alaska

Question 1

background info?

Answer 1

• 2 million km squared - largest US state
• 3rd least populated - 710,000
• borders Canada, Arctic Ocean and Pacific Ocean
• household median income of $73,000, 7th highest US state

Question 2

mineral extraction?

Answer 2

• a fifth of income comes from gold, also silver, zinc and lead found here - one billion annually from industry
• toxic materials such as arsenic can pollute local water sources, which impacts fishing and indigenous people
• calls to limit development such as “No Dirty Gold” campaign with shut down Pebble Gold Mine in 2013
• infrastructure melts permafrost, making the foundation unstable and releasing methane - can be solved by constructing on raised platforms

Question 3

fishing industry?

Answer 3

• cold, nutrient-rich waters - excellent supply of fish stocks
• $12.8 bn and 99,000 employed in 2017
• harsh environment to work in, freezing, dark and short fishing seasons

Question 4

tourist industry?

Answer 4

• mountains (skiing), glaciers, rivers and wildlife - attracts over 2 million tourists every year
• $1.8bn annually and accounts for 1 in 8 Alaskan jobs
• largely inaccessible & plane creates a large carbon footprint

Question 5

energy production?

Answer 5

• oil industry creates 38% of all wages, 90% of taxes and over 50% of Alaska’s income.
• Prudhoe Bay - up to 25 billion barrels
• plentiful rivers - HEP a viable option
  -tectonically active - geothermal power plant powering 400 homes
• 800km pipeline transporting oil caused permafrost melting and methane being released into atmosphere
• oil spills - Exxon-Valdez (1989) spilt 1.2 million barrels into sea and only 15% cleared up (problem with accessibility)
• finite resource - exploitation of land becoming more common