Year 10: 7.1 Geographical Issues in the Coastal Environment

1. Describe how the settlement pattern of Australia is related to issues in the coastal environment?


85% of Australians live within a 50km radius of the coastline. With all the people moving closer to the coast more houses are going to be built. With the population increasing it will result in pollution, tourism and overall making the area more populated with some bad consequences. 


2. Why is the sustainable development of the coastline the aim of coastal management strategies?


The sustainable development of the coastline is the aim of coastal management strategies because they want to keep the coastline clean so that tourism will stay steady. If the coastline becomes unsustainable then it will become messier and then not so attractive for tourists. This would then result in less business for the locals. 


3. What trend has been labelled 'sea change'?


The trend of people moving from larger cities to smaller coastal towns and villages where the lifestyle is more relaxed. This trend is know as sea change.   


4. Describe one government response to 'sea change'.


The government has imposed new residential caps or a population ceiling to reduce the number of people moving to small towns.


5. Select four of the geographical issues facing the coastal environment presented in this unit. For each issue identify the human actions that cause the issue.


Pollution 
- People dump things such as bacteria into the water that pollutes it .
- People leave things behind when they leave and this is swept into the sea resulting in more pollution that may make the water unsuitable for swimming.


Inappropriate Development
- Developers want to get the best spots so that they can get big profits when they sell. They build apartments on small blocks that block everyone else's views of the beach. They do this so that they can sell to more people while disregarding the fact that they are ugly and do not belong at the water front.


Introduced plants
- Introduced plants can result in the disappearance of native plants.
- Introduced plants are brought in to stop one issue but then often result in another which can destroy the coast's natural beauty.


Tourism and recreational pressures.
- When holiday seasons come tourism can double and when it comes to more four-wheel driving which can result in large dune areas subject to erosion.


6. What role do geographers play in developing management solutions to issues in coastal environments?


Geographers play a huge role in determining whether or not the proposed ideas are suitable for developments and to make sure they are suitable for the coastline.


7. Find an example that you and/or others feel is an example of inappropriate development. Describe why this is considered inappropriate. Give one way that this type of development can be fixed.


I find that some beach front hotels that are in local areas can make beach life very frustrating. When you want to go to the beach that is near a hotel you will mostly find that the beach near the hotel will be packed. So many people go to the beach and when they go there, they are often confronted by large crowds. This can make it difficult for people seeking quiet beaches as they are so hard to find. With more hotels being made there are less beaches for people to stay at. A way of fixing this issue is to try and group the hotels close to one another so that they make up the whole beach front and therefore leave other beaches immune to hotels. This then would still make residents and tourists happy.