Exploiting Earth

 A natural resource is a source of products that are inherent to earth  Natural resources include renewable and non- renewable resources  Natural resources are exploited to create the products and services that we depend on  Natural resource extraction causes great environmental disruption

 Examples of Natural Resources are: Forests Minerals Water Fossil Fuels Soil Fishing

 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

 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

 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.

 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.

 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

 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

 Selective cutting consists of harvesting only mature trees of the desired type, size and quality  Selective cutting is typically used when harvesting hardwood trees

 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

 A mineral is a naturally occurring, pure, non- living 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

 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

 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

 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

 Open pit mining involves removing the forest cover and any extra earth  Holes are drilled 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

 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_________________ ___________________________________________

 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

 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)tonnes

 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

 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

 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

 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______

 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

 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

 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