Chapter 11 Economic activity and the environment Case study The local scale: Whinash wind farm Figure 11.5 Proposed location of Whinash wind farm Irish Sea Lake District National Park CUMBRIA Whinash Diameter: 80 m Blade: 40 m Yorkshire Dales National Park North Sea 0 km 50 Whinash in Cumbria is the site of a proposed giant wind farm. It is one of several wind farms planned to meet government targets to expand alternative energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. These farms are controversial for two reasons. First, they are much larger than earlier wind farms. Second, many are in environmentally sensitive areas. Whinash will occupy an 8 km stretch of moorland between the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks (Figure 11.5). Twenty-seven giant wind turbines, each 120 m tall, are planned for the site. The issues at Whinash The Whinash scheme was highly controversial and went to public enquiry in 2005. An unusual feature of the enquiry was that environmental groups took opposite sides. Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth supported the scheme because it reduces the carbon dioxide emissions that cause climate change and global warming. The Countryside Agency and Lake District National Park Authority opposed Whinash. They argued that the wind farm would ruin the landscape and destroy important habitats for moorland birds. Figure 11.6 Size comparison of proposed wind turbines at Whinash with various structures 69.5 m 120 m Base height: 80 m 19.8 m Whinash turbine and a Boeing 747 Lambrigg turbine (near Tebay) Angel of the North House 220 OCR (B) GCSE Geography
Factfile Activity 11.4 11.2 Whinash wind farm Activity 11.4 The UK agreed under the 1997 Kyoto Treaty to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 12% (from the 1999 2000 levels) before 2010. Whinash wind farm in Cumbria will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 178,000 tonnes a year. It will produce enough electricity to power 47,000 homes, or a population of 110,000. Cumbria is one of the windiest parts of the UK, but the most suitable sites for building wind farms (e.g. in the Lake District National Park) are unavailable. Study Figure 11.7. 1 Describe the relief and drainage of the area between the M6 and the A6. Section4 2 Using the evidence in Figure 11.7, state and explain three possible reasons why the area of land between the A6 and the M6 was chosen as the site for a large wind farm. 3 Using the evidence in Figure 11.7, suggest reasons why many people and interest groups oppose the Whinash scheme. Figure 11.7 1:50,000 OS map extract of the area surrounding the proposed Whinash wind farm. The site occupies the upland north of Borrowdale between the M6 and the A6 A6 M6 ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPPING CROWN COPYRIGHT People, work and development 221
Chapter 11 Economic activity and the environment Views against Views in favour When some of the finest landscape in the country is under threat it is necessary for the agency to intervene. Richard Honey, The Countryside Agency If this project proceeds it will expose the finest windy countryside to similar developments for insignificant benefit to the nation. Kyle Blue This is a wonderful piece of landscape that is being considered for classification as a National Park. This project would be absolutely catastrophic for the area. Ian Brodie, Friends of the Lake District Our reasons for opposing the farm have nothing to do with nimbyism [ not in my back yard ]. The fact is this wind farm will not deliver what the public is led to believe it will. Kyle Blue, No Whinash Wind Farm Group Giant wind turbines cause visual pollution, destroy jobs in tourism and only work a third of the time. David MacClean, Conservative candidate for Penrith and the Borders The giant turbines would be visible from the M6 and would damage tourism worth millions of pounds a year. Cumbria Tourist Board Figure 11.8 What people and interest groups say about Whinash Activity 11.5 Activity 11.5 1 Summarise the case for and against the Whinash wind farm. 2 State your view on the proposal. Present your argument to a public enquiry, either from the viewpoint of a resident living in Tebay (see Figure 11.7) opposed to the scheme or as an environmentalist from Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth who supports the development. Local opposition is partly nimbyism and partly arguments that don t add up. For example they claim that the turbines kill birds but there is no evidence to show that. Jill Perry, Friends of the Earth It is very important that we build wind farms to solve the problems (of pollution) we have created in the past. Jill Perry The presence of the M6 has already degraded the landscape visually and by generating noise and air pollution. Environmental campaigner I have rented out holiday accommodation for a number of years and I m totally in favour of the scheme. Many people who come to