During this week in class we looked at the Alberta tar sands. As it is obvious that the chemicals that are being taken out of this area is dangerous to the environment, there are other effects on the environment that these tar sands have that I would like to discuss. The first thing done to the land in this area is that it is cleared of vegetation and swamps so that the soil can be reached. This is a form of deforestation, which is devastating to the environment. Deforestation’s effect on the land as stated in the book, “Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction” by Mark Maslin is that, “Deforestation and over working of the soils had started to reduce fertility, so farmers were cutting down more trees to open up more land to produce enough food to survive” (158). The soil in the area where deforestation takes place because useless especially when the land is being used for tar sands, then those in the area that are wishing to farm have to move elsewhere and clear land to find an area to grow crops. With the tar sands, the soil is what the people are after, and so lack in fertility of the soil is not as much of a worry. Then comes into play the other effects of deforestation. Deforestation takes away the plants that are pulling carbon out of the atmosphere, and in this case the land is being used to get a fossil fuel that is going to add large amounts of carbon to the atmosphere. The tar sands are a ‘double whammy’ when it comes to the amounts of carbon in the atmosphere.
In the article “New Map Shows Dramatic Time Lapse of Tar Sands Deforestation” by Kevin Grandia, we can see just how vast the deforestation of the tar sands areas are. We see that with each year there is more and more land that is cleared of forests for the extraction of the tar sands. Grandia explains that since 2000 or in just fifteen years almost two million acres of forest have been cleared for the purpose of the tar sands. This is not the deforestation of a couple of fields, but much more, which with every acre creates a greater impact on the carbon levels in the atmosphere. Another passage in Mark Maslin’s book explains what could happen if we reforested an area. It says that, “Reduced deforestation and increased reforestation should not only draw down additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but it will help to retain biodiversity, stabilize soils and local rainfall” (175). Here we see that the tar sands are not only causing harm to the environment by the effects of the chemical being taken and used as fuels, which is releasing carbon to the atmosphere, but that the first impact that these tar sands have on the environment is caused by the clearing of the land of the vegetation. Plants are one of nature’s ways of taking carbon on of the environment, and this source of recycling the carbon is being destroyed over a large amount of land, causing climate change before the tar sands are used as a fuel source and polluting the environment even further.
http://www.desmog.ca/2014/07/15/new-map-shows-dramatic-time-lapse-tar-sands-deforestation
The effect of the time lapse is extremely powerful as you can see the progression of the devastation that you so accurately discussed. The discussion of the effect being a “double whammy” as you put it, was very important and showcases why this process is so powerful. Not only is the bitumen extremely dirty, the deforestation enhances the environmental impact like you stated. As of today’s date (1/29/15), the measure for the keystone pipeline just passed the senate, but President Obama still vows to veto it. It will be extremely interesting to see the development of this issue in years to come.
I love that you chose to discuss this sensitive subject. The Athabasca tar sands in Canada are, like you said, vast, and environmentally devastating. It’s terrible to see all of the pictures of the destroyed wilderness and the huge machinery the plant uses. I had never even heard of the tar sands, so I was shocked and disturbed that our society would do this to our environment in order to get the fossil fuels we need. However, even if everyone knew about the tar sands and saw what the plant is doing to our environment, would they put a stop to it? Is our society currently willing to give up our fossil fuel usage, or will we wait until we see intense affects of global warming?