Coastal Management Questions 7.1

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

The settlement pattern of Australia is related to issues in the coastal environment because the majority of the Australian population lives on the coastline of Australia. This population growth has directly affected the coastal environment with the introduction of issues such as polution, inappropriate development and introduced plants.

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

geographers aim to create a method of development of the coastline that takes a wide range of viewpoints that are essentially for the good of the coastline. These management strategies are put into place to counteract issues that have been a result of earlier settlements.

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

The trend of population growth has been labelled 'sea change' as it is the name that has been applied to this process.

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

One government response to this sea change has been the introduction of 'imposed residential caps' and/or a population ceiling for several towns in an effort to stop overdevolpment of these 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.

Polution - Pollution of the coastline is a result of urban developments in coastal communities. Apart from direct pollution from the residents, humans have also contributed to this with factors such as unsafe treatment of sweage and poor management of stromwater.

Introduced plants - Introduced species of plants are detrimental to coastal ecosystems because they can overtake the native vegetation. These introduced plants have been brought into Australia for things such as supporting sand dunes with foreign plants which are not used to the australian landscape and ecosystem.

Inappropriate developement - Overdevelopment or unpractical development of coastal areas by humans in order to expand a towns housing capacities and give the area sufficient residential space. Humans looking to invest or find land have caused this issue and as a result many of the housing has been dangerous to live in and/or dangerous to the environment.

Recreation and tourism. - Recreation and tourism have caused significant damage to coastal areas with humans being the direct cause because of the sudden influx of people with little regard for the ecosystem and landforms.

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

Geographers play an important role in developing management solutions to issues in coastal environments by taking in different view points and opinions from the different groups associated with the area and choosing the best possible method of action for solving the current coastal management issues which are affecting the area they are managing.

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.

 

Apartment blocks in pacific palms - a small beach town community.

 

I feel that this type of developement is considered to be highly inappropriate for this area because the area is unsuitable for these buildings and the towns resources would not be able to handle the new homeowners who would be moving into the area.

 

This development can be fixed by cutting down on the number of planned buildings until the town is appropriate enough to accomodate the sudden arrival of these new people.