The pine needle outbreak currently going on in the Rocky Mountains is more than ten times larger than any other outbreak before. There was one million acres of dead trees in 2006 with over 500,000 acres added every year. Climate change (global warming) has largely contributed to the size and severity of the outbreak. It may also affect the ability to remove greenhouse gases by trees. This creates a snowball effect, creating better conditions for more pine beetles. BC and Alberta trees are ill-equipped to deal with pine beetles because they are not used to them. Because of this, they are being hit very hard by the outbreak.

More trees are dying than being renewed. This is because some of the trees only release their seeds when they hit a certain temperature. Since pine beetles don’t heat the trees up, the trees keep dying but don’t get renewed. Also, fires cannot be used to contain the outbreak since the trees are close to towns and cities.

One possible solution people have looked at is using very harsh chemicals.

Disease Transfer in Salmon Farming

Intensive farming, breaks natural laws of density, distribution bio-diversity and survival of the fittest. Disease is nature's relentless response to over-crowding and so the farmers have to resort to drugs. Small bays which might support a few hundred salmon in intermittent bursts throughout the year, are now filled with up to 1,000,000 - 2,000,000 stationary salmon. This is the best thing to happen to fish pathogens on this coast since the glaciers receded. In such close proximity, the feces of the crowded fish pass over each other's gills. Because the fish are confined and unable to migrate, pathogens accumulate into a rich broth. Antibiotics can keep most farm salmon alive long enough to reach market size, but leave the fish contagious, shedding pathogens into marine currents.

Sites of Fish Farming

Under the CRIS (Coastal Resource Interest Study), the provincial ministries of Environment and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, toured the archipelago in 1988. Public meetings were held for fishermen, tourism operators and other local interest groups to mark where they would NOT like to see fish farms. Raincoast was asked what were essential to humpback whales, orca and other species of whales and dolphins. In 1989, the province produced a map dividing the archipelago waters into green (go for fish farming), yellow (go with caution) and red (where no applications for finfish farming would be accepted). These red zones highlighted where wild salmon schooled, prawns were most abundant, where whales summered and rock cod lived. However, within a year there were more salmon farms in red zones than in any other colour. In a breach of public trust, fishermen's hard-won knowledge had been used by the salmon farmers to find the places their fish would survive the best.

When queried, the government gave three different answers as to why this had happened. First they said all interest groups had been contacted and differences settled sufficiently to allow the farms into the red zones. But none, including Raincoast, had been contacted. Next they said the red zones had been painted with such a "broad brush" that the little farms could be squeezed in without causing impact. But the farms were so large they covered entire red zones such as Sargeuant's Pass and spilled out into the surrounding waters. Finally the Province admitted wherever fish farm applications pre-dated the red zones, they had been permitted. As a result, tax-dollars were wasted on meaningless "consultation" with local communities, and the archipelago harmed by the study because the richest waters had been highlighted in red for exploitation. During this process a memorandum of understanding passed down from Ottawa prohibited leases for residents to live on the coast in their floating houses.

Regions of Western Canada

Today's assignment is as follows.

First, start by defining the following terms
Ecosystem, Biomes, Flora, Fauna, deciduous, coniferous, interdependant, and treeline.

Next, in your own words, describe each of the Regions of Western Canada as laid out on pages 108-111. You can do this in any format you choose but you must include pictures of both the flora and the fauna that represents each region.

The following link may help you as well but some of the regions are joined together.
Canadianregions

When you finish, please print your work or e-mail it to me.

Thank you

The Great Auk (Penguins)

Auk Great (The extinct bird)

The great auk was destroyed by early explorers for food, by fishermen for bait and by hunters for feathers. The Great Auk or Garefowl was also known as a Penguin. The Great Auk inhabited the coasts and islands of the North Atlantic from Virginia and Ireland to Greenland and Iceland almost to the Arctic Circle. The flightless bird was easily captured. They and their eggs fed many sailors. Shorebirds that breed in a limited number of colonies at only certain locations are highly susceptible to concentrated stresses and the Great Auk was extinct by mid Nineteenth to twentieth Century. This is because all the great Auk birds were killed, hunted or bait so now this is to be an extinct bird

