Coasts EQ4 (2B.4)

Question 1

what are the economic costs of coastal recession ?

Answer 1

• homes lost
• business lost
• farms lost
• cost to pay for sea defences

Question 2

what are the social costs of coastal recession ?

Answer 2

• relocation of locals
• livelihoods lost
• impacts on health such as stress and worry

Question 3

what are the environmental costs of coastal recession ?

Answer 3

• loss of habitats

- ecosystems such as marshes could be lost

Question 4

why can’t you generalise in the cost of loses from coastal erosion ?

Answer 4

the losses are very localised and they depend on the location and worth of the land. For example residential land can be anything from £500,000- £2.5 million per hectare

Question 5

what is amenity value ?

Answer 5

the value in cultural, human wellbeing and economic terms of an attractive environment that people enjoy using

Question 6

why are economic losses of coastal erosion small ?

Answer 6

erosion happens slowly with property being effected over a long period. Also the price of that property would have been lost before as no one wants to buy it.

Question 7

what is an example of a coastal storm surge in a developing country ?

Answer 7

Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines

• category 5 which is the highest
• 6200 killed
• areas less effected by it had their population doubled after the storm

Question 8

what is an example of a coastal storm surge in a developed country ?

Answer 8

The north sea storm surge effected Netherlands and they lost almost 40,000 buildings to flooding. However they had a delta surge system in place to limit the effects of the flooding so their where no deaths

Question 9

what are the advantages of using hard engineering ?

Answer 9

• it is obvious to the locals that something is being done so it makes them feel safe
• it could protect a steretch of coast for decades
• could save ecosystems such as freshwater marshes

Question 10

what are the disadvantages of using hard engineering ?

Answer 10

• very high costs to put up and then maintain
• a lot are prone to failure
• visually unattractive
• they can have a negative effect on ecosystems
• defences built in one place can have a negative effect on the rest of the cell

Question 11

what are some examples of soft engineering ?

Answer 11

• beach nourishment gets sediment form one place and puts it on the beach. This is expensive and effects other parts of the beach
• dune stabilisation uses fences to reduce wind speed and replanting to stabilise the dunes, It is cheap and cost effective

Question 12

why might coastal management cause conflict ?

Answer 12

• coastal natural resources might need to be used less in order to protect the coast
• people might need to be relocated
• some erosion an flooding will still occur
• future trends such as sea level rise might make them need to change plan

Question 13

What is integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) ?

Answer 13

A holistic approach to coastal management. It takes in to account the whole cell and how it will be effected, the different stakeholders and also the sustainability of the options.

Question 14

What is an SMP ?

Answer 14

a shoreline management plan which is an area within a cell divided in to smaller areas

Question 15

what are the positives of using littoral cells in coastal management ?

Answer 15

it considers the impacts of coastal management not just in an area but in the cell as a whole

Question 16

what are the negatives of using littoral cells in coastal management ?

Answer 16

it is hard to cross coordinate different councils working together as they might both want different things so it could lead to conflict

Question 17

what is a cost benefit analysis ?

Answer 17

it is weighing up the social, environmental and economic benefits and costs to see if defending a coastline is economically worth it.

Question 18

what is an example of a place where a cost benefit analysis has been used ?

Answer 18

Hapisburgh in North Norfolk. They decided to do ‘no active intervention’ because to defend it would have a wider effect on the rest of the coast as it would have ended up blocking long shore drift leading to further erosion in other more economically valuable parts of the coast

Question 19

what is an EIA ?

Answer 19

an environmental impact assessment. It assesses the current state of the environment, the effect different options would have on the environment and what stakeholders prefer.

Question 20

what 4 main things do govt. or local councils look at when deciding about coastal defences ?

Answer 20

stakeholders interests, engineering feasibility, environmental impact assessment and budget/cost

Question 21

what is the effect of coastal management decision on stakeholders ?

Answer 21

you get winners (people who have benefited from the decision economically, environmentally or socially) and losers( people who haven’t benefited)

Question 22

what threats and issues has the Namibian coastline suffered ?

Answer 22

• diamond mining in the sea an inland
• dredging offshore has made the waves stronger
• tourist activities such as quad biking have effected the natural environment effecting wildlife
• overpopulation which leads to overusing water sources

Question 23

how have the Namibian government responded to their threatened coastline ?

Answer 23

They are planning to make large parts of the coast a national park to protect it. Also they are encouraging more renewable industries such as salt farming .