40. How do British geographical conditions influence the economy of the country?

Britain's physical geography is inevitably connected to concerns about how the country's natural resources and associated industries are organized.

The UK government Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has formal responsibility for much of the physical geography of Britain and how it is used, although there are frequent complaints about the adequacy of its performance. Other government and European Union policies also condition the rural and urban landscape, but these can sometimes conflict with each other.

Historically, Britain's physical features have influenced human settlement, population movements, military conquest and political union. They have also conditioned the location and exploitation of industry, transport systems, agriculture, fisheries, woodlands and energy supplies. Today they continue to influence such activities and are tied to public concerns about pollution, temperature change, the state of the natural environment ant the quality of food products. Some have been affected by government policies (such as privatization) and European Union directives on agriculture, fisheries and global warming. Many Britons live in densely populated areas. They are directly affected by these issues and by the actions of public authorities and private bodies upon the environment.

In recent years, the countryside in particular has become a fierce political issue. Rural inhabitants, conservationists and farmers feel neglected by the UK central government and politicians. They object to the alleged destructions and pollution of the physical environment and the supposed ignorance of country life shown by metropolitan planners.

Britain's geographical position is marked by latitude 50˚N in southern England and by latitude 60˚N across the Shetlands. It thus lies within only 10˚ of latitude and has a small and compact size when compared with some European countries. Yet it also possesses a great diversity of physical features.

Britain's physical area covers some 93,025 square miles. Most is land and the rest comprises inland water such as lakes and rivers. England has 50,052 square miles, Wales has 7,968, Scotland has 29,799 and Northern Ireland has 5,206. England is significantly larger than the other countries and also has the biggest population (49,856,000 or 84%) in a UK total of 59,600,000 in 2003.

There are many bays, inlets, peninsulas and estuaries along the coasts an most places in Britain are less than 75 miles from some kind of tidal water. Tides on the coast and in inland rivers (in addition to heavy rainfall) can cause flooding in many parts of the country. Local and national authorities must choose between deliberately losing land to the sea through managed retreat plans or providing substantial finance to construct defences against this threat. Flooding, which is now tied to climate and weather change, continues to seriously affect many low-lying inland areas throughout the country, with people suffering property and financial loss.

The coastal seas are not deep and are often less than 300 feet because they lie on the Continental Shelf, or raised sea-bed adjacent to the mainland. The warm North Atlantic Current (Gulf Stream) heats the sea and air as it travels from the Atlantic Ocean across the Shelf. The Gulf Stream influences the coastal fish breeding grounds, on which the national fishing industry is considerably dependent.

The north and west consist of older, harder rocks created by ancient earth movements, which are generally unsuitable for cultivation. The south and east comprise younger, softer materials formed by weathering processes, which have produced fertile soils and good agricultural conditions. Much of the lowland area, except for urban and industrial regions, is cultivated and farmed. It largely comprises fields, which are divided by fences or hedges. Animal grazing land in upland zones is separated either by moorland or stone walls.

England

- population - 49,856,000 in 2003;

- covers two-thirds of the island of Great Britain;

- consists mainly of undulating or flat lowland countryside, with highland areas in the north and south-west;

- eastern England - the low-lying flat lands (e.g. the Norfolk Broads, the Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire Fens);

- low hill ranges stretched over much of the country (e.g. the North Yorkshire Moors, the Cotswolds and the Chiltern Hills);

- highland zones marked by the Cheviot Hills (between England and Scotland), the north-western mountain region of the Lake District and the Cumbrian Mountains, the northern plateau belt of the Pennines forming a backbone across north-west England, the Peak District at the southern reaches of the Pennines, and the south-western plateau of Devon and Cornwall;

- the heaviest population concentrations centre on the largest towns and cities (e.g. London, south-east England generally and the West Midlands region around Birmingham).

Wales

- population - 2,938,000 in 2003;

- highland country, with moorland plateau, hills and mountains, often broken up by deep river valleys; the upland mass contains the Cambrian Mountains and descends eastwards into England;

- the highest mountains in Snowdonia in the north-west (dominant peak - Snowdon - 3,560 feet);

- lowland zones restricted to the narrow coastal belts and to the lower parts of the river valleys in south Wales, where two-thirds of the population live;

- chief urban concentrations of people and industry around the bigger southern cities (e.g. the capital Cardiff, Swansea and Newport);

- in the past, the highland nature of Wales hindered conquest, agriculture and the settlement of people.

