Question 1.

Levels of wealth and economic development are not evenly spread within individual countries.

(a)For Brazil or any other Developing country which you have studied, suggest reasons why regional variations exist.

Answer:

Regional variations exist within Brazil mainly because of the wide variety of physical features within the country. The north east side of the country is semi-desert, a very hot climate with little rainfall. This makes it uncomfortable to work in, and the lack of rain makes growing crops and general agricultire very difficult. With no agriculture, it is difficult to develop industries and so the area remains undeveloped. In addition, the vegetation, namely the rainforest, in the north of Brazil makes it hard to develop good transport links. This will have an effect on develpoed as it will not attract businesses and other investors. However, on the south side of Brazil, the climate is much milder. This primarily, makes it a much more comfortable environment to work in so more people move to this area, increasing its population size and generating more wealth for trhe economy. Also, the south has much more rain, and the rain provides the perfect conditions to grow crops and develop agriculture. WIth a development in agriculture, small industries can develop and so the area becomes much more developed. The south side of the country also has very good transport links with other countries, both being near the sea and close to other south American countries, which again allows it to develop more thoughouly. In contrast, the north west side of Brazil is completly covered in rainforests. Therefore, the south is very attractive to major businesses and investors. The vegetation makes it very difficult for any industry to develop. As a result, this area remains almost completly unpopulated and very under developed. The physical georgraphy of the country creates this wide variety in the regions of Brazil.

(b)Explain why indicators of development may fail to provide an accurate representation of the true quality of life within the area.

Indicators such as GNP per capita can be inaccurate for a number of reasons. They may not take the subsistence economy within a country into account meaning that in poor countries where this is common much of the active economy is not accounted for giving a misguidingly low GNP. The use of averages also means that massive variations in wealth within a country are hidden. For example, in Saudi Arabia most of the countries wealth is owned by hugely rich oil owners whilst most of the country's population is poor. Such economic indicators also give no idea of the physical quality of life within a country as they do not indicate the standards of important factors such as healthcare and educational services. In addition, some countires spend money on using more environmentally friendly methods such as developing wind farms, this cost more yet it is not taken into account when provinig a GNP. Also GNP is measured in Dollars and this is worth a different amorunt in different countries for example in Austrailia it cost less to buy things than it would in other countries.

Question 2.

For either malaria or bilharzia (schistosmiasis) or cholera,

(a)Describe the eviromental and human factors which put people at risk of contracting the disease.

Environmental factors

Malaria is spread by the female anopholes mosquito. Mosquitos needs stagnant water to breed. They breed in areas with temperatures between 16 and 40 degrees: damp climates and it can't be of a high altitude. They need shade to breed such as overgrowth on river banks. It cant develop in places that are too wet because it washes out the larvae. 

Human factors

The most important factor which contributes to the spread of malria is a human. Malaria can be spread through people migrating from one area to another. Building dams also creates areas of stagnant water for mosquitos to breed. Cattle can also bring about malaria as the mosquitos are attracted to them. Shaded areas in peoples homes also allows a place for the mosquito to breed after a blood meal. Also people migrating can spread malaria. Disused dams create an area to breed, such as in Srilanka. Irrigation channels in rice and paddy fields create a suitable breeding area.

(b)Describe the methods used to try to control the spread of the disease.

There are numerous ways of controling the spread of malaria. One of the most used is medicines such as cloroquin. Insectacides such as DDT and Malathion have also been used. It is also common for certain villagers to be educated about preventing malaria so that they can inform others in remote areas. Mosquito nets can be used to prevent people from being bitten. Draining stagment water is carried out so that the mosquito's cannot breed. Building dams so that water can flow down dry areas and prevent the eggs from hatching. This is done every 7 days so the minimum time required for the larva to hatch is not reached. Genetic research has also developed ways of spreading malaria by creating mersinery, larger mosquitos so that they can eliminate the anopheles mosquito's. Egg whites are sometimes sprayed to eliminate the larva. mosquito fish are sometimes placed in ponds to kill the larva. Ucalyptous trees are planted to drain the water from soils so that the mosquito's can no longer breed. Finally, a new drug has also been developed which is injected into humans so that mosquito's are poisoned when they bite the human.

There are many ways of stopping the larvae such as covering slow flowing or stagnant water with mustard seeds and egg whites. By flushing the dams every 7 days larvae can not hatch as it takes 8-10 days. Cannibal larvae is developed with enough protein that a blood meal is not necessary when it hatches. Mosquito fish eat larvae and therefore they are unable to develop.

There are several ways to prevent mosquito development: by spraying houses with DDT or Malathion.Genetic Engineering has created sterile males meaning they can not breed.

(c)Comment on how effective these methods have been.

Some methods which are used to eradicate malaria are not always effective. Using medecines such as cloroquin can be costly so they are no suitable for developed countries which tend to suffer most from malaria. Mosquito's have became resistant to insectacides such as DDT so it is no longer effective. Also it is often hard to encorporate the use of malathion as it has an extremely unpleasant smell, and it stains walls, therefore it is rarely used. Educating villagers would be very effective as it is cheap. Aswell as this, preventing the disease is better that having to pay for curing the disease. Using mosquito nets may be cheap but it is very undesirable so not many people want to use it. Draining stagment water would be almost impossible as it is very costly and it is hard to access all areas with stagment water. Building dams to let water flow and prevent the larva from hatcing would be far to expensive, therefore it is not very effective. Using genetic research would also be very costly and would take long periods of time so this is also no effective. Planting ucalyptos trees would also be very and therefore nor very effective. Finally, it would be hard to encorporate using the new drug which has been developed as many people would not see the benefit as it would not help them as it doesnt cure the disease, it would only prevent the spreading of the disease.