The United States and Canada Today Chapter 7 The United States and Canada Today

Section I Living in the US and Canada Economic Activities A. Market economies B. US and Canada – primarily industrialized economies C. Agriculture – 1. farming is commercial 2. 1billion acres of farmland,

Section I Living in the US and Canada I. Economic Activities (cont’d) 3. only 2 % of Americans work in agriculture 4. Successful agriculture requires a big investment 5. Key agricultural products a. Cattle b. Milk c. Eggs d. Grains like corn and wheat

Section I Living in the US and Canada Manufacturing and Service industries A. 20% of economy and 20% of region’s workforce 1. Robotics has transformed manufacturing 2. Transportation equipment and machinery are large export categories B. Post-Industrial Economies 1. Largest area of economic growth 2. Both countries produce high-tech equipment for use in computer sciences and telecommunications

Section I Living in the US and Canada C. Retooling the Rust Belt 1. converting old factories for use in new industries 2. Corporations moved south to the sunbelt and older industrial areas were left with abandoned factories and rusting steel mills

Section I Living in the US and Canada Transportation and Communication A. Automobile – 1. most popular means of transportation 2. A status symbol for many americans 3. Reliance on the auto creates many challenges a. Auto related pollution b. Auto makers and government agencies working for ways to reduce the use of automobiles in certain urban districts

Section I Living in the US and Canada B. Other means of Transportation 1. Airports, Railroads 2. Long haul trucks, pipelines C. Communications 1. Telephone and mail services 2. Publicly owned in Canada 3. Privately owned in US

Section I Living in the US and Canada Trade and Interdependence A. Exports and imports 1. US spends more on imports than it makes on exports – Trade deficit 2. Canada enjoys a trade surplus – earning more money from exports than it spends on imports

Section I Living in the US and Canada B. NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement 1. Agreement between US and Canada and Mexico in 1994 2. Outsourcing – a. setting up plants in other countries to produce parts and products for domestic use or sale. b. Provides cheaper goods for home markets and offers jobs to foreign workers c. Outsourcing occurs in Mexico where labor costs are less expensive.

Section II – People and their Environment I. Human Impact A. Clear-cutting has- 1. destroyed many of our old growth forests. 2. Endangered wildlife 3. left the land subject to erosion and flooding B. Pollution 1. consequence of Industrial development in US and Canada

Section II – People and their Environment 2. Acid Rain a. Affects plants and fish in a large area of the eastern US and Canada b. Forms when chemical emissions react with water vapor in the air c. Turns sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into their acidic form d. Acid rain corrodes stone and metal buildings, damages crops, and pollutes the soil

Section II – People and their Environment Pollution Continued 3. Smog – air pollution a. Sulfur and nitrogen oxides interact with automobile exhaust gases and industrial emissions to form a visible haze. b. Haze can damage or kill plants, irritate throat, lungs, and eyes 4. Water Pollution a. Contamination of water by acid rain, sewage, industrial wastes, agricultural wastes

Section II – People and their Environment b. Thermal pollution – heated industrial waste water into cooler lakes and rivers c. Has a disastrous effect on marine life and the birds and animals who feed on them d. Greatly speeds up Eutrophication e. Algae overgrowth can turn a lake first into a swamp and later into dry land

Section II – People and their Environment Challenge for the Future A. Global warming – slight but steady rise in the earth’s temperature over the last century 1. Melting polar ice is accelerating 2. Forcing some caribou and polar bears to move farther north 3. Chain of events – polar ice melts, ocean levels rise, danger of coastal flooding,