND ineffectiveness of 1 measure and briefly for 2nd .
Assess all effectiveness AND ineffectiveness of 2 measures and briefly for 3rd
structure.
Assess all effectiveness AND ineffectiveness 3 measures

Govt
1 Ministry Of Forest- Involves Govt,local govts, villagers, indigenous people
Laws can be swiftly enforced
BUT in reality…..it is difficult to enforce.
Corruption is rife.. Area too big to police

2 Controlled logging
Through -law enforcement, education, research programme
Laws-fines & imprisonment for illegal logging
Selective logging-cut only the commercially
valuable trees vs clear cutting
Selective cutting allows forests to regrow
BUT
Diff to enforce laws-monitoring illegal logging- huge areas, very remote,
inaccessible
Corruption…
Selective logging – as damaging as clear cutting

3 Aforestation-plant trees in areas not originally covered with forest
• Reforestation-plant trees in abandoned agricultural land, of areas that have
been logged.
• Forests and Land Restoration-involve local people, timber company
• Grow teak-commercially valuable-found to grow well in rainforest
• Grow fast-5 years vs 20 years
• Allows teak to be logged at a sustainable rate
But
• Rate of trees logged faster than reforestation
• Incentives not good enough for mass participation to occur
• Only teak grown-loss of biodiversity-can’t support the original Flora & Fauna of rainforest
• No different from plantations

4 Conservation-protection of forest from destruction
• Nature reserve-encourage ecotourism
• Success
• Betung Kerihun nature Reserve [1992]-home to many species of Flora & Fauna[honey bear, gibbons, Orang Utangs]
• But
• Illegal logging still persist in conserved forest –diff to monitor

5 Implementation of policy that makes clearance of forest by fire illegal
• Scheme called-Integrated Forest Fires Protection System
• National Fire Management Plan
• Edn of pple-on dangers of setting forest on fire
• But
• Plantation Cos-still continue to set forest on fire-cheapest
• Shifting cultivators way of life-traditional farming methods inherited from past generations