The Spirit Of The Kermode Bear

The Kermode bear is only found living on the coast of British columbia and in a few central northern islands. This bear has also been spotted all around british columbia in malls, and on the busy streets of Vancouver in a diffrent form then you'd normally see it in the woods. The Kermode bear has been put into a statue form ever since it was given the title of being British Columbias offical animal. It is estimated that there are fewer then 100 Kermode bears still living in British Bolumbia. The kermode bear was named by first nations people who considered the animal a spirit pertector. The spirit bear lives off of berries, inscects and salmon. The spirit bears natural haibitat has been ruined by our human environment interactions. Most of there orginal habitat has been logged, and then roads have been built over it giving hunters accessibility to these endangered animals. The main point being Kermode bears and sevral other thousands of animals worldwide are heading towards extinction and someone should be tkaing action before its to late.

BC Forest Industry

            Canada, known for our many natural resources, has up to 10% of the world’s forest coverage. Due to this, we became the second largest producer of lumber in the world, accounting for 16% of worldwide production.

            In recent years, the lumber industry has faced trade and economic challenges. The Canada-United States Softwood Lumber Agreement, between 2002 and 2006, caused a rise in energy and raw material prices, a decline in lumber prices, and a higher exchange rate for the Canadian dollar.

            The lumber industry plays a key role in Canada’s economy and export market, resulting for more than 4% of total Canadian merchandise exports. It sustains more than 54 000 direct jobs across Canada, and an additional 90 600 jobs in other related industries.

            In conclusion, without the forest industry, BC would be a much different place. The economy would be substantially affected, and there would be far less jobs.

Canadian lynx

In Canada, the lynx can be legally trapped in all provinces, with the exception of Nova Scotia. There the lynx have been forced onto one remaining stronghold on Cape Breton Island, and the population is protected. They are not found on Prince Edward Island. The remaining provinces monitor the lynx population through fur trade trapping figures, and quotas vary yearly, depending on the snowshoe hare cycle. In the future, trapping methods may change as a result of pressure from the European Union for countries to ban the use of the leghold trap, and adopt internationally accepted humane trapping standards.

The future of the Canada lynx looks more promising than for many other felids. There is, however, still cause for concern, as harvests of lynx during the cyclic low periods have progressively fallen since the mid-1970's, and hare numbers have similarly been lower as well.

Oil Sands in Alberta

Oil sands are natural "treasures" which have water, clay, other minerals, and bitumen which is heavy and extremely viscous oil that can't be used in oil refineries until properly treated. This seems like a good thing for the economy because it makes Canada lots of money, but it requires a lot of water. Did you know 2 to 4.5 barrels of water is required to produce one barrel of oil, even though most of the water is recycled the oil sands use more water than Calgary every year. Most of the water is taken Athabasca River and even though the amount of water being used has been reclining there won’t be enough water to keep the river flowing and continue on future oil sand projects. The oil sands also contribute loads of green house gases to the climate. Alberta in general contributes one third of Canada’s green house gases mostly from oil sands. Alberta is trying to decrease its total emissions of green house gases, but isn’t exceeding.

Do you think that Alberta does to decrease the oil sands?

Wildfires in B.C

Wildfires can be a good thing… and a bad thing. In Canada, two-thirds of all forest fires are caused by people, while lightning causes the remaining third. Most forest fires are stopped before they reach maximum potential. However when they do they can exceed 100, 000 h of area. In a typical year there are over 9,000 forest fires. However this year that number has increased to 3064. That is a lot of fire. But in a way we should be thankful for the NATURAL occurrence of forest fires (such as ones caused by lightning) because they do well for us too. They get rid of the dead wood in the forests, and they also help keep the spread of the pine beetle at bay.

Whaling

Whaling in the northwest atlantic has sadly depleted the number of Humpback Whales down to 3000-4000 whales although that is still very many it is a sad number compared to what they used to be. Born around the Carribean these animals are killed on the way to the Northwest Atlantic region around Novia Scotia.

