IH revision: (LORMS)

Land constraints
Possible essays: Land reclamation is the best solution to solve land
constraint
- Landfill ex. Marina bay 230 hectares reclaimed
- Pulau tekong and bukom (defence and refinery)
- Jurong island
- Maximising existing landuse
- Mixed landuse ex. Suntec city, anchorvale CC(hockey
pitch, gym, etc)
- Density of building ex. KPE 12 km in length, 10 km
deep, duxton plain 50 storey flats 1800 flats in 2
hectares
- Land clearance
- Deforestation (amazon basin south America)
- Used for economic purposes
- Demolishing old buildings
-

Land reclamation only brings benefits to Singapore?

Difersify economy ex. Jurong Island 7 islands merge
petrochemical
Increase economy ex Sentosa tourism purposes
Costly (need to buy sand $60/ton)
Limit to reclaim (pulau tekong conflict, refered to 1982
law of sea)
Affect biodiversity, wildlife

Water constraints
Possible essays: Having water agreements is the best way in solving
water constraints?
- Water agreements ex. Nile water agreement 1929
&1959
- Bangladesh 1996, regulate use of ganges river
- Malaysia with singpaore 1961 and 1962 agreement
- Increasing catchment areas ex. Marina reservoic 2009,
10000 hectares, one sixth of Singapore
- 50 % of Singapore (14 reservoir) collects 650000m3
daily, meet 57% need

Use of technology ex. Recycled water, newater plants,

produces 90920m3 daily meet 15% of need, located at
bedok, kranji, seletar and ulu pandan
Desilination ex. Saudi Arabia Largest plant, produce
12million gallons a day
Singapore Tuas, supply 136380 m3 daily

Pollution
Possible essay questions:
The effort from local government (indo) is the best way to solve haze
problems
- Local government efforts 1560 personnel in fire
brigades in 10 fire prone provinces
- Develop fire control centre in east Kalimantan
- ASEAN efforts ex. Transboundary haze agreement 2002
June,requires parties to cooperate and prevent haze
pollution
- Singaporean efforts ex. Sent aircrafts, provide satellite
images
- Deployed a C-130 aircraft
- November 2006, pledged $50000 to ASEAN haze fund
The best way to solve air pollution in Singapore?
- International effort ex. ASEAN trounsboundary haze
june 2002
- Earth summit 2002
- GSETA (transfer of knowledge from germany, conduct
workshops)
- National effort ex. Provide satellite pictures, deploy
aircrafts,pledge funds
- SGP 2012 (have 60% of electricity from natural gas)
- Clean air act(cannot use fuel oil of more than 1%
sulphur by weight)
- Reduce ambient PM 2.5 by 2014
- Individual efforts ex. Use public transport, take buses
The best way to solve water pollution in Singapore?
- International efforts ex. Oil pollution act 1990, requires
tankers to have double hulls
- Earth summit 1992
- Malay-Singapore mandatory shipping system

National efforts ex. DTSS, 48km tunnel used to channel

water for treatment
Set fines in Singapore, max 50000
SGP 2012 (reduce water consumption to 155 liters a
day)
Individual efforts ex. Do not litter in river

What is the best way to solve land pollution in Singapore?

- International efforts ex. Earth summit 1992
- GSETA
- National efforts ex. Pulau semakau, 8km from main
island, 350 hectares big, expected to be filled by 2030
- Imposing fines
- NRP (one recycling bin per HDB)
- SGP 2012 (increase recycling rate from 44% to 60%)
- Individual efforts ex. Do not litter
- 3Rs, recycle, reduce and reuse

Global warming
Which will have the greatest impact on Singapore?
- Water resource scarcity
Caused by a rise in sea level due to the melting of polar ice caps.
Predictions are that sea levels could rise up to 59cm which would mean that
many coastal areas in Singapore that are not more than 15m above sea level
will be flooded. Flooding of reservoirs would cause contamination of
freshwater supply through saltwater intrusion. Reservoirs (catchment areas)
like Marina Reservoir which are located near the coast will be especially
vulnerable to this. To make this water potable, desalinization must be carried
out which would have an economic cost that must be borne either by the
government or individuals in the form of a price increase in water. This would
worsen the problem of water resource scarcity
Water resource scarcity could also be caused by a lack of rainfall which
sometimes occurs as a result of climate change.This would lead to a drying
up of water in catchment areas further exacerbating the problem as 40% of
Singapores water supply comes from the supply in catchment areas.
Coastal land loss
Exacerbate existing problem of land shortage
Expected rise of 59cm can have disastrous consequences on many areas in
Singapore which are low-lying
Result in loss of existing residential areas built on reclaimed land eg., Marine
Parade, further worsening issue of shortage of land for public housing
Result in loss of industrial areas eg., offshore industries such as oil refining in
Pulau Bukom and chemical industries on Jurong Island. Flooding might also

