Economic Impacts on Africa

By 2080 the average temperature will be 2-3% higher and the climate will be more
variable with greater extremes
It is vulnerable because it has a large percentage of people living in poverty so there is a
reduced capacity to cope
70% of all employment is in agriculture and drought would cause unemployment
Global warming is causing desertification in the Sahel region causing a decrease in
agricultural production
Reduced rainfalls will cause a 16% drop in crop yields by 2080
Famine in the Horn of Africa in 2011 and half was affected by famine and the 2 year
drought killed 90% of livestock
60% of people live at the coast are at risk from rising sea levels and coastal erosion
But more tropical areas will experience longer growing seasons and a financial benefit
It is unfair as they have not contributed to global warming but will suffer the most. In
MEDCs losses will be economic but in places like Africa they will be loss of life and greater
relative financial costs by not absolute
Impacts on Antarctica
Global warming is causing: - The treeline to move north, the permafrost boundary to
move north and ice sheets to melt
Environmental - 40% of permafrost will melt especially in Siberia releasing CO2
Ecological - By 2100 90% of tundra will disappear changing food webs
GHG emissions from melting permafrost will increase global warming
The environment will be more vulnerable to exploitation
Native species that are intolerant to warmer conditions will become extinct
Warmer water reduces the quantity of marine plants which intern leads to reduction in the
number of smaller fish which feed of them affecting bigger fish like cod
But warmer temperatures will make the North Sea Route accessible for more than 6 weeks
in a year




Established Megacity: - Los Angeles
Grew due to the railway in 1876 and the opening of a Ford car plant. LA also grew in the
1920s and 1930s due to the film industry
The Los Angles metropolitan area has a population of 12.4million
Problems
Urban Sprawl In the 1920s trams and motorways meant people could commute into the
city. Also grew due to fewer planning restrictions cheap fuel as well as sectoral shift in the
economy to services from manufacturing
Waste 50 000 tonnes of waste are produced a day
Urban tension due to ethnic differences in 1992 there were serious race riots in the inner
city districts like Compton and there are ethnic enclaves
Unemployment Deindustrialisation has resulted in a loss of manufacturing jobs and
replacements are either to low paid or require high levels of qualifications
Photochemical smog - due to the geography and high pollution levels
Proposal for a more sustainable city
Increasing urban parks and clearing up contaminated brownfield sites
Improved public transport to encourage more than the current 30% who use it and
universal low fare card that allow easy transfer from trains to buses
Require developers to build affordable housing
Immature Megacity Lagos, Nigeria
Fast growing city increasing from 300,000 in 1950 to 10 million in 2010 and will reach 19
million by 2025
of growth is due to rural to urban migration with 600 migrants arriving every day
The city lacks the financial resources to provide the population with basic needs and
services such as sanitation and clean water
70% of the city live in poverty and relies on the informal sector to absorb labour surplus
80% live on $2 a day
High population density in slums of 100,000 per km
2
to 3000 in LA
Chronic unemployment and poverty has caused high crime rates and there is corruption
among the Elite
The city has the infrastructure to only support 300,000 people
Minority of elite of West African oil giants led to gated communities with high levels of
security and armed guards
Power cuts due to mismanagement even in affluent areas
Only 500 people have assets of more than $50million
Poland to the UK
More than 1million people have migrated to the UK from Poland
Push Factors
High unemployment at 19% in 2004 in Poland
Low average wage - it was 1/3 less than the UK
Low housing availability
Pull factors
Ease of migration 2004 It allowed unlimited migration into the EU
Good exchange rate - so remittances could be sent back
Large job availability labour shortage in areas like plumbing
Poland - Source UK - Host
-ve 7% loss of workforce in Poland
Brain drain and skill shortages as
dentists, doctors and trades men
have left
Reduction I their population from 38
to 33 million by 2050
Demographic imbalance as young
people leave especially men leaving
a high dependent population
Due to small economically active
population growth is slow
Social tensions and ethnic enclaves
Rise in cultural unfamiliarity crime e.g.
road traffic offences
Population growth, 20% of babies are
born to resent migrants
Lower paid migrants undercut British
workers
Locally pressure on the NHS and
schools which are suffering from
overcrowding
Not all money is spent in the UK
Increase in Air Traffic
+ve Remittance were sent home to
families which was 6.4 billion was
sent to Poland in 2006
Skills can be taken back to Poland
Migration eases pressures on services
and housing
Skill gaps are filled e.g. the fens
farming has been saved due to lower
paid migrants
Counteracts an aging population as
they pay taxes










UK to Spain
1 million British people live in Spain in 1981 just 250,000 people lived there
of British pensioners living abroad live in Spain
Push Factors Rising cost of living in the UK and an unreliable climate
Pull Factors The cost of living is lower and Spain has a hotter, dry and equitable
It is also more feasible due to budget air lines like EasyJet and cheap phones and
communication mean people keep in contact
There were 230,000 part time British residents in 2008
Source - UK Host - Spain
-ve Loss of potential childcare
Loss of highly experienced workforce
especially if they retire early
Grey pound is spent abroad which
thought to have contributed to
growth of 1.8% in retail spending
Grey pound was worth 100bn in
2009
Family may have the economic
burden of paying for private health
care
Ethnic enclaves in places like Valencia
can lead to tension between migrants
and locals
In San Fulgencio 75% of residents are not
Spanish
House prices may exceed the buying
power of local people
Have to pay some health care coast
Large scale villa developments have
ruined the local landscape and reduced
biodiversity
Migrant who originally left in their 50s in
the 1980s and 90s and now reaching
ages where they need long-term
medical care
+ve Emigration reduces the elderly
dependent population
Reduced pressure of healthcare and
welfare services
Reduces the demand for housing so
less greenfield sites are built on
Increased spending in the local economy
as many are highly affluent
Jobs have been created in construction,
health services and retail












Philippines
Destructive plate boundary where the Philippine plate is being subducted beneath the
Eurasian
Lower-middle income country
It is a disaster hotspot because large population of 103million with a density of
300perkm
2
-
population pressures have caused deforestation increasing landslide risk
Volcano There are 25 active volcanoes which are formed when magma rise from the
mantle e.g. Mount Pinatubo 1991
Two major volcanoes are near the Capital of Manila are Pinatubo and Taal
Earthquakes When the plate becomes locked causing the pressure to build up
e.g. Luzon Island 1990 7.8 m killed 1500
Typhoons they get about 20 a year and the develop in the pacific e.g. Typhoon Haiyan
killing 5,260
Landslides can be triggered by earthquakes e.g. Leyte Island after 10 days of heavy rain
California
San Andreas Fault line through the length of California and is a conservative plate
boundary
Most at risk area is the conurbation of LA, San Francisco and San Diego
Vulnerable because large urban population with 20% living in poverty in LA
Expensive infrastructure so huge economic losses
70% of people live with within 50km of the fault line
Earthquakes Occur when pressure between the plates builds up and they suddenly jerk
past each other e.g. Northridge 1994
Drought Three successive years of drought from 2007 2009 and $700 million of damage
and 21,000 job loses
Volcanoes Part of the Cascadia arc but there hasnt been an eruption since 1915
Lassen Peak
Tsunami 1964 Crescent City