The Vancouver Island marmot

The Vancouver Island Marmot is an endangered animal. Information gathered for the marmot says that the survival rates of amarmot have decreased and the frequency of high mortality episodes have increased. Wolves, Cougars, and Golden Eagles prey upon marmots and are responsible for significant losses at some of the colonies. The most important effest of forestry was to concentrate the population but instead it increased the risk of mortality from predation and jeopradizing the metapopulation model the vancouver island marmots have relied upon for a milennia.When clearcut logging reached higher elevations surrounding marmot colonies. The marmots learned to adapt to there new habitat. Cut forests at higher elevations resembled natural habitat for the marmot. However, this short-term gain was followed quickly by a dramatic decline in there population. Clearcut colonies had eventually re-grown by trees and other vegetation which gave the predators cover. What you can do to save the marmots is to join the save a marmot club. That way you help protect the endangered Vancouver Island Marmot every day of the year.

Peary Caribou

The peary caribou are an endangered species in the northern part of canada. They are in the deer famiy. The peary Caribou is a large caribou, they have both large feet and a large head. Both male and females have antlers.
The peary caribou have been endangered since 1979. These lovely creatures are endangered because of the short suply of food in the winter months, and the inuit hunt them. Although they are endangered, the caribou and their land are not protected by the law, therefore making them volnerable for extinction.
The peary caribou like to live on ground with shallow snow or ice. In the summer they go places with lots of plants. In the winter they eat twigs because everything else is frozen. They are being starved.
Because these animals are unprotected and becoming extinct, we must save them now!

The Sea Otters and shellfish!

Sea Otters have been native to the northen coasts of Canada and Alaska. In British Columbia they are found on the outer coasts.

The fur trade that took place shows that approxiametely 1 million Sea Otters were killed in the begginning of the 18'th century on our coast. Eighty nine Sea otters were relocated to the west coast of BC, from alaska during the years 1969 to 1972. They devoloped a healthy population above 3000 by 2004.

Today, the sea otter's prey is very popular among humans. This includes clams, crabs, and abalone. The Sea otter's are sometimes blamed for the lack in shellfish. This was probably caused by overfishing by humans, and disease pollution. This is one of the many interactions between humans and sea otters.

DAMN YOU GLOBAL WARMING!!!!!!

Polar bears are the s#$t but changes caused by global warming are threatining the survival of this dope species! Global warming is melting the ice caps taking away the ice flows the bears need to hunt prey! When the anual sea ice melts the polar bears are forced ashore to spend their summers fasting. If the ice caps continue to melt faster and form later polars will become to thin to even reproduce. If this happens they will become extinct by the end of this century! Do your part reduce reuse and recycle!

Forest Fires

Forest Fires



Generally, the forest fire season in Canada runs from April through to October. The most fires and the largest areas burned happen in June, July, and August. During a typical fire season there are over 9,000 forest fires in Canada, burning an average of 2.5 million hectares, (25,000 square kilometres).



In Canada, two-thirds of all forest fires are caused by people, while lightning causes the remaining third. This varies across the country: lightning causes over 50% of fires in western Canada and the Northwest Territories. Despite this, lightning fires account for over 85% of the area burned in Canada, largely because many of the lightning-caused fires occur in the West and North, where there are more remote areas that are difficult to reach with fire suppression equipment. Human-caused fires usually start close to communities, where they are reported quickly and dealt with by local fire crews.



Most forest fires are caught in the early stages before they have chance to grow. Under extreme conditions fires can grow rapidly, sometimes exceeding 100,000 ha. In Canada, approximately 2% of forest fires account for 98% of the total area burned.

Pine Beetle



The mountain pine beetle is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America from Mexico to central British Columbia. It has a hard black exoskeleton and measures about 5 millimeters, about the size of a grain of rice.



Mountain pine beetles inhabit spruce. During early stages of an outbreak, attacks are limited largely to trees under stress from injury, poor site conditions, fire damage, overcrowding, root disease, or old age. As beetle populations increase, the beetles attack the largest trees in the outbreak area.



