Analysis of the Oil Sands Issue
In the past 60 years technology has advanced exponentially, from all the advancements like cars to the extraction of oil. Our human race has been tearing apart our the environment from this; the biggest concern on environmentalists agendas is climate change. Canada was suppose to lower its emissions by 5% according to the Kyoto protocol however this has not happened we have increases our CO2 chemical release into the air since 1990. This statistic is absolutely horrifying; right leading the way for Canada is the Alberta oil sands, classified as "dirty" oil. The tar sands are a big problem for the environment in the coming years, and we need to put a stop to it.
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Environmental Issues:
- Tailings ponds: horrid effects on the environment and very dangerous to animals.
- Deforestation of the boreal forest, millions of trees cut down for pipelines, roads and to make future sites to extract the oil out of the ground.
- Human health is impacted through the toxins released affecting humans in nearby communities or the workers on the job.
- Animals lose their habitat from deforestation do to clearing the woods for new plants that spring up overnight.
- CO2 emissions released into the air.
- Water pollution into the Athabasca river and overuse of limited water supply.
- Climate change the oil sands are blamed as one of the main reasons for climate change in Canada and globally.
- Energy consumed by oil sands to extract and make barrels of oil.
- Pollution from the left overs of all the oil and chemicals on the environment.
- Extraction process of oil from the bitumen is very inefficient compared to other oil mines ( Saudi Arabia)
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The tar sands: oil within the sand.
Cause of Issue:
• The world is too reliant on oil so they buy off Alberta since it is the 2nd largest oil field in the world
• It takes multiple procedures to extract the oil, thus the oil goes through a lot of machinery polluting the air with greenhouse gases.
• Water is relied on heavily to extract the bitumen as they steam the sands to high temperature making the bitumen liquid, this water is only 85% renewable each cycle so the oil companies have to take more and more water from the Athabasca depleting the river and contaminating it partially.
• As the hungry economy is driven off oil, the companies take down myriads of eco-systems and forests to supply the oil source which is the destruction of the boreal.
• Not everything companies dig up can be used and have no place to put their leftovers and toxic chemicals, they then make tailing ponds to hold all these substances.
Effects on the Environment, Economy and Society:
• In April 2008 1300 birds died from landing on a tailings pond on Syncrude's Mildred Lake facility's.
• The pollutants released into the air, effects the air quality in the Wood Buffalo region bringing up the parts per million carbon dioxide in the region.
• The pollutants from the extraction process are released into the water affecting the water source for animals, fish and humans.
• The "dirty oil" of Alberta's tar sands are putting a bad reputation on Canada as there are many reports saying that Canada is not environmentally friendly and doesn't seem to care about changing the oil sands for the better, so it makes all Canadians look bad when its really only Alberta.
Economy the key to a countries success, the tar sands have boomed Canada's economy upward selling millions of barrels around the world making large profits, however it has affected other companies in Canada for the worst as since people only buy stocks into oil they don't buy into other companies thus the oil is taking up a large part of the market and other companies are not flourishing as they use too.
• The world is too reliant on oil so they buy off Alberta since it is the 2nd largest oil field in the world
• It takes multiple procedures to extract the oil, thus the oil goes through a lot of machinery polluting the air with greenhouse gases.
• Water is relied on heavily to extract the bitumen as they steam the sands to high temperature making the bitumen liquid, this water is only 85% renewable each cycle so the oil companies have to take more and more water from the Athabasca depleting the river and contaminating it partially.
• As the hungry economy is driven off oil, the companies take down myriads of eco-systems and forests to supply the oil source which is the destruction of the boreal.
• Not everything companies dig up can be used and have no place to put their leftovers and toxic chemicals, they then make tailing ponds to hold all these substances.
Effects on the Environment, Economy and Society:
• In April 2008 1300 birds died from landing on a tailings pond on Syncrude's Mildred Lake facility's.
• The pollutants released into the air, effects the air quality in the Wood Buffalo region bringing up the parts per million carbon dioxide in the region.
• The pollutants from the extraction process are released into the water affecting the water source for animals, fish and humans.
• The "dirty oil" of Alberta's tar sands are putting a bad reputation on Canada as there are many reports saying that Canada is not environmentally friendly and doesn't seem to care about changing the oil sands for the better, so it makes all Canadians look bad when its really only Alberta.
Economy the key to a countries success, the tar sands have boomed Canada's economy upward selling millions of barrels around the world making large profits, however it has affected other companies in Canada for the worst as since people only buy stocks into oil they don't buy into other companies thus the oil is taking up a large part of the market and other companies are not flourishing as they use too.