The issue regarding the Northern Gateway pipeline conflicting with the Great Bear Rainforest is a major situation and its effect on the environment echoes across Canada. The proposal made by Enbridge to construct a pipeline from the Athabasca oil sands all the way to Kitimat is careless and completely disregards the environment. The oil tankers carrying the crude oil to china are required to travel through many dangerous canals in the great bear rainforest where navigation must show no imperfections, accordingly, the tanker would risk a catastrophic oil spill. This great bear rainforest is home to hundreds, maybe even thousands of animal species, as well as many indigenous dwellers who rely on the oceans as their food source. By proceeding
through with this pipeline, you are risking many human and animal lives along with the Rainforest itself. There are many positives and negatives shown in this major story. The positive points from the rainforest are that people still live off the forest, the biodiversity shown here is gleaming, and the ecosystem here is fully in tune, each part in balance. The only positive constituent about the northern gateway pipeline is that it can give an extensive boost to the Canadian economy and would open up many job opportunities along with that. Ordinarily, the Great Bear Rainforest itself is much too pure for there to be any negative assets, therefore, the proper decision would be to keep the forest which will be sustainable for many generations to come. Nevertheless, the pipeline has many negative distinctions such as a catastrophic oil spill, consequently, this would steamroll into loss of habitats, animal lives, and human lives. Moreover, the company itself has been a part of the most destructive industrial project on earth, which is creating the processed tar like substance that is much less environmentally friendly than normal oil. Enbridge is exclaiming that a spill will not happen even though they have been responsible for over 700 spills across the world. Mister Prime Minister, if you think that this pipeline will sustain Canadians longer than the forest will, you are gravely mistaken. The Great Bear Rainforest is one of the hearts of Canada, and if you get rid of life there from a devastating oil spill, you are slowly killing Canada itself. All Canadians alike have faith that you will make the sustainable decision.
The Logging Industry vs. The Old Growth Forests of the Pacific Northwest and the Northern Spotted Owl.
“Pipeline debate heats up EthicalOil & Sierra Club CBC January 11, 2012.” Online video clip.
The Alberta Oil Sands are large deposits of bitumen in north-eastern Alberta. Discovered in 1848, the first commercial operation was in 1967 with the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant opening, and today many companies have developments there. The Alberta Oil Sand development is very controversial, as there are severe environmental impacts and effects on the local Aboriginal peoples. This essay will discuss the need for changes that can be made for the maximum economic benefit for Canada, while reducing the impact on the environment and limiting expansion, as well as securing Alberta’s future. Changes need to be made to retain the maximum economic benefits of the Alberta Oil Sands while mitigating the environmental and geopolitical impact. This will be achieved by building pipelines that will increase the economic benefits, having stricter environmental regulation and expansion limitations, and improving the Alberta Heritage Fund or starting a new fund throu...
Dheeraj Patel Journey Around Canada 2. How do the natural characteristics of Canada influence human activity, and how might human activity influence Canada’s natural characteristics? (B1) In the Central part of Canada there are many different human activities that affect natural characteristics. In the Central part of Canada there are many interior plains landforms.
The Keystone XL pipeline continues dividing the opinion of the people and being a controversial issue. The precious “black gold”, represents one of the main factors that moves the economy, nationally and globally. This extra-long pipeline will transport oil all the way from Canada to Texas. Some experts and the private oil corporation, who is the one in charge of this project, point to the benefits of this project, for example, will make the USA more independent from foreign oil, will create thousands of jobs and improve the economy. Nevertheless, are experts revealing how the pipeline is an unnecessary risk and will be negative for the environment, dangerous for the population living close to the big pipes, and long-term negative for the
This chapter reading by Andrea Olive provided background of the Canadian environmental issues of terms of its substance and political discourse. The author focuses on the wide range history of environmentalism in Canada, as well as highlights the ‘waves that occurred in the twentieth era. Then looks at the most current Conservative government. Throughout this chapter Olive explains and teaches environmental policy and events that occurred waves. The author constructively outline the reason and causes of the Third wave. The critical issues occurring policymaking environmental challenges and even opportunity that Canada has been facing throughout its history and twenty-first century was discussed within this chapter. Thus, my review on this
Deforestation of the Pacific Northwest. One of the most controversial areas associated with the global problem. of deforestation in the Pacific Northwest of the US. The problem can be broken.
The positivist-post-positivist paradigm is the most appropriate paradigm for research regarding the subject matter of Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland by Thomas Berger (1988). This paradigm states that social science research pushes towards western cultures causing other regions to adapt to western ideas. According to Travers (2010), “[t]he physical and the social sciences are products of western culture in a specific historical moment. [s]cience is a modern phenomenon, emerging in step with capitalism, industrialism, global expansion, and a liberal philosophy” (p. 9). Ingenious people living in the North are being forced to change the way they live if the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline were to be built. According to Berger (1988), “[i]n developing institutions of government in the North, we sought to impose our own system, to persuade the native people to conform to our political models (p. 236). The indigenous people have their way of living, they hint their food, and they live in a quite and peaceful land where they live off their own economy. The pipeline would destroy the Northern Homeland. In an interview with the President of the National Indian Brotherhood told Berger (1988) in the Inquiry, “[s]uch projects have occurred time and time again in our history. They were, and are, the beginnings of the type of developments which destroy the way of life of aboriginal peoples and rob us of our economic, cultural and political independence” (p. 229). The pipeline would cause high amounts of traffic, and drilling. The noise that would be created due to the pipeline would cause the animals to migrate elsewhere, causing fewer animals to be hunted. The information obtained from scientific research can be used to predict and control nat...