the Lake District are walkers and outdoor types who are interested in green lifestyles they re not going to be put off by wind turbines. Anita Stirzaker, local business woman The project will help meet government targets on renewable energy and most of the objections are from private interest groups. Andrew Newcombe, CWP Whinash is the most appropriate location in northwest England a quarter of England is covered by National Parks or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We have to pick up the scraps that are left. Stephen Molloy, project manager for Chalmerston Wind Power (CWP) It s time something was done to tackle climate change. I m still waiting to return to my house after the January floods. Margaret Sanders, Carlisle resident whose home was flooded in January 2005 Clean energy alternatives such as the Whinash wind farm are crucial if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Jim Footner, Greenpeace 222 OCR (B) GCSE Geography
Section4 Case study The international scale: over-fishing in the North Sea Current levels of fishing in the North Sea are unsustainable. Stocks of cod, hake, whiting and plaice are on the verge of collapse (see Figure 11.10). This situation is mainly due to over-fishing, though pollution and climate change (causing a gradual warming of the North Sea) have also played a part. Fish are a common resource and sea fishing is difficult to regulate. This is because: Fish are migratory, moving freely between national boundaries in the North Sea. Managing fish stocks sustainably requires the agreement of all countries bordering the North Sea. The livelihoods of people in many coastal communities in eastern Scotland and eastern England depend almost entirely on fish-catching and fishprocessing industries. Over-fishing and the collapse of fish stocks is nothing new. It happened to the herring fishery in the North Sea in the 1960s and 1970s. It also happened to the cod fisheries on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, eastern Canada, in the 1980s. Worryingly, this fishery has never recovered. N Boundary of national offshore zones Geographical limits of the North Sea Catchment boundary on land UK 0 km 250 FRANCE Depth (metres) 0 100 metres 100 200 metres 200 1,000 metres Over 1,000 metres NORWAY DENMARK Oslo SWITZERLAND Bern Figure 11.9 Fishing in the North Sea SWEDEN Stockholm Copenhagen POLAND NETHERLANDS Berlin Amsterdam London Brussels GERMANY BELGIUM Prague LUXEMBOURG CZECH Paris REPUBLIC AUSTRIA Factfile 11.3 The North Sea The North Sea is part of a continental shelf a low-lying area on the European continent flooded by the sea. The North Sea has a surface area of 1,010 km 2, approximately four times the land area of the UK. The North Sea occupies a shallow basin. Water depth averages just 30 m in the southern North Sea. This increases to 200 m in the north between Scotland and Norway. There are 185 million people living in the North Sea s catchments of rivers, which drain into the North Sea. Most of the North Sea s catchment is highly urbanised. It includes major urban areas such as London, the Randstad agglomeration in the Netherlands and the Rhine-Ruhr area in Germany. People, work and development 223
Chapter 11 Economic activity and the environment Figure 11.10 Environmental impact of fishing in the North Sea Bottlenose dolphins Bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises are caught by accident in nets in the North Sea. The practice of pair trawling by two boats using a huge net is particularly damaging SINCLAIR STAMMERS/SPL Sand eels A hake catch PETER SCOONES/SPL Over-fishing of sand eels in the North Sea is partly to blame for disastrous breeding seasons for common seabirds in the past 10 years. Sand eels are at the base of the food chain that supports seabirds such as razorbills, puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes and terns The hake stock in the southern North Sea is barely 10,000 tonnes, compared with a minimum recommended level of 35,000 tonnes. Before overfishing, hake was a common species Plaice ROY WALLER/NHPA The current stock of plaice in the North Sea is 190,000 tonnes below the minimum level of 240,000 tonnes. The level of fishing must be reduced by 55% to allow stocks to recover A fishing trawler A shoal of cod Cod has been so over-fished that it has almost disappeared from the North Sea. In the North Sea the minimum recommended stock size is 150,000 tonnes. It is now just 46,000 tonnes Bottom trawling ploughs up the sea bed, destroying fragile corals and important fish nurseries 224 OCR (B) GCSE Geography
