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Oil, Gas and Oil Sand Exploitation and Development
Supply and demand
Our demand for fossil fuel is astronomical, and as such oil and gas industries are huge. Natural gas and oil is mostly found offshore in Canada, though the land of the Boreal is not impervious. The clearing of land for seismic lines and roads has particularly damaging effects. Even with the increase in regulations, technology and management in recent decades the damages to the Boreal are still significant.
Effects of oil drilling
Areas that had been clear cut are slow to regenerate due to the slow growing nature of the Boreal. These areas allow exotic and sometimes invasive plants to take root, and as well these areas are heavily traveled causing top soil degradation further slowing regeneration. Toxic chemicals are still used for drilling; these chemicals are often carcinogens which run a high risk of contaminating surface and ground water.
A new type of oil
Oil sand mining, a relatively new and prevalent source of energy is far more destructive than traditional oil and gas drilling. Oil sand contains bitumen, which when extracted emits far more carbon dioxide then traditional extractions. Alberta is the largest source of these sands in Canada, in the Athabasca oil sands alone there is an estimated 1.6 billion barrels of bitumen on reserve and the drive to exploit this resource is extremely high.
Oil Sands
Oil sand is harvested through the removal of the surface soil in order to access the sediment layer beneath; this results in a large area of land in which the ability of regeneration has been removed. In Canada 4000 km2 is already under development out of the 140, 000 km2 that has been established as minable. These developments require a large amount of freshwater which is taken from rivers, and once polluted is stored in large man-made lakes that now cover over 130 km2. If one of these lakes were to leak into a natural water supply the results would be disastrous. Some of the recorded effects of this mining include; impacts to lichen a main food supply for woodland caribou, high mercury level in fish, increase in salt concentration of nearby wetlands and disturbance of natural soil microbes. Restoring the areas affected is incredibly difficult as the landscape needs to be completely rebuilt before vegetation can succeed again, a process which is estimated to take hundreds of years.
Active oil sand mining
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Growth of the Athabasca oil sands between 1984 (left) and 2011 (right)
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Before and after of a forest in northern Alberta that has been mined for tar sands
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References:
Johnson E.A and Miyanishi K. 2012. The boreal forest as a cultural landscape. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 1249: 151-165.
Schindler D.W. and Lee P.G. 2010. Comprehensive conservation planning to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services in Canadian boreal regions under a warming climate and increasing exploitation. Biological Conservation 143: 1571-1586.
BOREAL @ MEMORIAL