How does human activity unintentionally affect coastal

landscapes?

Revision

Case study: Offshore developments Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UEA)

Where are the offshore development and what are they?

Complete the questions on the sheet whilst watching the video

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BXGh0EYJtE

The coastal system in Dubai

• Which direction are waves most commonly experienced from?

• How would you describe the wave height/energy in the Persian Gulf

The coastal system in Dubai

• Waves are most commonly from the WNW to NW

• Wave heights are generally low at 0.5m to 1m most commonly

• Greatest wave heights which come from WNW and NW occasionally reach up to 4m

Where are the Palm Islands and what are they?

Task:

You will be given a number of pieces of evidence on how the coastal system has been affected by the offshore developments

Study each piece of evidence & complete the table

The impact of Palm Jumeirah & ‘’the World ‘’ offshore developments on wave height

• What impact do the offshore developments have on wave heights close to the shoreline?

The World OSD

Palm J OSD

The impact of offshore developments on wave direction

• Compared to the offshore wave direction, what happens to wave direction & energy near to the developments?

• What would cause this?

Wave exposure

• Wave exposure is a measure that shows how vulnerable a beach is to degradation (reduction in quality)

• The table below, shows the scale for measuring this

• What impact are the OSDs having on beach quality?

Palm J OSD

The World OSD

Orientation of the shoreline

• The arrows show the direction that the shoreline now faces as a result of the offshore developments

• Describe how and where the shoreline has changed position

Shore line changes near ‘’The world’’

• This image shows the position of the shoreline on the coastline adjacent to the ‘The World’’ development

• How has it changed?

N

Exam question

• Intentional human activity rather than unintentional human activity has a more significant influence on costal landscapes’' How far do you agree with this view (16 marks)

Email your answer to your teacher before your next session with tme