Case Studies

For many decades, statistics have shown a significant decline in African elephant populations due to a lack of regulation. Governmental corruption and political instability in Sub-Saharan African countries allowed the ivory trade to occur for centuries. Lack of regulation contributed to the continuous degradation and exploitation of natural resources. The current decrease in elephant populations is primarily due to illegal poaching, demand for Ivory products, and factors associated with human population growth. Curbing illegal poaching of elephants for ivory depends on a decrease in the demand for such priceless products. Secondary causes of population decrease include habitat fragmentation, as well as the alteration of age and genetic distribution within existing elephant populations. This issue has severe ecological repercussions, as African elephants are keystone species within the the continent’s landscapes.

While in the short run, pesticides seem very beneficial for agriculture including crop life and dealing with unwanted or invading vegetation, after closer inspection at the effects on plant, animal, and human life, it becomes very clear that the negative effects such as extreme illness or death, heavily outweigh the positive effects. Pesticides are very common in agriculture today, most commonly used to protect crops from widespread disease and pests. As a result, humans have enjoyed the benefits a healthy crops with and lack of poor harvesting seasons. When humans started farming in Mesopotamia 10,000 years ago pesticides were not commonly used. The first evidence of pesticide use was about 4,500 years ago by the Sumerians and 3,200 years ago in China

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) are a major representative of the wild. Grizzly bears usually weigh 136-680 kilograms and the males are usually larger in size. They belong to the same family as polar bears and black bears. The correct scientific name is brown bear, however, they are referred as grizzlies due to distinct lighter colour hair on their back which gives them “grizzled” appearance. Grizzly bears have a hump on their shoulders. This is due to their mass of muscle which is specifically designed for digging. It is easy to distinguish black bears and grizzlies by looking at their faces: black bears have straight-faced profile while grizzlies have a dished-face profile. In the colour range, Grizzlies are usually dark brown, but can vary from light cream colour to black which is mainly affected by their genetics. In addition, grizzlies have relatively longer claws than other species of bears, designed for digging. Grizzlies can adapt to cold environment with the help of their thick fur. Also, their long claws and powerful shoulders help them create winter dens and scavenge for food.

Since the Industrial Revolution, world energy consumption, traditionally supplied by combustible organic material, such as oil, coal, or natural gas, has rapidly increased. As conventional sources of fossil fuels are depleted, hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), a controversial method of extracting natural gas, has become a popular unconventional approach to fossil fuel extraction.

Fort McMurray, located in a beautiful service area with vast oil sands deposit in northeast of Alberta, is surrounded by peatlands and boreal forests of aspen and spruce. Though normally very wet, Fort McMurray is relative dry and hot in summer, and its weather is becoming more extreme because of climate change. With a low moisture content and a high volume of resin for defence against disease, stems of trees in boreal forests are highly flammable. Beginning southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta on May 1st, 2016, the wildfire swept through forests and communities and destroyed around 2,400 buildings in only two days, resulting in over 8,000 residents to leave their homes. Ultimately, it was under control by July 5th, 2016. The fire, reported spreading cross 590,000 hectares, is the costliest disaster in Canadian history. The intense forest fire has a profound impact on local environment and ecology. About 500 species of wildlife lost their habitats or were in danger due to the fire. Many wastes such as ash and rotting food were produced in the burning process. The fire also released a large amount of CO2 and other toxic contaminants including heavy metals and PAHs deposited on trees and soils.