Transcript Natural Resources

Exploiting Earth
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A natural resource is a source of products that
are inherent to earth
Natural resources include renewable and nonrenewable resources
Natural resources are exploited to create the
products and services that we depend on
Natural resource extraction causes great
environmental disruption
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Examples of Natural Resources are:
Forests
Minerals
Water
Fossil Fuels
Soil
Fishing
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Forests cover 42% of Canada
There is a delicate balance between using the
forest resources and maintaining a healthy
forest ecosystem
Commercial forests have trees that can be
harvested for profits
Non-Commercial forests are farther north and
are inaccessible or regenerate very slowly
making them poor choices for areas of forestry
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The largest forest region is the Boreal Forest
Region, it is comprised mainly of softwood
which is ideal for pulp and paper production
Tree growth here is slow due to long winters
and low precipitation
The next forest region is the Taiga Forest
Region, this region produces few stunted trees
and thus is not used for forestry in any great
capacity
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The West Coast Forest Region is the most
productive forest region in Canada
Trees here grow larger than anywhere else in
Canada due to ideal climate
The Montane Forest Region is second only to
the West Coast region in production
It is slightly cooler and drier which decelerates
tree growth
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Mixed Forest Region has a wide variety of tree
types from deciduous to hardwood conifers
The Mixed Forest region is where Canada gets
all of the maple syrup produced in Canada
The Mixed Forest Region has very little forest
left as it has been removed to make way for
settlement and agriculture
Trees are used to make paper, hockey sticks,
flooring and food
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Clear-cutting is used most frequently in
logging operations
Clear-cutting involves cutting down all the
trees in an area and leaving a barren landscape
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Shelter wood logging is designed for old
growth forests
Shelter wood logging is only clear-cutting older
trees and leaving seed bearing trees behind so
that they can replenish what was taken
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Selective cutting consists of harvesting only
mature trees of the desired type, size and
quality
Selective cutting is typically used when
harvesting hardwood trees
This method is the most costly
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The province that has the largest pulp and
paper industry is Quebec, followed by Ontario
and British Columbia
The province that has the largest lumber
industry is British Columbia, followed by
Quebec and Ontario
Forests, commercial and otherwise, face threats
from fire, pollution, erosion and acid rain
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A mineral is a naturally occurring, pure, nonliving substance found in the rocks of earth
Canada’s valuable minerals can be divided into
3 categories metallic minerals, fossil fuels and
industrial minerals
Canada’s most valuable mineral resource are
fossil fuels
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Industrial minerals are neither metallic nor
fossil fuels but rather are a varied combination
of products extracted from the earth
Fossil fuels are any mineral that can be burned
to produce energy
Metallic metals are minerals that when refined
become what we know as metals
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There are three types of mining, or extracting
minerals from the earth’s crust
Strip mining is used when resources are close
to the surface in horizontal layers
Open pit mining is used to extract minerals
that are close to the surface but may extend
deep into the earth’s crust
Underground mining is used when resources
are deep in the earth
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Strip mining involves removing the trees from
the area to be mined
It may require blasting
Materials are loaded onto trucks or conveyors
belts by shovels or draglines
Typically strip mining is used to extract oil
sands and coal
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Open pit mining involves removing the forest
cover and any extra earth
Holes are drilled 10-15 feet deep then
explosives are used to blast the rock apart
Ore is loaded into trucks which may carry up
to 250 tonnes
Ore needs to be processed before it can be used
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Underground mining is the most involved
mining activity
It involves digging a deep hole that is wide
enough for an elevator so that workers can ride
the elevator to the mineral source
Ventilation shafts are required to prevent gas
and dust build up
Tunnels are then built off the main shaft and
these tunnels lead to stopes, areas where
digging and blasting takes place to get at the
mineral resources in the rock
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Fish used to be considered a renewable
resource however over fishing and pollution
are depleting the stocks to the point the
industry has been shut down on more than one
occasion
The coasts of Canada are the areas where
fishing is mainly practiced
Freshwater fishing is far less valuable then
saltwater fishing
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There are two classifications of saltwater
fishing inshore and offshore fishing
Inshore fishing is fishing that takes place
within 16 to 25 kms of shore
Inshore fishing is about 85% of the industry but
has a tiny percentage of the overall catch
Inshore fishing is typically practiced by
individuals and families
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Offshore fishing is typically practiced by large
companies
The boats used are more than twice the length
of inshore fishers and are equipped with state
of the art fishing technology
Offshore fishing takes place anywhere on the
continental shelf, up 370 km offshore
Offshore fishing accounts for 15% of the fishing
boats on the water but takes in 90% of the
overall catch
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The fishing industry is in peril in Canada
There are 5 main factors that have contributed
to this decline in fish population:
-overfishing
-improved fishing technology
-uncontrolled foreign fishing
-destructive fishing practices
-changes in natural conditions
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On the west coast the fishing industry is
focused on shellfish and salmon
The east coast is focused on cod and shellfish
The east coast fisheries have been exploited for
hundreds of years
The west coast salmon industry is now in a tug
of war between commercial, Aboriginal and
sport fishers
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Water, specifically freshwater, is becoming a
more and more valuable resource
Water is found above ground in the form of
lakes and rivers and can also be found in the
ground in the form of the water table and
aquifers
Groundwater is water that seeps through the
soil, bedrock and collects in the water table or
an aquifer
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Drainage basins are areas of land whose
surface runoff is drained by a single river
Rivers are often used to produce
hydroelectricity
Daily water consumption in Canada is second
in the world only to the United States
Canadians use on average 330L of water!
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Water, especially groundwater from aquifers, is
being used so quickly that it can not be
replenished
Diverting water for the use of hydroelectric
dams or flood protection disrupts the
hydrological cycle
Increases in global temperatures and decreases
in precipitation are adding the pressure put on
the already tapped water resources
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Soil may not seem like a resource but all life on
earth depends on soil
Soil faces threats from erosion, over use and
pollution
Soil contains nutrients and minerals that are
necessary for all life on earth to continue
Soil consists of broken down rock, organic
material and bacteria
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The extraction of natural resources always damages the
environment
There is no way of getting what we need from the
environment that does not disrupt the natural balance
Most of the time little effort is put into environmental
stewardship, or protection
The use of resources requires the implementation of
machinery that pollutes
While natural resource extraction won’t stop it is
important for us all to try and preserve the resources
we do have and reduce the impact we make on the
environment