Living within the physical environmentSection B: Living World

Hot Deserts: The USA’s Western Desert RegionA case study of a hot desert to illustrate:

•• development opportunities in hot desert environments: mineral extraction, energy, farming, tourism

•• challenges of developing hot desert environments: extreme temperatures, water supply, inaccessibility.

Use the map below to answer these questions:a) Which three deserts make up the USA’s Western Desert?

b) How many states have some of this Western Desert in its borders?

c) Name the state that has the largest amount of the Western Desert region.

d) Name the three large cities that are found in the Western Desert.

Economic development OPPORTUNITIES in the Western Desert

People living in the less populated areas of the Western Desert earn a living through:

- Farming

- Mineral extraction- Energy- Tourism

Economic opportunity 1: Farming

Swap the X for vowels to complete this sentence:

The Western Desert has the high txmpxrxtxrxs _______________ and sxnlxght _____________ needed for farming but it needed wxtxr ___________ for irrigation (a crop watering system).

The farmers in the Western Desert have found water for farming from a) Aquifersb) Canals that transport water from the River Colorado

Water from aquifersLook at the diagram and watch the youtube clip below to complete the following sentences:Aquifers is an _________________ layer of water. The water passes through the surface into the soil and down into the groundwater. This process is called ________________An ___________________ layer of rock stops the water from going any further so water is stored in a place known as an aquifer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cUEuMUXrVU

Farms in the Coachella Valley use aquifers to grow vegetables, lemons, peppers and grapes (and use the grapes to make wine too). Use the map in Q1 to describe where Coachella Valley is. You need two sentences:

1. _______________________________________________________________2. _______________________________________________________________

Water from canals

Use the diagram and the internet to answer these questions (the blue line shows the canals):

a) What is the name of this canal project?

b) Which river gives these canals water?

c) It starts in the state of Colorado. In which state does it end?

d) In which city does the canal system end?

Economic opportunity 2: Mineral extraction (mining) in the USA’s Western Desert

Read the information below and answer these questions:a) What five minerals could be mined in the Western Desert?

b) Not all the opportunities to mine these minerals have happened. Which group of people campaigned to stop a plan to mine uranium near the Grand Canyon?

c) Give three reasons why these people didn’t want uranium being mined near the Grand Canyon:

1.2.3.

Pupils with Target Grades 7 or above: Read this information about the current uranium mines near the Grand Canyon.http://www.grandcanyontrust.org/uranium-mining

Write down useful facts about:- Radioactive dust- Contaminated water- Poisoned wildlife

Economic opportunity 3: EnergyRead the information below and complete the table:Type of power in Western Desert

Name of the project How have people benefitted (homes, jobs etc)

Economic opportunity 4: TourismNational parks offer visitors a chance to experience a wilderness area (a place humans have not developed). Use the internet to find a map to show where the following national parks are found and write a sentence describing its location:

Grand Canyon National Park Joshua Tree National ParkMap: Map:

Describe where the national park is: Describe where the national park is:

The Colorado Museum in Parker, Arizona celebrates the history and culture of Native Americans.

Las Vegas is built around entertainment. How many people visited Las Vegas in 2016? Use the graph below: ______________________________

Challenges of developing hot desert environments

Development challenge 1: Extreme temperatures

Native Americans settled in areas where temperatures were bearable, both for themselves and their crops and animals. How high can the temperature get to in Death Valley? ________________

Use your own geographical knowledge: Why did Native Americans also settle near aquifers or rivers? _______________________

Look at the map below. a) What type of map is this? (circle the correct answer) Topological Choropleth

Physical

Describe the distribution of densely populated areas.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Describe the distribution of sparsely populated areas.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Western Desert has a low carrying capacity. What does this mean? Use the internet to find a definition:___________________________________________________________________________

Development challenge 2: Inaccessibility

The low population density of less than one person per square kilometer means that parts of the Western Desert lack surfaced (tarmacked) roads. Therefore accessibility is severely limited in areas of Nevada north of Las Vegas. Even where roads and rough tracks have been put down, it is still dangerous.

Late 1800s – a train station was built in the water-rich Las Vegas Valley. Soon after the first saloon bars, shops and hotels were built.

1900s – better roads were laid so people could drive through the desert in buses and cars.Major cities can now be reached by air (e.g. Las Vegas airport)

Read the news articles below and explain why the tourists died.

The tourists died because:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2029970/Two-tourists-killed-heat-stroke-getting-car-help-California-desert.html

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/danger-lurks-visitors-death-valley-national-park

Development challenge 3: Water supply

The Western Desert cities have survived only because of the massive water transfers such as the Central Arizona Project (canals taking water from the River Colorado to the Western Desert’s cities).Read the information about the Central Arizona Project and decide if they are:

a) A positive or negative effectb) Economic or environmental

The River Colorado’s giant reservoirs bring water to cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson.

Sediment (load) gets trapped behind the dam walls, heats up in the sunlight and warms the water around it. This water rises to the top of the dam. The makes the water that leaves the dam colder because water is released from the bottom of the dam. This makes the river ecosystem change and many species have been lost.

Before the dam was built, the river used to flood and leave sediment on the river banks. This was used by plants and animals. Now, the river does not flood so sediment is not left on the river banks. This has changed the ecosystem and some species like the Kanab snail and Willow Flycatcher (bird) have decreased in number.

The River Colorado’s canals bring water to farms in places like Coachella. 15% of the USA’s crops are grown using this water and it supports about 13% of the livestock making $1.3 billion per year.

Read the information below and answer these questions:Why do humans need water security?

Give one physical reason why water security might be a problem in the future:

Give one political reason why water security might be a problem in the future:

Water security is the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods and production.

Already 30 million people depend on the water from the River Colorado. Between 2000 and 2010, several states in the Western Desert region had rapid population growth, more than double the national average.

There is a physical limit to how much water can be taken from the Colorado – there needs to be a certain level of discharge in the river for it to survive.

There is also a political limit because of an international agreement which states that water must be allowed to flow into Mexico (which is where the River Colorado ends).

Scientists have suggested that climate change will:- Reduce rainfall further in places where water is already naturally very low for all

or part of the year. In 2014, Lake Mead reached a record low. - Warm faster than the whole world in coming decades. By 2100, average annual

temperatures in many areas could be 5˚c higher than they were in the 1970s.