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The Alberta Oil Sands and the Canadian Environment

 

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             The sewage from the plants is creating and has created giant toxic lakes and disturbed a large amount of the Boreal forest (Charpenier, Alex n.pag). These effects are not limited to only Canada's environments; the oil sands carbon emissions are polluting air all over the globe and contributing to global warming (tar sands and climate change n.pag). The smoke stacks used in the factories to get rid of carbon fumes have completely overtaken the horizon in Northeastern Alberta and polluted the air; proof of this is the increasing amounts of acid rain all over Canada and other continents. This factor also contributes to global warming as it adds to the amount of greenhouse gasses released every year (Charpenier, Alex n.pag). It is believed that if no changes are made to the way the oil sands are running that a large portion of fresh water, oxygen and land will be usable in the close future as well as completely contaminated. In the case of land this prediction is already coming true. The landscape is practically erased, barren and stripped for miles. Where the Barrel forest once stood, is now half a dozen giant extraction and refining plants (Lenz, Garth n.pag). The excavation of oil has been the reason behind clear cutting the boreal forest for decades and is a fast way to speed up global warming. Not only that but it is also the reason behind hundreds upon thousands of animals deaths and the quick approaching endangerment of native species to the Boreal forest. Clear cutting is seen as a "necessary" step in the oil sands project. Miles upon miles of the boreal forest have been cut down to excavate the oil. From that many native species from the forest have lost their habitat, decreasing the overall biodiversity in the Boreal forest. As well with the trees being cut, the carbon released is not being filtered by the trees back into oxygen so this also negatively affects the atmosphere as well, it speeds up the global warming (Lenz, Garth n.


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