Geography of Canada
Introduction
Oil sands are type of bitumen deposit and they are naturally occurring. The oil sands are composed of mixture of sand, clay, water. They also contain a dense viscous form of petroleum called bitumen. Oil sands are found in many countries but they are mostly found in Canada and Venezuela. Oil sands have been recognized to be part of oil reserves because of the high oil prices and the new technology that enables them to be profitably extracted and upgraded to usable products. They are referred to as convectional oil and also crude bitumen so as to differentiate them from crude oil that is produced in oil wells. Making liquid from tar sands needs a lot of energy for steam injection and refining of the product and this process generates large amounts of green house gases that is harmful to the environment. The oil sands in Alberta have a lot of economic benefits to the people of Canada and the government. They also have negative impact on the environment and this affects the people, the ecosystem in several ways.
Economic benefits
The oil sands in Alberta have a lot of economic benefits to government of Canada and the people. Oil sands contribute to economic activity in Canada. The investments in the oil sands have impact in Canada in form of spin off benefits to related industries like business services and manufacturing industries (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008). They also have impact on the retail businesses as they sell products from the oil sands, the financial and insurance businesses. The oil sands provide products to manufacturing industries and this enables the manufacturing industries to manufacture their products using products from oil sands (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
They also contribute to retail business as the small businesses are able to get products from the large manufacturing businesses and sell them. The insurance companies benefit from the oil sands as the companies use insurance policies and this helps in promoting the insurance businesses. Oil sands in Alberta have impact on Canada’s gross domestic products. This is because of the oil sands and oil sands related activities that are contributing a lot to the Canada’s gross domestic products. According to the Canadian energy research institute the oil sands and oil sand related activities are estimated to contribute $789 billions to Canada’s gross domestic product. The oil sands and the related activities have also brought economic benefits on other provinces and territories. This is because the goods, services and the equipment used in the oil sands come from All over Canada though the oil sands are located in Alberta thus benefiting each province (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
The oil sands have impact on other sectors that are outside the crude oil and oil sand sectors. These sectors include manufacturing industries, finance sector, insurance and real estate sector that are found in Alberta. These sectors benefit from oil sands in Alberta. The oil sand projects have demand of products and services from all over Canada and this makes the oil sands to have impact on the business service, banking sector and insurance services. They also affect the steel industries, vehicle industries and manufacturing industries since they have to buy equipment and other components that are made by these companies thus contributing to the growth of the companies (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
Hence the oil sands industries are important in Canada. Another economic benefit of oil sand in Alberta is creation of employment opportunities. The oil sands and oil sand activities create employment opportunities for many people in Alberta and in Canada. According to Canada energy research institute the oil sands activities are source of employment opportunities in other sectors like manufacturing industries and retail businesses (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008). This is evidenced by the movement of people from other provinces in Canada to go and work in the Alberta oil sands in Alberta. This is because employment opportunities in other provinces are scarce and in Alberta the employment rate is high. The oil sands are source of government revenue. This is because the companies that are involved in the development of oil sands generate revenue to the government of Alberta which owns the resources and also the government of Canada (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
The ecological, physical damage created by the Alberta oil sands in Canada.
Like other mining projects and non renewable sources projects the oil sands projects have negative effect on the environment (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008). The oil sands operations affect the land when bitumen is being mined and also deposition of large toxic chemicals. It also affects water during separation process and through drainage of rivers. The oil sands affect the air during the oil sand operations as toxic gases are released to the atmosphere. These gases include carbon dioxide and other emissions from the projects (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008). They also cause deforestation and other indirect environmental effects that occur as a result of burning petroleum products that are produced. This products release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The oil sands pollute the air by emitting hydrogen sulfide which is a toxic gas and green house gas that has more adverse effect on the environment. For example air monitoring near Fort McMurray, Alberta and areas near the oil sands has recorded high levels of toxic hydrogen sulfide and other gases that affect the environment like nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide. Oil sands destroy the land through mining operations. This is because the oil sands project clear vegetation from the mining sites. This makes it difficult for forests to grow in the areas. Oil sands are said to be the largest cause of deforestation in Alberta. Mining leaves large quantities of toxic chemicals on the land surface thus making the land difficulty for human being to settle and also sustain other living organism. This affects the ecosystem and also affects all living organisms in the ecosystem since the toxic chemicals cause death (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
The oil sands have negative impact on the water (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
The oil sands mining require large amounts of water so as to be able to mine the product. This makes it difficulty to provide water for the oil sands projects, living things and the ecosystems. The Alberta oil sands use water from the AthabascaRiver that has reduced flow. The oil sands have attempted to recycle the water so as to overcome the shortage and the water recycled is stored in toxic tailing ponds that are contaminated with coke and other substances like asphatenes and sulphur. The ponds also contain heavy metals and sewage waste (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008). The pond is stored dangerously near AthabascaRiver. This makes the water in the river harmful and this threatens the health of the ecosystem that is found down stream. The water stored in the ponds leaks into the river hence contaminating the water. This affects the aquatic animals and human beings as the animals and the human end up dying from diseases that are associated with the waste and also high levels of toxic materials that are drained into the river.
