Transcript natural_resources_ch4_ppt_student_version

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 short summers______________
The next forest region is the Taiga Forest
Region, this region produces 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
Use the blank map provided to sketch the
forest regions of Canada. Keep for your notes.
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softwoods (e.g., spruce, pine) offer a wider
variety of high-quality wood in both
construction and appearance grades for use in
structural and finishing applications.
hardwoods (e.g., oak, maple) tend to find a
home in interior environments, mostly in
decorative applications. Because of their
durability and appearance, hardwoods have
long been used in the production of cabinetry,
furniture and flooring.
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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
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The province that has the largest pulp and
paper industry is __BC_______, followed by
Ontario and ___Quebec____________
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
___used_____ to produce energy
Metallic metals are minerals that when
__processed_____ 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
_minerals_____ from the area to be mined
It may require __heavy equipment________
Materials are loaded onto trucks or conveyor
belts by shovels or draglines
Typically strip mining is used to extract oil
__gas____ 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
____________ 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
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 than
saltwater fishing because _numbers tend to be
lower amongst resources_________________
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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
__________Atlantic or Pacific oceans___
________, up 370 km offshore
Oceans and seas provide close to 90% of the
world’s catches. These catches have remained
relatively stable since the mid-nineties
(between 80 and 86 million tonnes)
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The fishing industry is in _______ in Canada
There are 5 main factors that have contributed
to this decline in fish population:
-overfishing
-improved fishing _Technologies_______
-uncontrolled foreign fishing
-__Foreign countries_ fishing practices
-changes in ___habitates/ conditions
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On the west coast the fishing industry is
focused on shellfish and _ invertebrates ___
The east coast is focused on _invertebrates____
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 _____U.S._________
Canadians use on average 330L of
water/___day______
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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
__hydro____________ 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
__chemical disasters___________
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