Geog-y✰

Sunday, March 28, 2010

@ 4:50 PM

Advantages and disadvantages of the different methods, in comparison to other countries' methods.

- Empoldering
Advantages:
1. Farmers will be able to control the water supply in their fields.
2. Large amount of land will be reclaimed.
Disadvantages:
1. It is costly.
2. It may cause farmers and dyke-builders to battle against the encroaching sea.
3. It may affect the environment.
Compare:
Unlike Singapore, countries such as the Netherlands have much of the land below sea level, therefore, they using empoldering method.

- Draining swamps
Advantages:
1. Prevents serious water level control problems.
2. Limit soil erosion
3. Bring fresh water in
4. More land available for farmland.
Disadvantages:
1. It might damage corals life and pollute the water.
2. It is not a long-term solution to the problem of land shortage as the amount of land that can be reclaimed is limited.
Compare:
Tanjong Karang Land Reclamation Scheme in Selangor, Malaysia have a land reclamation project to drain swamps of excess water by building canals and dykes unlike Singapore.

- Reclaiming derelict land
Advantages:
1. Useless land could be reclaimed and made useful.
Disadvantages:
1. Take a long time to restore the land.
2. It is costly.
Compare:
Singapore restores derelict land just like other countries.

-Landfill
Advantages:
1. Make new land by putting sand into coastal waters.
2. Filled with waste materials.
Disadvantages:
1. It is costly as dykes must be constructed and sand could be obtained from other countries.
Compare:
Singapore uses landfill method to restore the land as compared to other countries who do not really use.

- Mixed Land Use
Advantages:
1. Puts uses in close proximity to one another
2. Alternatives to driving, such as walking or biking
3. Provides a more diverse and sizable population and commercial base for supporting viable public transit
4. Enhances the vitality and perceived security of an area by increasing number and attitude of people on the street.
Disadvantages:
1. Social separation takes place.
2. High noise level.
Compare:
Singapore, just like Germany, has mixed land use in its country.

-High-density buildings
Advantages:
1. Allows more activities to take place in a small area.
2. It also allows peoples to travel short distances.
Disadvantages:
1. There might be high noise pollution due to too much activities happening at one time.
2. The buildings will be too compact together.
Compare:
Singapore, just like other densely populated cities have skyscrapers built close together.

-Terracing
Advantages:
1. It is an inexpensive method of increasing the area of arable land.
2. Bunds used in terracing prevent soil from being washed away.
3. The flat makes it possible for modern machinery to be used thus making farming a lot more efficient.
Disadvantages:
1. Terraces involve a lot of human labour and are difficult to construct.
2. A lot of effort is needed to maintain the terraces after they are constructed.

-Soil-less farming
Advantages:
1. More crops can be grown on a single area of land at the same time as they can be grown closer together.
2. It is effective in increasing the output of crops as sufficient amounts of nutrients can be delivered and distributes evenly to crops at regular intervals. It help to prevent the growth of weeds or insects.
Disadvantages:
1. It is costly.
2. It may not be practical in countries where farmers do not receive enough training to operate the high technology equipment.

-Irrigation
Advantages:
1. It ensures a steady supply of water, which allows farmers to grow greater amounts and wider varieties of crops.
2. Land previously unsuitable is made arable through irrigation.
3. It reduces the need of human labours by using computers.
Disadvantages:
1. Irrigation canals can hold stagnant waters and breed mosquitoes if not properly maintained.
2. Land may become waterlogged with poor drainage and crops will be damaged.
3. High amounts of dissolved mineral salts from the water of the river used can cause damage to crops.
4. Certain irrigation systems are expensive to construct, especially when a dam needs to build across a waterway to create a reservoir.

-Increasing Price of Land
Advantages:
1. Controls demand for land in urban areas.
2. It allocates the scarce land in a competitive situation so that peoples know how valuable land is.
Disadvantages:
1. Peoples who do not have enough money will not be able to buy that piece of land.
2. Land prices tend to be more and more expensive.
Compare:
In Singapore, land prices are caused by the supply and demand. However, in places like Malaysia, land prices are much higher in large urban areas and relatively lower in rural areas.

-Land Clearance
Advantages:
1. Provides more land
2. Sell products made from trees that are cut down
Disadvantages:
1. Habitats to be destroyed.
2. Soil erosion
3. Soil leaching
4. Top soil lose its fertility
5. Decrease in evapotranspiration
6. Decrease in rainfall
7. Greenhouse effects
- With forest vegetation, the carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuels can be reduced.
- With fewer trees, the Earth will be warmer.
Compare:
Deforestation hardly occurs in Singapore as compared to countries like Indonesia which has deforestation taking place throughout the year thus polluting the air.

-Conservation of Land
Advantages:
1) Minimise the loss and damage to the Earth
2) Reserves land for further development
Disadvantages:
1)Land cannot be used for different types of facilities.