1. What are the problems of rapid
urbanisation in poorer parts of
the world?

2. Syllabus
Key idea:
Rapid urbanisation in a poorer part of the
world requires the management of the
environmental problems caused.
Specification content:
Effects and management of air and water
pollution.

3. Learning outcomes
• All will understand that rapidly expanding cities
produce large amounts of air pollution and waste
which ends up in rivers.
• Most will understand that there are a variety of
ways to try to deal with both air and water
pollution.
• Some will understand that some ways of dealing
with water pollution is very difficult because of
the complexity of people’s interactions with the
rivers.

4. From “Slowly Down the Ganges” by Eric Newby

5. Water pollution - The River Ganges (1)
• Contains untreated sewage,
cremated remains, chemicals
and disease causing microbes.
• Cows wade in the river
• People wash their laundry in
it
• People drink from it
Water pollution:
•Kills fish which disrupts food
chains
•Harmful chemicals can build up
in the food chain and poison
humans who eat fish from the
polluted water
•Contamination of water supplies
can spread diseases
Management of the pollution
This can involve:
•building sewage treatment
•plants passing laws forcing
factories to remove pollutants
from their waste water.

6. Water pollution (2)
• Limits to water pollution need to be identified and
enforced
• 1986 the Ganga Action Plan sought to introduce water
treatment works on the R. Ganges.
However, the increasing population was not taken into
account and water quality has since deteriorated.
In Shanghai the Huangpu river is the main water supply
for the city, and in the last 10 years water quality has
fallen as 4 million m3 of untreated human waste enter
it daily. The Huangpu and Suzhou rivers have been
the target for improving water quality. A World Bank
loan of $200 million was granted in 2000

7. Air pollution – Shanghai, China (1)
Industry is responsible for 70% of
the country’s carbon dioxide
emissions.
73% of electricity is produced by
coal fired power stations
Air pollution can:
Lead to acid rain which damages
buildings and vegetation
Causes health problems –
headaches, bronchitis
Some pollutants destroy the
ozone layer which protects from
the sun’s harmful rays
Management
Set air quality standards for
industries and constantly monitor
levels

8. Air pollution (2)
• Most industrial production is in the biggest cities and
there is a need to encourage the use of new
technologies that can reduce emissions of sulphur
dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
- switching to cleaner, alternative sources of energy
- Using low sulphur coal
- Monitoring and safety checks
- Limits set and enforced on emission levels
- Companies monitored to ensure emissions of CO2 and
SO2 are reduced
- Effective strategies implemented to reduce traffic
fumes – limiting the number of cars
- congestion charges

9. Solutions
• Turn your book on its side and draw the table below in
your books. Cut out the solutions from the sheet and
stick them in your book in the correct category. Then
shade green the successful solutions and red the
unsuccessful ones.
Waste Disposal Air Pollution Water
Pollution

10. Key Terms
Match the terms on your sheet
Industrialisation
Disposal of Waste
Landfill
Recycling
Air Pollution
Transnational
Corporations
(TNCs)
Water Pollution
A process in which an increasing proportion of the population
are employed in the manufacturing sector of the economy
A means of disposing of waste by digging a large hole in the
ground and then lining it before filling it with rubbish
Collection and subsequent reprocessing of products such as
paper, aluminum cans, plastic containers and mobile phones,
instead of throwing them away
Putting harmful substances into the air such as carbon dioxide
Companies that spread their operations around the world in an
attempt to reduce costs
Putting poisonous substances into water courses such as
sewage, industrial effluent and harmful chemicals
Safely getting rid of unwanted items such as solid waste

11. Exam question