Scotland

- population - 5,100,000 in 2003;

- may be divided into three main areas:

• the North-West and Central Highlands (Grampians), together with a number of islands off the west and north-east coasts: thinly populated, but comprise half the country's land mass;

• the Central Lowlands: contain one-fifth of the land area but three-quarters of the population, most of the industrial and commercial centres and much of the cultivated land;

• the Southern Uplands: cover a number of hill ranges stretching towards the border with England;

- the Highlands, with their lochs and fiord coastlines, and the Southern Uplands are now smooth, rounded areas since the original jagged mountains have been worn down;

- the highest point in the Central Highlands is Ben Nevis (4,406 feet), which is also the highest place in Britain;

- main population concentrations around the administrative centre and capital of Edinburgh, the commercial and formerly heavy-industry area of Glasgow, and the regional centres of Aberdeen (an oil industry city) and Dundee;

- climate, isolation and harsh physical conditions in much of Scotland have made conquest, settlement and agriculture difficult.

Northern Ireland

- population - 1,700,000 in 2003;

- north-east tip only 13 miles from the Scottish coast encouraged both Irish and Scottish migration;

- rocky northern coastline, south-central fertile plain and mountainous areas in the west, north-east and south-east;

- the highest peak - Slieve Donard - 2,796 feet high;

- Lough Neagh - 153 square miles - Britain's largest freshwater lake; lies at the centre of the country;

- most of the large towns, like the capital Belfast, situated in valleys which lead from the lough;

- Belfast lies at the mouth of the river Lagan and has the biggest population concentration;

- Northern Ireland generally has a sparse and scattered population and is largely rural country.

Climate

- drought conditions are infrequent, although they have occurred more frequently in recent years and can cause problems for farmers, water companies and consumers.

Agriculture

Soils vary in quality from the thin, poor ones of highland Britain to the rich, fertile land of low-lying areas in eastern and southern England. The climate usually allows a long, productive growing season without extremes. But farmers can sometimes have problems because of droughts, too much rain and too little sunshine at ripening time or unseasonal weather due to climate change.

Fisheries

Britain is one of Europe's leading fishing nations and operates in the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the Atlantic. The fishing industry is important to the national economy and is centred on ports around the coasts. The most important fish catches are cod, haddock, whiting, herring, mackerel, plaice and sole. The fish-farming industry (salmon, trout and shellfish) is a large and expanding business, particularly in Scotland.

Employment in and income from fishing have declined substantially in recent years from its previous levels. This is partly due to changes in fish breeding patterns and a reduction in fish stocks because of overfishing.

The need to conserve fish resources and prevent overfishing is stressed. Zones have been created in which fishermen may operate and quota systems operate inside and beyond the zones to restrict fish catches. Without fish conservation there will be reduced supplies in future.

Forestry

Woodlands cover 6.6 million acres of Britain and comprise 9% of England, 17% of Scotland, 14% of Wales and 6% of Northern Ireland. These figures amount to some 12% of total UK land area, which represents a doubling of trees since 1947. Some 35% of productive national forests are managed by the state Forestry Commission or government departments and the rest by private owners. About 35,000 people are employed in the state and private forestry industries and 10,000 are engaged in timber processing.

However, these activities contribute only 15% to the national consumption of wood and associated timber products, which means that the country is heavily dependent upon wood imports. The government has encouraged tree planting programmes in Scotland, Wales and the English Midlands, and allowed the sale of state woodlands to private owners in order to reduce public expenditure and to increase productivity. New plantings, controlled felling, expansion of timber industries and a profitable private sector may reduce Britain's present dependence upon imports and benefit the environment.

Forestry policy is supposed to take conservation factors into account in the development of timber facilities. But such aims are not always achieved and there is disquiet about some government programmes. Environmentalists campaign against the destruction of woodlands for road building and airport expansion, advocate increased tree planting to combat global warming and pollution and try to preserve the quality of the existing woodlands. These in recent years have been badly affected by disease, unreasonable felling and substantial storm damage in 1987 and 1990.