Since the rise of the Alberta oil sands, the contribution of greenhouses gas emissions has been increasing dramatically. Alberta has only 10% of Canada’s population but emits the most greenhouse gases than any province. Also, the oil sands are the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in Canada ("Oil Sands Truth." Para 4). Additionally, although it takes a lot of energy going into producing the bitumen from the oil sands, the energy output is relatively low. A about three times water is needed for one portion of bitumen when it is being processed after being accessed from the oil sands. Not only is water wasted, but the water supply n the area is heavily polluted. There is more than three million gallons of toxic run off from the plants every day. To contain this, majority of polluted water and tar is segregated and turned into toxic pools which are deposits of a combination of chemicals and polluted water. These pools now cover about fifty square miles in the oil sands location ("Tar Sands Oil: Pros and Cons." Para 1). To make room for the industry, the boreal forest is being cut down at a rapid pace. This not only depleted forest cover but the boreal forest counters the carbon emissions from the sands but with less forests, there will be an even greater rise in carbon emissions. The land is also being harmed due to the construction of large pipelines to access consumers far away. Not only do the oil sands harm the inorganic aspects of the environment in the location but animals are harmed due to their habitats being destroyed both on land and in the water ("Pros and Cons: Alberta Oil Sands." Para 4). The rivers and streams near the oil sands are being polluted and more fish and other aquatic animals are getting sick and dying. This in turn affects the individuals who fish for a living or acquire the fish as a main dietary source. With less fish to obtain,
The controversy over logging, and more specifically clearcutting, is not a new issue in America. Ever since the 1920's and 1930's, when this nation started to become conscious of conservation, citizens have weighed the consequences of logging. Critics have questioned whether the increase in jobs, tax dollars, and economic growth was worth the destruction of forest lands. Regardless of what they believe today, the logging industry had become so efficient that by the late 1980's nearly 100,000 acres of federal land had been clearcut since the industry began. Logging technology has advanced rapidly in terms of speed, to meet the increasing demands for lumber, paper, and other products derived from trees. This in turn has greatly impacted the environment by severely degrading watersheds, leading to increased soil erosion, the diminution in the quality of drinking water, and the decline of fish stocks, among many other consequences. In this essay I will examine the progression of logging equipment throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and discuss how these changes in technology have not only changed the relationship of those who work in the industry, but also haw this has changed the wider relationship of society and nature.
“The conversation of our natural resources and their proper use underlines almost every other problem in our national life,” Theodore Roosevelt. Americans’ dependence upon petroleum-based energy sources has required the United States to consider a variety of options to fulfill [the] ever-increasing energy needs, even drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [ANWR] (Smith). The controversial question on whether or not to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge reserve has been in battle since its establishment. Drilling in ANWR would cause severe damage as it is a danger to its native plants and animals as the land is their home and birthing ground, the land discussed to be open to drilling will not be the only land set to a path of destruction, and along with the use and distribution of the oil found, as of how much could be discovered and if it is worth losing precious land all to a nations greed of oil.
The Athabasca oil sands are the second largest producer of crude oil in the world, with a surface area of approximately 100 000 square kilometres (Anderson, Giesy & Wiseman, 2010). The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board estimates that the oil sands contains approximately 1.7 trillion barrels of crude bitumen, however only 19% can be ultimately recovered (Raynolds, Severson-Baker & Woynillowicz, 2005; Humphries, 2008). The availability of recoverable bitumen makes Canada’s oil sands deposit larger even than that of Saudi Arabia (Czarnecki, Hamza, Masliyah, Xu & Zhou, 2004).The process of surface and in situ mining of the Athabasca oil sands is causing rapid and significant degradation of the regional environment surrounding Fort McMurray and the Athabasca River. Production is expected to increase to three million barrels per day by 2015 from approximately 2 million currently (Humphries, 2008). This increase will further exacerbate the existing environmental impacts of crude oil production. The Canadian oil and natural gas industry is extremely lucrative, but despite the short-term economic benefits of the mining of the Athabasca oil sands, the remediation of the negative environmental impacts of the extraction of oil on terrestrial and aquatic environments, biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions are a priority.
British Columbia is the third largest province in Canada with an area of 95 million hectares, about 64% of it is covered in forest. The majority of this forest is used for timber production, a smaller chunk is protected as park land and the rest is unavailable to log because of remotes. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. The majority of the trees are coniferous. With the increase of many ecological problems the preservation of forests play an important role in British Columbia. Forest are one of the most valuable resources for the economy since their wood products are being exported all over the world. It is however crucial that the environmental impacts of deforestation
The change in climate has already been apart of consideration for major developmental projects (Fergal & Prowse). Not only are companies preparing for climate change but also the communities are concerned with how the impact will change their access to survival resources such as fish, water, wildlife and forestry (Fergal & Prowse, 2007). It is projected that in 25-30 years, sea ice in the Canadian arctic will be completely melted and which could strongly affect the northern communities (Fergal & Prowse, 2007). This essay will discuss the positive and negative impacts of climate change on transportation for Northern Canadian communities and their accessibility to resources as the sea ice melts.
Rainforests, should we cut them down or not? Probably one of the biggest questions the world has to overcome. Sure, rainforests supply us with a lot of resources and we could surely not live without cutting some of them down, but should we be cutting them down at the rate we are? To be exact, the statistic estimates 1.5 acres of natural rainforests are being destroyed every second. While this practise supplies us with resources like timber for furniture, it also reduces the amount of oxygen supply.