Environmental Changes and Urban Dynamics

Wildfires - Greece 2023

• Heatwave for 17 days in areas like Corfu and Rhodes
• 1.7€6 cost (225,000 hectares burnt)
• 163 people evacuated
• Budget for combating wildfires doubled (to €600m) through tax on luxury hotels

Changing Places - Richmond

• Increased spaces for historical landmarks and efficient residential areas
• 5th least densely populated borough
• Unemployment 0.4% lower than national average (population mostly 35-40)
• Finance, retail, and hospitality are most significant sectors
• Above average academically (95% of schools are good+offsted)
• Strong sense of community (insiders like local events, parks, cultural institutions)
• Historical significance (outsiders viewable to live or visit)

External Forces of Change - Detroit

• Heavy manufacturing industries used to be located there
• De-industrialization - loss of jobs → reduced population (1.5m in 1970 to 680,000 in 2015)
• Many parts of city are abandoned
• 82% Black population
• Very little tax revenue

Impacts on Health - Glasgow

• Largest city of Scotland (1.2m population)
• 24% of working adults have breathing problems (disability) like asthma
• Bad air quality → respiratory health lead to substance abuse/mental and physical health issues
• Access to good healthcare is a concern. Human factor = social inequality that can result in health disparities.

Impacts on Health - Okinawa

• Small population, relatively less urbanization → better air quality, less respiratory issues, and more green spaces/biodiversity
• Good public health, good access to mental health
• Good access to green spaces/biodiversity

Glaciers - Athabasca

• In Colombia ice field, Rocky Mountains, shrunk to 238km from 325km
• Terminal moraine- ice free for over 100 years and trees are growing
• Glaciers - Helvellyn (Lake District) - ice located on its Eastern side of the summit, 0.25+ glaciers

Earthquakes - Haiti 2010

• Magnitude 7, 25km away from Port-au-Prince
• 8 hospitals destroyed in the event, 316,000 deaths, including 4,000 prison escapes.
• 10,000 dead due to cholera outbreak.
• 25% of government officials died, poor response
• Dominican Republic sent aid and made hospitals accessible.

Tropical Cyclones - Hurricane Katrina

• Category 5, 2005, New Orleans
• 1,500 deaths, looting, flooding which caused transport networks damage
• $3006 cost from agricultural production, and sewage systems were damaged

Volcanic Eruptions - White Island

• New Zealand 2019
• 22 deaths
• Tourism companies stopped tours to the island
• Helicopters could not fly in the area around the eruption.

Malaria

• Used in Africa
• Reduced child infections by 39%
• Requires multiple doses to be effective

Multi Hazard Zone - Philippines

• Convergent plate boundary , with 22 active volcanoes, earthquake, typhoons, and landslides
• Landslides due to steep topography and high rainfall.
• 30% of the population live within 30 km of a volcano.
• Luzon island earthquake, magnitude 7, 1990 and over 1500+ people died.

Random Glacier Names

• Athabasca glacier - 350km³ , 238 km³ , 1-3m retreat, cold-based
• Helvellyn glacier - near Red Tarn
• Franz Joseph Glacier, NZ - warm-based
• Victoria Glacier, Antarctica - cold-based.

Asthma

• 250,000 premature deaths globally
• Can be caused by bad air quality

Glaciers - Franz Josef Glacier - New Zealand

• Moves at 4m/day, basal sliding, and high rainfall
• Shrunk 1.5m annually.