Rhine River Case Study

Rhine River Case Study (with Matt Sawatzky)

1. What makes the Rhine River the "Industrial Heartland" is that it encompassed the major empires. It made trade and economic growth possible. It also linked European countries together, and was the best means of transport for people and goods.

The industrial heartland of North America could be the rust belt. It is the region around the North-Eastern United States, the great lakes, and Midwest states. It is surrounded by water which makes it good for trade and economic growth. It is also a great connection between Canada and the States

2. The river has been involved in a straightening process due to improved navigation which means the water will move downstream more quickly. Urbanization has actually helped flooding because the concrete can send more water to the river than the fields they replaced.

3. Barricades could be put up to slow down the flow of water, which would also keep a lot of the trash out. Sewers could be implemented to lead elsewhere so there would be less pollution, resulting in cleaner water. Finally, using water efficient strategies would decrease the amount of water wasted.

Water Use in Agriculture

Water Use in Agriculture

Drip Irrigation

Pros: Helps prevent weeds from germinating nearby
          Keeping the moisture at the soil level will reduce water loss due to wind and evaporation

          There are no muddy spots, and keeps an even distribution of moisture

          Less runoff into drains so soil remains filled with nutrients

Cons: Not setting up the tubes properly can lead to poor root development
        The system of tubes needs to be flushed     often
        Can easily cut the tubes and mess up the system

        Always check to make sure no water pressure has built up

Sprinkler Irrigation

Pros: Very efficient means of watering your plants
        It can be placed on almost any surface
        Ideal for many irrigable soils
         
Cons: Cost a lot of money
        Effectiveness can be impacted by the wind
        Some crops are affected from leaf scorch, fungal disease, and other damage done by salt being deposited on the leaves

Surface Irrigation

Pros: Doesn't cost a lot of money
        Less affected by climatic and water quality factors
        Easy to see the effectiveness of the system

Cons: Tend to be less efficient than other systems
        Labour can be intensive and hard to engineer
        Can be higher disease pressure

I think that sprinkler irrigation is the best for fsrmers to use because of its efficiency. Sure it cost more money to maintain, but because of its effectiveness over a large area, the farmers can easily make their money back by selling their crops for a good amount of money. It can also be placed on almost any surface so it can be placed easily to counter the effect of the wind.

Aquaculture

Aquaculture

1. Aquaculture, is also known as aquafarming, which is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish and aquatic plants.

2. 

Social

Pros: Provides a stable way for fishermen to make a living

          Fish farms can be created almost anywhere

          Continuous, growing supply of seafood

Cons: Fish farms use pesticides which concern a humans health

           The fish in fish farms will have a lot less protein than usual

Environmental

Pros: It can only help the environment if people are responsible enough to limit the amount of pollution being emitted

Cons: Contributes to the growing issue of water contamination

           Large portions of aquatic ecosystems have been destroyed

           Lots of degradation and a lot of suspended soils

Economic

Pros: Can increase the revenue in a city

          Cheap to buy fish from

Cons: Costs a lot of money to keep running

3. I think that aquaculture is a good thing in moderation. If society catches a significant lower amount of fish, it would help preserve many species of fish, and not cause them to go extinct. It provides many jobs for people, and will continue to do so. It also provides a steady supply of food to the people. It is possible to fix the problems that are associated with aquaculture today. There are a few things wrong with aquaculture, but as long as the people running them don't cause the fish to go extinct and watch out for how much pollution they cause, fish will still be plentiful.

Earthquake in Vancouver

Earthquake in Vancouver

1) There has not been a very huge earthquake in BC since 1700, which was of 8.7-9.2 magnitude. Looking back at the earthquakes in history, swarms of eathquakes predict a larger one only 1 out of 20 times. So 19 out of 20 times, there is no major earthquake to follow. Although this may be true, the people of BC should be prepared for a big one eventually.

2) The simplest plate boundary by BC is a convergence zone called the Cascadia subduction zone. This zone has ruptured several times over history. Much of the force that leads oceanic plates to subduct beneath the North American plate is generated by a ridge system, or divergent zone.

The largest ridge in the Vancouver region is the Juan de Fuca ridge, located between the Mid-Pacific Rise and Juan de Fuca fault.