Pine beetles kill trees by boring through the bark into the phloem layer on which they feed and in which eggs are laid. Pioneer female beetles initiate attacks, producing pheromones that attract more beetles. The trees respond to attack by increasing their resin output to discourage or kill the beetles. Pine beetles carry blue stain fungi which, if established, will block the tree resin response. Within about two weeks of a beetle attack, the trees starve to death as the phloem layer is damaged enough to cut off the flow of water and nutrients. Older trees usually succumb first. After particularly hot summers, the mountain pine beetle population can increase dramatically, deforesting large areas. After an outbreak, entire groves of trees will appear red when viewed from above. Rocky Mountain National Park has suffered recent pine beetle outbreaks.



Because of forest fires, pine beetles are drawn to the damaged trees and therefore a large number of spruces have died in western Canada.

Save the Wolves!

OMG! The Grey Wolves that reside in the Rockies (and eat marmots (haha Derek)) have had their status of being protected creatures removed! Woah! This means that they will be very vulnerable to over hunting. Seriously. Not cool.
The Grey wolf lives in packs, hunting for animals varying in size. They can take down animals 10-15 times thier size, but they aren't fussy eaters. They feed on water fowl, hares, badgers, deer, and other rodents. They also feed on marmots (shown left) and foxes (shown right).


Today,wolves are protected in some areas, hunted freely in others, and obliterated elsewhere because they are seen as a threat to livestock and pets. So there it is. SAVE THE WOLVES!

Sea Otters - Endangered!!

For hundreds of years Sea Otters have been hunted and killed for there soft and thick radiant fur. The coastal waters of the pacific ocean, Bering Sea and many other places were once home to many of these wonderful otters. The worlds population of Sea Otters is now between 25,000 and 40,000 , a very small amount compared to how many there used to be. Recent transplants have re-established the population of this species. The coast of British Columbia was once completly wiped out of these marine mammals. Now the population is making a slow recovery and laws strictly forbid anyone from hunting or killing these cute Sea Otters.

Endangered Species

Kangaroo Rats are an endangered species in Western Canada. The main threat to them is agriculture, habitat degradation, and fragmentation. They are commonly found in the desert regions in U.S.A. and Mexico. Since their bodies are used to warm weather, only about 10% survive the Canadian winters which is one reason they are endangered. The Kangaroo Rat can live in captivity for up to seven years, but only a few survive more than a couple years in the wild. They are 50 to 96 grams and can reproduce one or two times a year.

Salmon Overfishing

The Salmon in BC a few years ago was majorly depleted. The First Nations leaders warned the fisherman that they were overfishing and that it would wreck the ecosystem. Well, it kind of did wreck it. The numbers went down so significantly that we were not allowed to fish for salmon and most rivers were completly empty. Over the past few years, they have tried to fill the rivers again. Which came to be a success this year! We had the largest salmon run since 1913! People are still attempting to overfish the salmon though. They shouldn't, the ecosystem is very fragile and we need those fish! Also, the prices went down as much as 25% this year for the fish. Which is great 'cause I love Salmon!!!

fish farmin on the west coast

Fish farming also known as aquaculture, is the artificial production of fish in an enclosed area. The industry makes $5 billion a year and it produces a wide range of species of fish for a variety of reasons, mostly for consumption.

Fish and sea life produced in farms for consumption inlude salmon, scallops, shrimp and tilapia, as well as decorative and and tropical fish for aqauriums, like gold fish and koi fish.

Fish farms are most commonly dug into the ground and filled with water and also can be built into a natural environment like a river, lake or ocean cove. They can also be made in above-ground pools or tanks.

Swift Fox :D

Swift Foxes have been extinct since early 1990's intill 2 decades ago they were brought back. They are still indanger though. They were oringinaly killed because farmers were protecting their praries from cyotes. The Swift Fox was mistaken as cyote babies. Their biggest mistake is that they arn't afraid of people and they are very curious.

forests, and stuff.

Forest fires happen so often in British Columbia, and most people automatically think of it as a bad thing. Not only can forest fires happen naturally, but they have to in order to clear out old trees and make room for new plants to grow, and well as kill the pine beetle. Humans have started forest fires before in the past, and in some cases it has been tragic and very unfortunate, but does that mean we should try to stop forest fires from occuring completely? I believe we should take pre-cautions and try to prevent starting forest fires ourselves, however I don't believe we should go out of our way to prevent natural forest fires as well.