Section4 The impact of over-fishing Social and economic effects As fish stocks decline, fishermen lose their jobs and the fishing fleet is reduced. Lower catches mean that fish processing factories (often located in the fishing ports) close, which further increases unemployment and has negative multiplier effects on local businesses. Northeast Scotland is the leading centre of the UK s fishing effort in the North Sea. Declining fish stocks have hit this region hard. Between 1993 and 2003, the number of fishermen in northeast Scotland fell by nearly 60%, from 3,826 to 1,640 (see Figure 11.12). Employment in fish processing, such as jobs in filleting and packaging, fell by 6.5% between 2000 and 2004. For a fishing port like Fraserburgh, where one in three jobs are in the fishing sector, this decline has been a severe blow. Environmental effects The North Sea is a complex ecosystem. At the base of the food chain are tiny organisms called plankton. Sand eels and other small fish eat the plankton, and Total catch (1,000 tonnes) 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total catch Fishing vessels 2003 2004 9,500 9,000 8,500 8,000 7,500 7,000 6,500 6,000 Number of fishing vessels Figure 11.11 Total UK fishing catch and number of fishing vessels, 1995 2004 Figure 11.12 Number of people employed in fish catching in northeast Scotland, 1993 2003 Activity Activity 11.6 11.6 1 Look at Figure 11.9. Which countries: (a) Lie within the North Sea s drainage basin? (b) Have a coastline on the North Sea? 2 Explain why fishing is a primary economic activity. Look at Figure 11.11. 3 What was the total UK fish catch in: (a) 1995? (b) 2004? 4 Describe the trends in the UK fish catch and the number of fishing vessels in the UK fleet between 1995 and 2004. Number of people 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 People, work and development 225
Chapter 11 Economic activity and the environment Photograph 11.4 Puffins on the North Sea coast are threatened by over-fishing they are eaten in turn by larger predatory fish such as cod and haddock. Healthy fish stocks are essential to the survival of creatures further along the food chain, such as seabirds, dolphins, porpoises and seals. As stocks of predatory fish such as cod and whiting have declined, fishermen have turned to smaller species, especially sand eels. In 2005 sand eels accounted for around 40% by weight of the entire North Sea catch. Most of the catch is used for fertiliser and animal feed. It is now believed that this industrial fishing is having disastrous effects on wildlife. Seabird colonies around the North Sea, which depend on sand eels, are failing to breed. Cold water plankton Figure 11.13 North Sea food web Sand eels Seabirds, e.g. guillemots, kittiwakes, puffins, terns, razorbills Mackerel, haddock, whiting Common seals and grey seals Minke and orca whales Activity Activity 11.7 11.7 1 Using information in Figures 11.10 and 11.14, draw stacked bar charts to show the total allowable catches and stock levels of cod, hake and plaice from the North Sea. 2 From the evidence of your charts, which of these species appears to be at most risk? Justify your answer. 226 OCR (B) GCSE Geography
Section4 Plaice Hake Whiting Haddock Cod 0 1,496 10 19,800 Fewer sand eels mean less food for predatory fish, which in turn has a knock-on effect on marine mammals such as dolphins and seals. Huge trawlers catch juvenile fish before they have the chance to reproduce, so there are fewer fish to spawn subsequent generations. Trawling has ploughed up large areas of the seabed, destroying a vital habitat for spawning, small fish and crustaceans. Tackling over-fishing 22,659 20 30 40 Tonnes (thousands) Figure 11.14 Total allowable catches from the North Sea (2005) 57,370 51,321 The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is used by the EU to tackle the social, economic and environmental problems caused by over-fishing (see Factfile 11.4). Although the CFP has existed since 1983, it has failed to protect fish stocks in the North Sea. In fact, the CFP is accused of encouraging over-fishing. Subsidies are paid to trawlers that may otherwise be uneconomic and quotas are not set at sustainable levels. 50 60 Factfile 11.4 The Common Fisheries Policy Since 1983 the EU has tried to regulate fishing in the North Sea through its Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The aim of the policy is to create a sustainable fishery, where the annual catch of fish and other sea creatures does not exceed natural replacement. The CFP does this in a number of ways: It defines the total allowable catch per year (TAC) of each commercial fish species. If there is evidence of over-fishing these quotas are reduced. In extreme conditions the fishery might be closed completely. It reduces fishing by: (a) Compensating fishing boat owners who agree to scrap their vessels. (b) Deciding the number of days each year that boats are allowed to fish. It determines the mesh size of nets to allow immature fish to escape. It provides hard-pressed communities, hit by the decline of fishing, with money for new employment, retraining and education. Fishing communities get the same financial benefits as either Objective 1 or Objective 2 areas (see the section on the Rhondda in Chapter 8). People, work and development 227