• 1986 –Hubbard Glacier blocks • 1986: Images show Russell Fjord Degradation of forest area • 2002 –Hubbard Glacier blocks • 2001: Between 1984 Russell Fjord again and 1999, 38 per cent of forests were degraded • 2003 – Glacier has retreated
• 1974: Shows patchwork of purple and pink, indicating clearcutting • 2000: Evidence of good re-growth of trees in forest reserve areas
Difference in vegetation cover across borders Guatemala/Mexico
The landscape in 1989
Over 3000 wells (black/white dots) Have been approved in the basin, and development is occurring at a rapid rate
Mexico’s largest natural lake – Lake Chapala, Mexico
Growth of a Mega city
Urban encroachment on Florida’s Everglades, United States
• 1973: Rapid urban expansion has converted farmlands to cityscapes
• 2002: Existence of vast wetlands “Everglades” threatened by urban encroachment
Impact of logging in British Columbia Canada
• 1975-1999: Shows the impact of logging on reasonably pristine landscape
Temperate forests of Olympic Peninsula United States
NORTH AMERICA
• • • • • • • • • • • • • Torreón, Mexico Las Vegas, USA Lake Mead, USA Mexico City, Mexico Everglades, USA San Francisco, USA Night Lights, USA Case Study Hubbard Glacier, USA Hurricane Charley, USA Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii Washington D.C., USA Fort McMurray, Canada Mount St. Helens, USA
New Golf Courses since 2001
Explosive expansion of Mexico City, Mexico
• 1973 -Urban growth is concentrated in the center of the city • 2000 -Now expands dramatically into surrounding rural areas
REGIONAL SLIDESΒιβλιοθήκη NORTH AMERICA
• • • • • • • • • • • • Ekati, Canada Fort McMurray, Canada Power River Basin, USA Prudhoe Bay, USA Upper Green River, USA Lake Chapala, Mexico Knife River Delta, Canada Gaspe Peninsula, Canada Tensas River Basin, USA British Columbia, Canada Olympic Peninsula, USA Country Border, Guatemala/Mexico • Angangueo, Mexico
Growth of San Francisco, United States
1970-2000: Population grew from 4.6 million to 7.2 million in the Bay Area
Energy consumption depicted through night lights
Coal mining along Powder River Basin United States
• 1989: Images show areas under coal exploitation • 2001: Notable increase in mining operation in the 2001 image
The changes in the forest due to logging between 1993 and 2000
Forest clearing along Tensas River Basin United States
• 1972: Clearing of forest during the 1960s and 1970s increased flooding and erosion • 2001: Land cover change on the Louisiana side of the image is striking
On 14 August 2003, parts of northeastern United States and southeastern Canada experienced widespread power blackouts
Ice North dam inAmerica: the Hubbard Glacier Angangueo United States
FAO 2005; UNEP-GEO3; USDA 2005; Wikipedia
Ekati – North America’s only operating diamond mine, Canada
Diamond Mining site in Canada
Mining in the Northwest Territories, impacting migration routes of native caribou
• 1973: Impact of snow geese on coastal vegetation
• 1996: Overgrazing has turned the shoreline into an enormous mudflat
Logging in Gaspe Peninsula, Canada
Sprawl of oil fields in Prudhoe Bay United States
• 1974-1999: After the discovery of oil fields in 1968, the Bay has undergone dramatic changes
Rapidly changing grasslands of Upper Green River, United States
• Expanding Las Vegas
Drought in western United States
2000
Lake Mead
2004
PhotoView 18 meters
Hoover Dam and Lake Mead
Landscape changes in Lake Mead United States
Oil extraction in Fort McMurray, Canada
Vast reserves of low quality oil underlie the Boreal Forest surrounding Fort McMurray By early 2006 the mining operation covered an areas roughly 30 km by 20 km
• 1974 - 2000: Conversion of forest to agriculture. Now country border can be seen even from space
Angangueo – important habitat of monarch butterflies, Mexico
NORTH AMERICA
• Canada now ranks in the top three diamond producers in the world (in terms of value) and North America is the second largest oil producing area after the Middle East • In the United States there are 155 national forests (protected forests and woodland areas) containing almost 190 000 000 acres (769 000 km2) of land that comprise 8.5% of the total land area with Alaska alone accounting for 12% of all National Forest land • North America is the third largest continent in area and is fourth in population, with 74% of its population living in urban areas • North America holds about 13 per cent of the world's renewable freshwater (excluding glaciers and ice caps)