This makes it difficulty for the population living near the river and oil sands to have good health. According to a recent environment defense report the ponds are highly toxic and they affect the birds in the region. This is because most of the birds are soaked in the pond and they end up dying and the oil sands lead to loss of habitat for most birds in the region. The oil sands use large amounts of water from the rivers around the projects and this makes it difficulty to conserve the ecosystem in the region as the water is not enough to sustain the oil sand projects and the ecosystem. This makes the rivers to dry up threatening aquatic animals like fish. Most of the residents in Alberta have complained the negative effects oil sands have on rivers and fish in the area. The oil sands affect rivers leading to loss of fish in the area (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
The oil sands also affect climate causing climatic change in the country. The production of bitumen emits green house gas than the production of conventional crude oil. The oil sands are said to the largest contributors of green house gas in Canada as they contribute 0.1 % of global green house emission which is said to be a high figure. The emission of green house gas affects the climate causing climatic change .As the oil sand in Alberta are growing then the emission of green house gas is said to increase with time and this will cause more harm to the climate. The oil sands also affect the population living around the oil sands. This is because the communities face high levels of substance abuse, rape and family violence. The oil sands lead to increase in housing costs and limitation of housing facilities. This is as a result of workers migrating from other provinces to come and work in the oil sands (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
This make the native communities to have hard time since the housing costs are high and the housing facilities are not enough. The physical infrastructure in the regions where oil sands are located is affected by the oil sands operations as the activities lead to destruction of the physical infrastructure. The roads, water and sewage systems in the regions where oil sands are located are highly taxed and they are insufficient. This is as a result of oil sands that use large amounts of water in their production process thus limiting the amount of water required by the residents and the ecosystem. Other services like education and health services are limited and this makes it difficulty to meet the needs of the large number of incoming migrants and the residents. The communities living in the region feel the negative impact of oil sands more than the benefits that they are supposed to get from the oil sand mines (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
The oil sands affect the forest ecosystems in Alberta. For example the oil sands affect the northern boreal forest in Alberta. This is because the oil sands cause disturbance to the ecosystem by eliminating toxic substances that affect the forest (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008). The oil sands also lead to deforestation, habitat fragmentation and loss of species in the area. The oil sands in Alberta affect agricultural activities in the area as the release of toxic gases into the atmosphere like green house gas affects the climate. This in turn affects the agricultural activities in the region. The oil sands also lead to deforestation and this affects the weather patterns in the area hence affecting the agricultural activities in the area since there is shortage of rainfall (Publishing Oecd publishing, 2008).
Conclusion
The Alberta oil sands have a lot of economic benefits to the people of Alberta and the whole of Canada. This is because the oil sands create job opportunities in the mining areas and in other activities and sectors that are related to the oil sand activities. The oil sands create employment for many people in other sectors like manufacturing industries, vehicle industries and retail businesses. It affects other business like insurance and financial services. It also a source of revenue for the government and it also contributes to the domestic gross products through activities that are related to oil sands. Apart from the economic benefits it has a negative impact on the environment. The oil sands release green house gas into the atmosphere affecting climate. They also affect human beings and other ecosystems since they use large amount s of water thus making it difficulty to balance the amount of water to sustain the ecosystem and living things. They releases toxic chemicals into the land and water and this affects living things and ecosystems since the toxic substances cause death. Oil sands in Alberta also affect the ecosystems as they lead to destruction of habitats and forest ecosystems and this leads to loss of birds in the area as the birds soak in the ponds containing toxic water and die.
Reference
Publishing Oecd publishing. (2008).OECD Economic Surveys: Canada 2008.OECD Publishing, page 104
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