Unit 3: Managing Canada's Resources and Industries Flashcards
Sustainable yield management
The process of managing a renewable resource
What important characteristic do farming, forestry, and fishing share?
Economic activities that depend on renewable resources
Overview of farming
- Resources needed: suitable climate, deep fertile soils
- Problems: soil deterioration from bad farming practices, cities build on suitable farming land
- Risk of being used unsustainably: moderate
- Impact of climate change: changes in temperature and rainfall patterns affect where farming is possible
Overview of forestry
- Resources needed: appropriate climate and soils, existing forests to provide seeds for a new generation
- Problems: poor forestry practices can result in scrub bush replacing a high-quality forest, soil erosion in hilly areas
- Risk of being used unsustainably: moderate-high
- Impact of climate change: size and borders of forest regions will change, warmer temperatures will increase risk of forest damage from insects
Overview of commercial fishing
- Resources needed: naturally occurring fish stocks
- Problems: fish stocks are too often mined, pollution of ocean reduces number of fish and makes them dangerous to eat
- Risk of being used unsustainably: high
- Impact of climate change: oceans are warming, fish are moving
Natural resource
Anything that people can use which comes from nature
Renewable resource
Resources that can replace themselves once they have been used (if used carefully)
Non-renewable resource
Resources that are limited and cannot be replaced once they are used up
Flow resource
Resources that are replaced by natural actions and must be used when and where they occur or be lost
Primary industries
Industries that extract the raw materials from the environment
Secondary industries
Industries involved in the manufacturing/processing of raw materials
Tertiary industries
Industries that provide a service to the end consumer, concentrated in the service sector
Quaternary industries
The knowledge based section of the economy (information generation and sharing, IT, consultation, research and development)
2 major factors that influence farming
Climate and land quality
2 climate factors that influence farming
Temperature and moisture
GDD
Growing degree days
What does looking at the amount of precipitation that occurs in an area to measure availability of water not take into account?
The demand for water
Aridity index
A value to show water availability, takes into account the supply and demand for moisture.
Canada Land Inventory
Classes 1-7, with 1 being excellent and 7 having no capability for agriculture. Only 1-4 are good enough for growing commercial crops.
Intensive farming
- Involves relatively small areas of land
- Requires large amounts of labour
- Located near large urban areas and produces products for the nearby large population
Extensive farming
- Involves large areas of land
- Requires relatively small amounts of labour
- Produces products for export
Average farm size
Increasing
Average hectares per worker
Increasing
Average tractors per farm
Increasing
Average hectares per tractor
Decreasing
Number of farms
Decreasing
Amount of people employed in manufacturing sector
Decreasing
Sustainable yield forest management
The use of forest resources at a rate that allows them to renew themselves
Softwood
Wood from coniferous (needle-leaved) trees
Hardwood
Wood from broad leaved trees
Commercial forests
Part of a forest that has large enough trees and is close enough to a market to allow it to be harvested by the forest industry
Forestry products: Boreal forest
Pulp and paper production
Forestry products: Taiga forest
Pulp and paper production
Forestry products: West Coast forest
Lumber, cedar shingles, plywood. Pulp and paper made from smaller logs
Forestry products: Montane forest
Lumber, pulp and paper made from logs cut here
Forestry products: Mixed forest
Flooring, furniture
Clear-cutting
Removes every tree, leaving a barren landscape behind. When replanted, the forest grows uniformly in size.
Shelterwood logging
Clear-cutting only a part of the forest. Groups of seed-bearing trees are left standing.
Selective cutting
Harvesting only mature trees of the desired size, type, or quality. Less disruptive to the environment.
Corporate vs. Environmentalist viewpoints: clear-cutting
Corporate:
- Many forests contain vegetation that naturally regenerates after destruction
- Clear-cutting is followed by natural regeneration or replanting
- They determine size and shape of clear cut, so they take care to change as little of the forest as possible
Environmentalist:
- Removes all ground cover
- Diversity is lost
Corporate vs. Environmentalist viewpoints: aerial spraying of pesticides
Corporate:
- In expensive and effective
- Pests must be killed quickly to protect forest
- Low toxic effect on animals
- If they stop, insects will kill the trees
Environmentalist:
- Endangers wildlife
- Disrupts ecosystem
- Linked to cancer/birth defects in forest workers
Corporate vs. Environmentalist viewpoints: global competition
Corporate:
- They have to do everything in their power, as Canada has a disadvantage due to short growing season
Environmentalist:
- Sustainable yield management isn’t routine practice
- Should protect our forests
Crown lands
Publicly owned forests. Managed by forest companies under 20-year Sustainable Forest Licences, which are subject to renewal every 5 years, depending on the result of a license review. Licenses are issued by the government.
According to the UN, what percentage of the world’s fish species are either fully exploited or being depleted?
70%
What does the UN say are the principal causes for depletion of fish stocks?
Overfishing and destructive fishing
3 reasons commercial fishing is important to Canada
- Important local industry, in some areas it’s the only option
- Oldest industry
- Important lesson about resource management
Groundfish
Fish that feed and are caught near the ocean floor. Includes cod, haddock, pollock, halibut, and redfish.
Pelagic fish
Fish that feed and are caught near the surface. Includes salmon, herring, mackerel, tuna, and capelin.
Shellfish
Animals without backbones but with hard, protective shells. Includes shrimp, lobster, oysters, scallops, and mussels.