Froggy Problem!!!

A long time ago, you could sit my a pond or a swamp and hear a chorus of frogs. Now, you'd be lucky to hear 3. Many factors have been culminating in BC to get rid of our amphibian friends, since the 1900's. Some of which include pollution, construction, and the introduction of the Bullfrog and Greenfrog to western Canada. The pollution makes the water in their natural habitats unhabitable, construction takes the nice floodplains and turns them into farms or housing complexes, and the much larger Bullfrogs and Greenfrogs fight, or eat many of our native frogs (and even garter snakes!). Specifically the oregon spotted frog is confined to a small corner of southwest BC, research infers only about 300 left in BC and they have been red-listed.

A website has been set up to do 'frog watching' where you can go out and either find, or listen for different frogs, then report it to help research and let the scientists and environmentalists know approsimately how many there are in an area.

Okanagan Valley

the arid osoyoos region-the "little sahara"- in the south okanagan has a high concentration of rare, threatened and endangered species. here , the white tailed jackrabbit, short-horned lizzard , yellow badeger and the burrowing owl are on the brink of extripation. stroung measures to halt development in the small amount of critical natrul habitat left is reqired to save these ecosystems from extinction

Oil Sands in Alberta

Oil sands are natural "treasures" which have water, clay, other minerals, and bitumen which is heavy and extremely viscous oil that can't be used in oil refineries until properly treated. This seems like a good thing for the economy because it makes Canada lots of money, but it requires a lot of water. Did you know 2 to 4.5 barrels of water is required to produce one barrel of oil, even though most of the water is recycled the oil sands use more water than Calgary every year. Most of the water is taken Athabasca River and even though the amount of water being used has been reclining there won’t be enough water to keep the river flowing and continue on future oil sand projects. The oil sands also contribute loads of green house gases to the climate. Alberta in general contributes one third of Canada’s green house gases mostly from oil sands. Alberta is trying to decrease its total emissions of green house gases, but isn’t exceeding.

Do you think that Alberta does to decrease the oil sands?

WILDFIRES!!!

Wildfires are unplanned or unwanted natural or person-caused fires that need to be put out. There are more than 2000 in BC every year. Due to quick reporting and the efforts of fire crews and staff, 92% of all wildfires are contained in less than 10 acres.

Both Planes and helicopters are used to help put out fires. Airtankers drop fire retardant and foam on small fires to prevent them from growing, and at the edge of large fires to prevent them from spreading. Medium sized helicopters are used to directly bomb fires and can also be used to deliver crews to a fire or provide emergency medical assistance.

Fires are ranked from 1 to 6. A 1 is just smouldering ground cover, and usually burn themselves out. A 6 is a huge fire with lots of fuel, that fire crews won't attempt to put out until they burn down more. 2 to 5 ranges from some flames on the ground to a vigorous surface fire or a higher tree fire. For more information on fire ranks, see: http://bcwildfire.ca/FightingWildfire/firerank.htm

Half of all wildfires are caused by people. You can help prevent them by not smoking in forests, and making sure campfires are completely out before going to sleep.

B.C. Pine Beetle Solution May Cause Toxic Trees

Most people know about the pine beetle problem that we have here in British Columbia. Well, the Ministy of B.C. Forestry had sprayed various trees that were infected by pine beetles with a toxic spray that would kill the beetles. As it turned out this idea had worked but a problem had occured. Unfortunetly the spray had dangerous amounts of arsenic and some of the trees have been affected. More than 100, 000 trees are now being tested to see if they contain the toxic. Trees that are infected usually turn red, from their regular colour of brown. Arsenic is known to be very harmful to the health of both humans and animals. Click on the following link to learn more : http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20081115/BC_beetle_trees_081115/20081115?hub=BritishColumbia

Issues in Western Canada, Human Environmental interactions

As you are all bright young individuals who enjoy learning, rather than me tell you what we will be looking at in Western Canada, I will let you choose yourselves. There are a few criteria however. You are to find a topic that interests you and involves human and environment interactions in Western Canada. (Such as fish farming on the west coast, forest fighting and how it contributes to the pine beetle, Burrard thermal plants, Oil refineries in Burnaby). You are then to research your topic and post what you learn on this blog to share with your peers. You can use links, pictures or any other media to share your newfound knowledge. You must make at least one post and then you must make at least two replies to other peoples posts. This way we learn from each other in a collaborative way. I look forward to learning from you as well.

