Canadian Resource Research

1. What resources Canada has?

 

Oil and Gas

Oil and gas resources have been discovered throughout the North. Exploration for these resources and their extraction disrupts the land. Pipelines have to be built to transport the oil to refineries. Sometimes pipelines are thousands of kilometres long. Pipelines disrupt migrating animals such as the caribou. There is also the possibility for oil and gas extraction in the Arctic Ocean. This would lead to a disruption of the marine environment and the possibility of oil spills.

Mining

Metallic ores including iron, copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver are mined in the Arctic; as well as limestone, diamonds and uranium. Mining disrupts the land and pollutes the water with lead and mercury. Mines also use a lot of energy.

Forestry

In the southern part of the Arctic, forestry takes place in the Boreal forest. Trees are cut down to create pulp, paper and wood products. Once Boreal forests are cut down it takes a long time for them to regenerate because of the harsh growing conditions.

Tourism

Tourism is a growing industry in the North. Many people travel there each year to enjoy nature. This is a non-extractive use of natural resources. However, tourism creates some environmental challenges as well. Buildings, roads and vehicles are needed to accommodate tourists, and more people create more garbage. The presence of humans in vehicles and boats can also disrupt wildlife.

Fishing

Fishing is an important source of food and employment for northern communities. New techniques in fishing have increased the number of fish caught in recent decades. Over-fishing leads to low numbers of some species of fish. When fish populations are low, seals and seabirds that eat the fish have a hard time finding food. Low numbers of fish also negatively affect the food supply and income of northern communities.

The H₂O Connection (Water)

Much of Canada’s North is made up of marine and coastal environments. If you look at a map of Canada you can see that the coastline in the North is very long. The marine environment of the North is home to many unique animals. Many arctic marine animals are only found in the frigid waters of the North. They have developed adaptations to survive in these conditions, and would not be able to live in southern climates.

Much of the marine environment in the North is covered by sea ice. Sea ice that forms on the Arctic Ocean can be up to one-third of a metre thick. Sea ice provides habitat for many arctic animals including seals, walruses, and polar bears. Other animals such as the narwhal and bowhead whale spend all of their time in the water. Fish, squid and sea plankton are the main food of whales and seals.

Plant life

Plants in the North have adapted to the wind and cold by growing close to the ground where they are protected by the snow in the winter. Mountain avens have the ability to store and recycle nutrients from year to year to make up for the short growing season.

Animals

Many animals such as the arctic fox,arctic hare and rock ptarmigan, have white fur in the winter and brown fur in the summer. They have developed this adaptation to camouflage themselves from other animals. Some animals hibernate (polar bears) or migrate (caribou and arctic tern) to escape the cold. Those that stay throughout the winter survive by storing fat (whales) to use as energy during the coldest months, or growing extra layers of hair or fur (muskox).

Many northern plant and animal species are considered endangered, threatened, or of special concern by COSEWIC (the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada). Northern species have such unique adaptations to their surroundings that mining, buildings, pollution and climate change have a big impact on their health and well being.

Article resource: http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/canadas_north/nature/nature.cfm

 

Oil and Gas	Canadian Oilsands reserve 200 billion barrels. Venezuela, 267. as well as Saudi Arabic. Canadian Oilsands started fast development since 2004 base on the technology development. But it slowdown since 2014 because the low oil price. *Oilsands resource will be consider “resource” depend on the future oil price and new technology. (which can low the cost.)	It will keep at a low price in 5 years According to Goldman Sachs 5 years forecast on May.18.2015
Mining	Depend on the market demand.	Chinese economic slow down, which lead mine market price drop down. http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/mining/global-gold-price-survey-results.jhtml
Forestry	Over cut will lead to other creatures reduce	Has limitation
Tourism	Less affect to environment (lodge, road, etc)	Pretty stable industry in Canada.
Fishing	Over fishing will lead other related animal and bird difficult to find food.	Has limitation
Water	Pollution increased in the developing countries. Clean water will become expensive resource to them.	Is becoming good industry in the world.
Plant Life		Maybe connected with Tourism industry
Animal		Maybe connected with Tourism industry

 

2.      Tourism: top things to do in Canada

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attractions-g153339-Activities-Canada.html