3a) i. Liquefaction: this can occur in Richmond and Vancouver as well as all the sea-level areas. The ground is softer beneath buildings and other structures, which could cause water-saturated sediments such as sanflooded. lt to turn into a fluid mass.

   
      ii. Landslides: these could happen in North Vancouver and Vancouver Island where there are loose rocks held up by wire mesh.

      iii. Tsunamis: Victoria would be the biggest concern for tsunamis as it is the furthest into the Pacific Ocean. Many other citys close to the water are at risk as well.

      iv. Flooding: Richmond and other areas at sea level would get flooded. Also cities by the water would get flooded as well due to sea levels rising.

b) i. Social: if any of these disasters were to happen, people's lives would be at risk and there could be several casualties. People whodo survive would have a rough time returning to a normal life because of the destruction of property in their city.

    ii. Economic: destroyed buildings and other structures will cost a ton of money to repair/replace, so Vancouver will be out millions of dollars.

    iii. Infrastructure: it would take a lot of time to repair broken structures as well as make them as nice as they are today. Vancouver would never be the same again after a massive earthquake.

4) The city plans to harden key components of water system in high risk areas, increase seismic resilience of reservoirs and enhance post-earthquake acess to firefighting water supply.

The city will install flexible couplings in main sewage pipes.

Also new buildings are being built with earthquake proof mechanisms that help keep the building upright when an earthquake happens.

Earthquake in Vanuatu

Earthquake in your Country

1) A 6.5 magnitude earthquake occurred on February. 19 at 12:00am.

2) It's focus was 92km north of the capital city, Port Villa

3) This eathquake occurred at a depth of 10km, suggesting that it was the result of internal deformation rather than movement at the plate interface. This plate interface being the Australian plate subducting beneath the Pacific plate.

4) The Richter scale magnitude of the earthquake was 6.5, which is 5 times stronger than a 6.0 earthquake.

5a) Some trees were taken out, but not much else was effected and nobody was injured.

  b) Not many roads were damaged, but others were just slightly

  c/d) There was no economic impact because there were no buildings completely destroyed.

Plate Tectonics In Your Country

Plate Tectonics in Vanuatu

1) Vanuatu is located on the New Hebrides Plate, which is a minor tectonic plate found in the Pacific Ocean. The plate is bounded om the southwest by the Indo-Australian Plate which is subducting below it.

2) The New Hebrides Plate comes into contact with the Indo-Australian Plate (subducting). The New Hebrides Subduction zone is very active and causes around 20 earthquakes over 7.0 annually. The plates come together, so it is a convergent boundary.

3) Many volcanoes have formed due to the subduction of plates, pushing earth upwards to do so.

4) Lots of earthquakes have occurred due to these plates, as stated above. Earthquakes as large as 7.3 have been recorded over the years and they dont plan on stopping.

Volcano eruptions have also happen, although most of them are dormant now.

5) Only minor folding and faulting have occurred because of the New Hebrides Plate.

(There were no pictures to show this)

Impact of Fishing

Impact of Fishing

1)       Fishermen: They will not be able to make a living off of fishing because all of the fish in the oceans will be gone.

          Consumers: People will not be able to buy any more fish, and if that is their staple food, they might be in trouble. Also, many seafood restaurants would probably close down due to lack of fish.

          Governments: People would be very upset at the government because they will think it's their fault that all the fish are gone. They could have been more strict on laws to prevent over fishing.

          Environment: Certain fish could go extinct if they aren't already endangered. This could cause the way of life in the oceans to change due to a kink in the food chain.

2) According to 2009 figures, approximately 77% of households in Vanuatu are involved in fishing activity. In 2005, Vanuatu caught 151,080 fish that year, with frozen fish accounting for half the country's commodity exports. It is safe to say that Vanuatu needs to fish.

In Vanuatu over fishing has resulted in a big decline in catches from 90,000 tonnes in 1999 to less than 30,000 in 2001. If fish stocks continue to be exploited, there will be less possibility of earning an income from fishing. 

Catches of tuna are expected to increase in the western pacific and decrease further east due to climate change. Thus benefiting Vanuatu at the expense of other countries.

Near-shore fish species are deleting because around 90% of all households in Vanuatu consume fish. If Vanuatu wasn't able to fish anymore then they wouldn't have any food, and lose tons of money because they wont be able to export any fish.