Mr. Southwell

: )

Mr. Southwell, did you know that on April 22, (my birthday) in the year of 1932, 52 geese were struck by lightning in Elgin, Manitoba? And did you know that because of the electricity from the lightning, the geese were cooked and the people of Elgin had a feast with all the meat? Yep. I did.

5 Themes in Geography Project

Spheres and Themes in Geography: An in-depth look

You’re Hired!! Thanks to your amazing geography skills, you have been hired to create a detailed geographic multimedia report to increase knowledge for a city to increase tourism. You are so good that you are able to approach the municipal government of literally any city in the world and they will jump to hire you.

Your task: You are to create a multimedia report (video, PowerPoint, Prezi, or other format) for a city of your choice. You are to describe/inform the readers of the 5 themes of Geography and how they relate you your city. Remember you have been hired to INCREASE tourism so make sure that it is interesting!!

You are encouraged to be creative and present your information in an interesting way. You can work alone or with a partner. If you have a special reason why you want to work in a group of three, you can see me and tell me your justification for needing a group.

Remember MR. HeLP!!

We will be sharing these assignments with the class.

Marks assessment:

Technical presentation: is it clear, visually appealing, and easy to read?

Information: Is the information complete but still not overwhelming. It should be easy to read but have as much information as possible. (Are all 5 themes covered in detail)

Peer Assessment: Would your presentation make your peers interested in travelling to your city?

Technical Presentation 15

Information 20

Peer Assessment 5

Total: 40

DUE: Friday September 17

dillema

John should report to the EPA oficcer because it is a serious concern. The waste can pollute the water a poison the animals that drink from the river. If he doesnt report this situation, the problem will get worse and it might spread into a nearby city's water supply. Also hell have to give the water sample back because it was a class assignment. John would also feel guilty that he didn't do anything to stop it.

Dilemma: Agricultural waste

I think that John should perhaps search more into the technologies involved in agricultural waste disposal. There must be a small and inexpensive change that can be made to fix the problem. If John can find and alternative, or upgrade so that the lagoon run-off doesn't damage the environment, then he can apply to the government for a grant to fix the problem. This way, the company doesn't lose money, John keeps his job, and the environment is protected from the harmful leakage. =D

Dilemma

I think he should tell them, because it could turn into a bigger problem that they'll get sued for or worse. People could get diseases from the water. And other peoples buisnesses could be ruined.

Natalie & Ashtyn Dilemma

Dilemma : Should John keep quiet about the waste leakage/spill in the lagoon OR should he tell the EPA and possibly get Mr.Riley’s farm shut down?

We think that John should tell the EPA about the waste leakage for several reasons. One, if he keeps quiet about the spill then he risks harming other companies and the environment. Not only that, but he also risks someone else telling the EPA anyways, thus he would lose his job. Eventually, he would have no place to go because all the other companies/farms would suffer as well. John also should think about the moral aspect of this, he would be keeping a major secret causing harm to others. This is not a good choice. If he tells the EPA, he would end up losing his job at the Riley farm. However, other companies would be thriving and he would have a lot more options. Also, Mr. Riley does not seem like a nice fellow. If he is willing to put so many people in jeopardy just to save his own farm. He is not only a cold man, but a very stupid one. To wrap things up, John should tell the EPA and save everyone time and money.

Deleema problem

i think john should tell the EPA or else if he gets found out he will be sued MILLIONS

Welcome to SS10 Enriched!!

Welcome to Social Studies 10 Enriched!

Today we will be going over the course outline and expectations. We will be starting with Geography and a review of last year. This year we will be looking at how humans interact with their environment around them as part of our Geography unit. To get us thinking about it, we are going to look at a dilema in groups and discuss it. The dilemma is at the following link: DILEMMA

HOMEWORK: Please go to the following link and complete the survey:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dERUNV9DWm9jdDhmUG44MGZLR0FiSkE6MQ