Energy resources

Primary energy sources are oil, gas, nuclear power, hydro-power and coal.

Since 1980, Britain has produced an increased amount of its own energy needs. This is due to the growth in offshore oil and gas supplies, which make a crucial contribution to the economy and to the balance of payments through the export of crude oil and oil products. Multinational companies operate under government licence and extract these fuels from the North Sea and Atlantic fields.

But, because governments have encouraged high extraction rates, large supplies of oil and gas will continue only into the early twenty-first century. There is already some dependence on imported foreign gas and oil as British supplies diminish. Development of existing resources and the search for alternative forms of energy are crucial for Britain and its economy. The positions of coal and nuclear power need to be more adequately debated and further research is required into renewable energy such as biomass, solar, wind, wave and tidal power.

Coal is an important natural energy resource, but there are objections to its use on pollution and cost grounds. After a reduction in the workforce and the closure of uneconomic pits in the 1980s, the coal industry was privatized. But coal is expensive and there is a lack of demand from big consumers, such as electricity power stations, which use gas, oil and cheap coal imports. There have been more pit closures and the future of the industry is uncertain.

Electricity is mainly provided by coal-, gas- and oil-fired power stations, a small amount from hydro-electric power and 22% by 12 nuclear power stations. The Labour government in 2005 indicated in a change of policy that it wanted to replace ageing reactors and possibly build more nuclear stations to cope with the problems of global warming, a decrease in oil and gas supplies and obligations to reduce carbon emissions.

The use of tidal and wave power is being implemented on some coasts and estuaries and solar energy is already provided, with plans for more research. These, and other, forms of renewable energy such as biomass and excavating heat from rocks and the earth's core are important for Britain's future energy needs, particularly as environmental concerns grow. If nuclear power is phased out in Britain and replaced by potential wind power alone, this would still leave some three-quarters of electricity to be generated by fossil fuels.

Critics argue that oil and gas have been wasted rather than extracted more slowly, that not enough consideration has been given to a cleaner coal industry.

* To powyżej to trochę backgroundu o warunkach geograficznych UK i oczywiście informacje bezpośrednio omawiające zagadnienie. Wszystkie pochodzą z książki Oaklanda British Civlilization - An Intoduction. Moim zdaniem to nawet lepsze niż to, co znaleźlibyśmy u O'Driscolla sugerowanego w bibliografii, bo aktualniejsze. No i to z Oaklanda korzystaliśmy częściej w czasie zajęć z kultury brytyjskiej, niż z O'Driscolla, i AGF sama nam poleciła tę książkę, więc nie powinna nam na egzaminie robić problemów jeśli na nią się będziemy powoływać.

* To poniżej to informacje, których nie znalazłam u Oaklanda, a miałam w swoich notatkach z kultury brytyjskiej. Związane z zagadnieniem są, więc dorzucam.

- North - South Divide

• precisely North-West - South-East Divide;

• from the Wash to the Bristol Channel;

• North-West - hilly parts, almost only mountainous;

• South-East - flat landscape, cosmopolitan, mixture of nations due to many invasions in the past;

• South-East - main target of invasions as flat land was easier to defeat and it was closer to the continent of Europe;

• during the Industrial Revolution, Wales and North-West of England highly developed thanks to many coalfields;

• in Wales, apart from coal, a lot of ports and ships;

• the cheapest way of transport - rivers;

• South-East - flat, so good for buildings and roads, closer to the continent of Europe, better climate, a lot of banks and hotels;

• density of population higher in the UK than in Poland;

• the North-South Divide refers also to health (in the North higher obesity rates, more smoking-related deaths, higher mortality in general)

• problems caused by geography: Britain is an island so it's endangered by floods; the weather changes very quickly - the Gulf Stream brings warm air and water;

• North-West - higher unemployment, lower prices of houses and lower wages

• differences in economy and health (obesity, health care provision, smoking and drinking patterns);

• North associated with heavy industry (shipyards, coal mining)

• South - much more friendly climate and connection to the continent of Europe encourage migration.

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