Inshore fisheries
- Located within 16-25 km of the shore
- 85% of fishing labour force
- 10% of total catch
- Boats 6-20 metres in length
- Owned by individuals and families
- Crew size of 1-6
- Fishing season is mainly warmer months
- Processed on shore, usually in small to medium sized plants
- People live in small coastal communities, low and unstable income, widespread dependence on government support
Offshore fisheries
- Located to the edges of continental shelf for groundfish, further for pelagic fish
- 15% of fishing labour force
- 90% of total catch
- Ships 50 metres or longer, factor trawlers can be much larger
- Owned by large companies
- Crew size of 12-16, much larger for factory trawlers
- Fishing season is year round, in all types of weather
- May be partially or completely processed on board, any additional processing done in larger plants in large towns or cities
- People live in larger coastal communities, higher and more stable incomes
Why was the cod moratorium imposed?
Overfishing resulted in the source being depleted
How long was the moratorium supposed to last?
2 years
How long has the moratorium lasted as of 2012?
20 years
Impacts of the cod moratorium
Fishing was the main employment opportunity in the community, and cod was the most significant catch of the industry. The moratorium put a lot of people out of work, and for many it was the only thing they had ever thought of or wanted to do. Fishing had been passed down in families for generations, and is a very important part of their culture. Difficult for the town to move on, as the fishing industry was part of what kept them together, and for many was why they lived there. 20 years later, the social consequences are clear, and there’s little left of the bright, colourful town from before.
Continental shelf
Part of the ocean that’s next to continents and typically less than 200 metres deep.
3 major uses of water
- Agriculture
- Domestic use
- Industrial use
Canada’s major drainage basins and where they go
Pacific: west
Arctic: north
Atlantic: east
Gulf of Mexico: south
What are the 2 reasons Canada is fortunate to have a large quantity of high-quality freshwater?
- Access to vast amounts of water
- Wealthy country and can afford complex system of water treatment facilities
Biggest water store
Ocean
Biggest freshwater store
Ice and snow, followed by groundwater
2 most important fossil fuels
Oil and natural gas
4 sectors that energy is used in
- Industrial
- Transportation
- Residential
- Commercial and institutional
Energy sector with largest demand and largest projected increase in energy demand in Canada
Industrial
Differences between fossil fuels and minerals
- Fossil fuels are consumed, minerals can be recycled
- We can’t see power from fossil fuels, but we can with minerals
Where does Canada rank amongst the world’s leading mining nations?
2nd
Metallic mineral
A mineral that yields metal when melted, typically from metamorphic/igneous rock
Non-metallic mineral
A mineral that does not change its form when melted, most commonly from sedimentary rock
Ore
A rock that contains enough of a valuable metallic mineral to make mining profitable.
Ore
A rock that contains enough of a valuable metallic mineral to make mining profitable.
How might aboriginal people be affected by the extraction of natural resources?
Sometimes resources are found on lands covered by treaties
Issues challenging Canada’s mining industry: acid precipitation
Creates a lot of pollutants that cause acid precipitation
Issues challenging Canada’s mining industry: abandoned mines
Leaves scars on the land and continue as a source of pollution as mine waste leaks into rivers and lakes
Issues challenging Canada’s mining industry: exported jobs
50% of minerals mined in Canada are exported before any manufacturing is done, which means we’re exporting jobs
Issues challenging Canada’s mining industry: world events
Can be damaged by unexpected events in other countries, such as when the economies of Japan, China, and Taiwan slowed down and demand declined
Issues challenging Canada’s mining industry: depleted reserves
High-quality reserves being depleted, so Canada will have to rely on poorer quality deposits
Issues challenging Canada’s mining industry: foreign competition
New mineral deposits being discovered in other countries in Asia, Africa, and South America
Issues challenging Canada’s mining industry: one-industry towns
Mining towns are utterly dependent on mines, when it closes the town may not survive
Sources used in Ontario to generate electricity in Ontario
Solar, hydro, wind, nuclear, natural gas, Durham York Energy Centre
3 benefits of energy conservation
- Uses less natural resources
- Conserves power overall, less need for power infrastructure
- Less cost overall (both power bill and large scale)
7 location factors for manufacturing
- Location of customers
- Proximity of raw materials
- Availability of fresh water/power
- Labour supply
- Transportation
- Political factors
- Circumstance
Why has Ontario and Quebec been hit the hardest by loss of manufacturing jobs?
They were the home of most manufacturing in Canada
Factors threatening Canadian factories
- International competition
- Outdated technology too costly to replace
- Couldn’t pay employees
- Decrease in demand for products
- Higher Canadian dollar made plant less competitive than American locations
- Enough capacity at other locations with lower operating costs
NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement
CETA
Canadian=European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
Free trade
International trade without tariffs or other barriers
Tarrif
A tax applied to imported goods that’s designed to protect domestic manufacturers by making foreign goods more expensive
Division of workforce amongst primary, secondary, and tertiary industries
Primary: 3.9%
Secondary: 18%
Tertiary: 78.1%
Basic job
A job that brings money into an economy from somewhere else
Non-basic job
A job that circulates money within an economy
Multiplier effect
Increase in total wealth/income that occurs when new money is injected into an economy.
Multiplier effect: 3:1 ratio
A new dollar gets respent about 3 times before it leaks out of the community. For every basic job there’s about 3 non-basic jobs.
Rank the 3 Rs from greatest amount of resource saving to least
- Reducing
- Reusing
- Recycling
Which drainage basin is Richmond Hill located in?
Atlantic
Category that uses the greatest amount of freshwater
Agriculture
Most common species of fish raised by aquaculture
Salmon
Environmental concerns of hydraulic fracturing
- The impact of the toxic chemicals being injected into the ground. Many of them are carcinogens, and their effects on the environment and living creatures needs to be monitored.
- The aftermath when complications occur, as fracking has been proven to not be foolproof. When something unplanned occurs, the effects can be devastating for both the environment and creatures living it.
