Geography - The Coastal Zone - Rising Sea Levels - London CASE STUDY

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London CASE STUDY - What would happen if London Flooded

Causes

Global Warming - this causes the ice caps to melt, thermal expansion and increased storms (which causes storm surges)

Isostatic Change (rising and falling of land)

Social Impacts

1.25 million

people living in flood risk areas will have to evacuated, which many leave

thousands homeless and overcrowd non flooded areas

There will be

large scale unemployment

20-25 hospitals,

400 schools, 26 underground stations, an airport and several power stations

will be at risk of flooding

Schools and

hospitals hit will be out of action for many months as any structural damage

and problems with writing, heating and sanitation will have to be resolved,

also there will be need for extensive cleaning particularly in hospitals due to

contamination.

Much equipment

will be broken and damaged in hospitals and schools such as any medical

equipment eg. CT and MRI scanners and computers also.

Infrastructural Impacts

The flood waters

many move at speed and carry rubble which will batter and damage the buildings,

this damage may be visible immediately, however subsidence may take time to

show.

There will be

widespread disruption to local power supplies, fuse junction boxes and wiring

will have to be replaced which may take months.

Gas supplies will

also be severely affected; pipes permeated by water will need to be drained

before supply can be restored.

Telecommunications

will be severely disrupted, 30 to 40 BT exchanges are in the flood zone and all

of BT’s main cables enter at basement level.

The London

Underground will be severely hit, the central zones and lines south of the

river will be completely flooded; which could potentially result in massive

loss of life.

Economic Impacts

The underground

will be severely affected leaving 3 million people unable to get to work.

Shops and

businesses in the flood zone will have to be closed, most stock and fittings will

be wrecked and many records lost.

Smaller firms are

likely to fold; larger ones may struggle for survival.

The tourist trade

will cease

Many

international business based in London will likely relocate

A Large scale and

long lasting recession will likely hit due to impaired productivity

Billions of

pounds will have to be spent in repairs

Insurance

companies are unlikely to be able to compensate damages

A financial

meltdown is likely

Environmental Impacts

Contamination due

to breaches at sewage treatment plants resulting in large outbreaks of:

Water born diseases such as typhoid and

cholera,

E.coli; which may

cause diarrhoea or even kidney and brain damage,

Salmonella and

the parasite protozoa cryptosporidium;

which may cause acute gastroenteritis,

The fatal Weil’s

disease,

And possibly

Hepatitis A especially among the young.