damage port operations affecting Singapores reputation as an important

trading hub in SE Asia. These contribute substantially to our economy and
their loss would cripple certain sectors of the economy. Also, far reaching
effect of a pull-out of foreign investments and the subsequent loss of jobs
and negative impact on the economy.
Result in loss of recreational areas like East Coast and West Coast Park and
the surrounding waters. Negative impact on sporting events like yachting
which Singapore is trying to promote itself as a suitable destination for
leading to a loss in tourist spending and a subsequent negative impact on the
economy.
Measures to protect the coast like sea walls are also expensive with the cost
of a metre of coastal revetments costing up to US$5000 to install. Money
spent on these would have to be taken from other sectors of the economy
limiting spending on these sectors

Public health impact from a resurgence of disease

Exacerbate existing problems of tropical diseases that are already endemic
to Singapore. Climate change will increase unreliability of rainfall that causes
some periods of intense rainfall that our urban drainage systems cannot cope
with. This leave pools of stagnant water behind encouraging the breeding of
mosquitoes. Given the high density of population in Singapore, the situation
could quickly worsen to epidemic levels causing loss of man hours due to
related illnesses and a subsequent decrease in productivity. Eventually this
would cause a negative impact on the economy
Money would also have to be spent on trying to control the spread of dengue
by intensifying checks on buildings and public drains, treating stagnant water
that cannot be drained away immediately.

Flooding
Possible essay questions:
How far do you agree that Meteorological factors are the main causes of flooding in
Singapore?
- Meteorological factors

Very high rainfall intensity and duration during the rainy season or monsoon season
(end of the year) Built environments higher surface run-off that is in excess of
local drainage capacity, thereby causing local floods.
o On 5 June 2011(Sunday), Singapore national water agency PUB said heavy
and intense rain fell over the central and eastern parts of Singapore early
morning, resulting in flash floods in various locations. PUB said the rainfall on
Sunday was more intense than that of June last year, with about 65mm
recorded within 30 minutes on Sunday morning, compared to the 100mm
within two hours on June 16, 2010.

Climate change is making weather less predictable, rains more uncertain and heavy
storm rainfalls more likely. Heavy thunderstorm appear to have increased in
frequency.
o above flood occurs in June as opposed to the traditional wet months

Human factors
a correlation between the floods and the high growth rates of the past few years,
rapid urbanisation resulting from the property boom and the spike in population.
Hence, the problems are not only global and natural but also local and man-made.
Studies in the environmental sciences have indicated that building and transportation
infrastructural projects are instrumental in displacing organically permeable soil and
vegetation with impermeable concrete surfaces that have less capacity to store
rainwater.
o In the case of Orchard Road, the floods seem to coincide with the
replacement of an open and relatively well-vegetated green space between
Orchard Road and Paterson Road with the megamall Orchard ION that has
probably the deepest basements in Singapore.
o Along Bukit Timah Road, which is seeing the more severe floods, are the new
condominiums complexes that are squeezed tightly into the previously quieter
and spacious neighbourhood of bungalows with spread-out lawns and
gardens.

Local drainage capacity is primarily made up of a local stormwater drainage system

which intended to convey storm flows efficiently to the communitys primary drainage
system, such as the main river channel or the nearest large body of water.
Unfortunately, many urban drainage facilities are not in good shape due to lack of
cleaning and maintenance. Rubbish and debris tend to clog the bottlenecks of
drainage facilities, thus reducing the drainage capacity and leading to increased
surface runoff and back up effects, causing local floods.
o Eg. Orchard road drainage system was not well-maintained one of the
contributing factors leading to flooding there

Lack of flood preventive measures

IH revision (ESSAYS)
Land constraints
Possible questions:
Describe some possible negative effects of deforestation
- Habitats of many species of plants and animals will be
destroyed
- Brings about soil erosion
- Brings about soil leaching (rainwater dissolve nutrients
in the soil and carry them away, causing soil to be less
fertile)
- Fewer trees means decrease in plant transpiration,
resulting in less water vapour released causing less
rainfall
Explain problems faced by spre using land reclamation
- Costly, current technology only permits reclamation up
to 15m in depth
- Loss of biodiversity ex. Chek Jawa coral reefs and other
organisms suffer because they are unable to adapt to a
new environment quick enough, resulting in deaths
- Limit to reclaim ex. Pulau Tekong conflict, refered to
1982 law of sea
Explain what it means to overcome land scarcity, we could build
upwards or downwards
- it means to increase supply of land, we can build
upwards or downwards

ex. Duxton plaine flats, 50 storeys, 1800 flats in 2

hecctares
ex. Ion orchard, 218m and 4 basement
More people squeezed and shops too
Less land needed for other purposes