Conservation
Read the following questions carefully and investigate your OWN independent answers
on a separate page. This information will give you a solid understanding of many
complexities that exist in the world relating to conservation. As usual, please submit on
turnitin.com
Transportation
1) Name 3 Greenhouse gases & what human activities create them.
2) List 3 areas (such as Health, Energy, Agriculture, Recreation, etc) that are affected by
climate change and how they could potentially be impacted.
3) List at least 3 types of emissions that come from cars and what type of health or
environmental harm they cause.
4) In Canada, Alberta extracts bitumen (crude oil) for export to be processed and made
into gasoline and many other products. What are at least three environmental and/or
social impacts of that bitumen (crude oil) extraction?
5) Describe a minimum of 3 ways to reduce your carbon footprint
Forestry
1) Explain some environmental impacts of deforestation caused by our demand for
paper products?
2) What are the pros and cons of protecting old growth forests?
3) People who live in the areas being logged can often feel the negative environmental
and social impacts. List at least four ways that the forest industry could reduce these
impacts.
a) What are the pros and cons of buying recycled vs. virgin paper?
b) What is the value of buying FSC Certified paper?
4) In Canada, 93% of logging is clear-cut. What are the pros and cons of selective
logging?
Energy
1) List a minimum of 7 sources of energy that could be used, and briefly how the energy
is created. e.g. nuclear energy is derived from mined uranium and nuclear fission
changes water into steam that runs turbine generators.
a) Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, or natural gas are carbon-based and formed in the earth
from plant or animal remains. We extract a lot of fossil fuels in Canada to use for
multiple purposes. What are the positive reasons we use fossil fuels as a form of
energy?
b) What are the problems associated with burning carbon-based fossil fuels for energy?
2) BC uses hydropower as a main source of energy. What are the Pros and Cons of using
hydropower? List at least 3 Pros and 3 Cons
3) What are the impacts of light pollution on people and the natural world?
4) Based on your research, list 4 ‘small actions’ you can do to increase the energy
efficiency of your home?
Water
1) Provide an explanation of the two types of water scarcity and why they occur.
Describe an example of water scarcity in a Canadian community, and an example of
water scarcity in a community outside of Canada. Include the ways that this scarcity is
impacting the people that live there.
a) Canadian example
b) International example
2) When we consider how essential water is to life, and all the different ways that water
is used by people and industries, the implications of ‘Water Privatization’ are very large.
What are some of the impacts of Water Privatization that we should be aware of?
a) List the three main areas where Canada wastes water?
3) From your research, outline a number of ways that Canadian citizens could waste less
water, with and without government support.
Heating & Cooling Our Homes
1) List the 3 types of fossil fuels and how they are extracted and create energy
2) In what ways do we use fossil fuels?
3) There are many ways you can heat and cool your home. List 2 or more pros and cons
for each heating/cooling method
(Methods: natural gas, hydro-electric, oil, coal, bio-fuel direct combustion or wood
burning fire places, wearing more clothes)
4) Describe three or more environmental or social concerns related to ‘fracking’.
5) What are 4 ways you could control the temperature in your home while reducing the
use of non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels?
Oceanwise
1 a) What is sustainable seafood?
b) What are some of the key social and environmental issues related to unsustainable
seafood?
2) What are the impacts of the following commercial fishing methods? List 1- 2 impacts
for each method.
(Method: Bottom trawling, dredge, pot and trap, long line, harpoon and midwater gill
net)
3) What are the pros and cons of using aquaculture to meet the world’s seafood needs?
(If some pros or cons are associated with specific methods of fish farming, such as only
open net systems, then put the system method beside your point. For example,
parasites and disease affecting wild fish only happens in an open net system.)
4) Every year, about 100 million sharks are harvested from our oceans. Describe some of
the key issues to do with the consumption and harvesting of shark fin
Mercury (or methyl mercury), along with other toxic substances that industry dumps
into the rivers flows into the oceans and ends up in the seafood we eat.
a) Describe the process of ‘bioaccumulation’.
b) How does Mercury impact human health?
Mining
1 )Explain the impacts of each of the following phases of industrial mining and its social
impacts.
a)
b)
c)
d)
exploration
mining and milling
smelting and refining
mine closure
2) There are several different methods of mining, not all of which take place
underground. List at least 5 types of mining.
3) Hudbay and Skye Resources are Canadian owned mining companies that evicted
seven Guatemalan communities between 2006 and 2010 to expedite their mining
operation. Mining Watch Canada has concerns about the way that process took place.
List three or more actions that Hudbay and other mining companies have employed that
you would consider to be a social justice issue.
4) What is the opinion of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation deputy grand chief Alvin Fiddler on
diamond mining in Canada?
5) What are some pros and cons of using Oil as a source of energy? List a minimum of 3
pros and cons for Oil and then compare it to 2 other energy sources.
a)Does oil contribute to climate change? Explain.
b) List 3 areas (such as health, energy, agriculture, recreation, etc) that are affected by
climate change and how they could potentially be impacted by climate change
6) Bitumen from Canada’s tar sands in Alberta is referred to as ‘dirty oil’. Give three
reasons why it has that reputation globally, include environmental and social impacts.
7) Historically, there have been a lot of environmental and social impacts associated
with the transportation of oil across land and water. This makes many people nervous
about proposed pipelines and tanker routes. Describe 3 potential environmental or
social impacts related to transporting oil across land and/or water, and an example of
where this has or may happen.
a) What does the term ‘peak oil’ refer to?
8) List 3 impacts that running out of easily accessible oil will have on people and the
planet.