6th Form Conference 2009

Population: patterns, processes and problems at a range of scales

Wednesday 11th February 2009 – 1:30 - 4:00pm
Three lectures on topical AS/A2 subjects, including a key lecture to provide context for the Sixth form competition.
Location : Bristol University, room tbc.

6th Form Conference 2008

The Bristol Branch of the GA Autumn Conference was held at Bristol University on February 6th 2008 between 1.30 and 4.00pm.

The programme included 3 lectures covering issues relevant to the A-level syllabuses, see abstracts below.

Abstracts

The July 2007 floods on the River Severn - What lessons can be learnt for managing floods?

Professor Lindsey McEwen, University of Gloucestershire

‘We don’t get large floods in July in the UK or do we?’ Clearly we can do. The large scale flooding in July 2007 had major impacts on the floodplain communities along the lower River Severn and Warwickshire Avon. Many floodplain residents in Tewkesbury are still in caravans six months after the event. There have been a large number of subsequent reports by local and national government and other agencies reflecting on how the flood was managed. At the same time, residents in Tewkesbury are setting up their own Flood Action Group like some of the other community support groups set up on the Severn after the November/ December 2000 floods (see www.floodforum.org.uk). This talk reflects on lessons to be learnt after July 2007, using the questions below as a framework and the River Severn catchment as a case-study. It would be excellent if you could reflect in advance on some of these questions so you can add to the discussions on the day.

• What natural and human factors caused the floods in July 2007 on the River Severn? How ‘large’ were they? Have there been any similar or larger floods in the historical record?
• What different types of flooding occurred in July 2007 and why? Why were many of the properties flooded not on the Environment Agency flood maps?
• Are ‘large floods in July’ evidence for climate change? What sorts of flood patterns might we expect on the River Severn in a climate change context?
• What lessons can be learnt from the 2007 floods about the ways we manage flood risk in the United Kingdom? Should we be building more defences (‘controlling nature’) or should we be building sustainable floodplain communities (‘getting people to adjust’)? What is your view?

Predicting and reducing landslide hazard: Applying the science in developing countries

Dr Liz Holcombe

In 2000 the World Bank estimated that the number of urban poor living below the poverty line was 1500 million and that this number was set to grow. These urban communities often develop, unplanned, on the least ‘desirable’ land – such as steep slopes. Landslides pose a serious physical and economic threat to residents in these marginal urban areas especially as dense housing on steep slopes can decrease slope stability. Landslides also cause disruption to essential services, such as water supply, electricity and road access; and present a significant engineering cost to the local authorities. In extreme cases major landslides can be expensive to government if it is necessary to relocate and re-house a whole community.

In this talk a research project will be outlined – illustrating the physical causes of landslides in such communities; how landslides can be predicted; and how communities and governments have been able to work together to reduce landslide risk. We will ‘tour’ shanty-towns in the Caribbean, meet the residents and the government agencies, and see how simple low-cost measures can be designed and built in order to reduce landslide occurrence.

How will the ocean 'conveyor belt' respond to global warming in the coming century?

Dr Joy Singarayer (School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol)

The ocean large-scale circulation, or 'conveyor belt', plays an important role in global climate. In particular, those of us living in North-West Europe benefit from the current of warm water that transport heat from the tropics to the North Atlantic. It has been proposed that a reduction in the conveyor belt strength may occur due to global warming, and even the possibility of a rapid shutdown has been hypothesised. The climate impacts of the most drastic scenario could be severe cooling in the Northern Hemisphere within a period of a few decades. In this talk we will consider the evidence from both climate models and observational data to ask what the most likely impact on the global ocean conveyor belt will be, and the implications for European climate.