1. Environmental Problems
Canada
Environmental Problems

2. Acid Rain
When sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen mix with water
Can kill plants, damage trees and pollute lakes and rivers
Passed laws to limit pollution
Factories that do not pollute the air
Automobiles that pollute less
50 – 75 % of pollution comes from the U.S.

3. Problem: ACID RAIN

4. Industry helps Canada have a strong economy, but a balance must be reached between keeping industry alive and the environment healthy

5. Pollution of Great Lakes
1970s – water pollution: fishing unsafe & other areas fish not alive
1972 – Canada and U.S. agreed to reduce the amount of phosphorus
Phosphorus causes algal bloom which kills plants and animals

6. High concentrations of the chemical, phosphorous, found in fertilizers, pesticides, toothpaste, detergents, and explosives, cause algal blooms.

7. By the 1970’s the lakes were so polluted that in many places fishing had to be banned – that is if any fish even survived.

8. Pollution of the Great Lakes
Causes
Factories dumping chemicals and human waste in lakes
Effect
Increase in phosphorous which leads to algal bloom that kills plants and fish
Solution
Great Lakes Water Quality Control
Between U.S. and Canada
Prevent further damage of Lakes

9. Canada’s Forest Cover ½ of Canada
Timber from the forests are used to make lumber, plywood and wood pulp
Forests are important habitat for humans and animals

10. Forests provide oxygen, habitat for animals, they filter out air pollutants, and provide recreational areas for humans. Forests also provide a renewable natural resource on which many Canadians depend for their survival.

11. Destruction of Forests
Causes
Clear cutting – the cutting down of all trees in the forest
Heavy machinery damages forest floor
Effect
erosion
loss of wildlife habitat
Solution
Government and Industry working to protect forests
When trees are cut down seedlings are planted

12. One main concern is the practice of clear-cutting where many hundreds of acres of trees are removed at one time.

13. SOLUTION: Government and industry are working together, spending billions of dollars to plant seeds and tree seedlings where trees have been removed and habitat has been lost.

14. Problem:
Extraction and use of minerals on the Canadian Shield

15. Canadian Shield Large area that surrounds the Hudson Bay
Holds Canada’s most valuable resources - minerals

16. Heavy machinery compacts the soil making it more difficult for new growth to start once a mine is exhausted and abandoned.

17. Digging in open-pit mines scars the earth in what seems an irreversible fashion.

18. The left over material after rock is processed to remove the valuable minerals is called slag and is often dumped wherever it is convenient.

19. Destruction of the Canadian Shield
Cause
Blasting and digging with heavy machinery
Dumping of slag and chemicals in forests, rivers and lakes
Effect
Polluted waterways
Destruction of habitats
Solution
Laws created reducing the amount of pollution being dumped in waterways

20. Review
Write a paragraph describing the environmental concerns found in Canada.