Alaskan Oil Exploitation Alaska Alaska is an American state which borders Canada to the West, its coastline is the Arctic Ocean and the majority of the land is within the Arctic Circle. Due to its location in the Arctic Circle, Alaska experiences extreme cold temperatures. For 8 months of the year it is sub-zero, with the months of January and February recording temperatures as low as minus 30. The ANWR, a wilderness area, is located to the north east of Alaska and covers nearly 80,000 square kilometers, it is however a possible drilling zone for oil. The ANWR was named in 1980 by the US fisheries service because it was managed and protected by the US government. There are two significant settlements occupied by indigenous peoples, one being within the ANWR, inhabited by the Inuit Inupiaq tribe and the Indian Gwichin tribe. The Inuit tribe area found in the North of the area and the Indian tribe to the South. These tribes both rely heavily on the marine ecosystem and also the Caribou for economic and cultural purposes. The changing environment in the ANWR has increased the population of predators such as Arctic Foxes, Ravens and Gulls which prey on nesting birds in the surrounding areas. Fish populations have been damaged by gravel extraction from river beds. The ANWR provides a refuge for a variety of species including 45 different species of mammals such as Wolves, Wolverines, Polar Bears and Musk Ox. The exploitation of oil begun in Alaska in March of 1968 in Prudhoe Bay and ANWR where 'Humble Oil' discovered the vast quantities of oil underneath the surface of the earth. Prudhoe Bay and ANWR are situated to the North East of Alaska on the border with Canada and are quite barren and isolated areas. This meant that drilling for oil there was difficult.

The Tundra Area
In the tundra area winters are long and cold, with the temperatures getting extremely low, with some months mean temperatures as low as minus 25°C. In some areas because of the tilt of the Earth they don't receive any sunlight throughout the winter months meaning the eco system is stunted. Moisture levels and precipitation levels are very low as it has frozen many of the plants which live there, meaning they cannot obtain the water they need, so lay dormant till Spring. The ecosystem therefore contains stunted trees, mosses and animals that can cover large areas of land to forage or hunt for food or hibernate. This means that it is possible, but difficult, for life to survive there which brings challenges for human activity too. During the Winter months in tundra area it is hard to transport supplies and other materials to places within the area, as there is poor light visibility and snow fall. These areas are often wilderness areas that are extremely fragile, there are many of these in the Alaskan area. Small changes within the system can have catastrophic effects which can be seen in some of the Alaskan disasters and environmental problems. However, there is a lot of mineral wealth in the tundra, and the potential for tourism, hunting. This is the reason why many of these areas are under threat from the problem of exploitation. The Russians have exploited there tundra environment and reaped the rewards of the huge amount of minerals which were there to be mined. The USA has a huge quantity of oil in the north of Alaska (mainly drilled for at Prudhoe Bay next to the Beaufort Sea in the North of the state) they have constructed a huge pipeline which stretches the entirety of Alaska and has had many environmental, social and economic effects. In addition, North American tundra has reserves of gas, gold, silver, iron ore and copper.

Why they built the pipeline?
Due to the location of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields, it was extremely hard to transport the oil from there to North America. They found that it was too expensive and dangerous to travel by sea due to long distance and cold weather, meaning there are lots of ice bergs which could cause ships to sink. If a ship were to sink then the oil would cause catastrophic problems to the environment and the marine life in the area, much of which is already endangered and preserved. As the risk and impacts if something did happen are too high, the oil companies thought they would have to transport it by land. Firstly they thought that they would transport it by tanker, but it would not be cost effective and would mean a huge amount of tankers would be needed. Also access to North Alaska is very difficult by lorry, so they decided upon a pipeline which travels through Alaska, Canada then through to North America. This was an extremely expensive idea, but once in place the pipeline would only require a small amount of maintenance and would be much more cost effective. Offshore oil spills, such as the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon unit in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, confirmed the fear that people had about transportation by sea and that the pipeline was a good idea. The explosion affects marine mammals through direct contact, inhalation and ingestion of toxic oil. Certain inhaled and ingested chemicals in oil may: * Damage animals’ organs such as the liver, kidney, spleen or brain * Cause cancer, immune system suppression and lead to reproductive failure * Further injured or disturb animals due to response activities and long-term ecological changes

Positives * Energy security- due to the pipeline which connects the oil fields of Alaska to the USA, the USA is now much more energy secure than they used to be. This is because after discovering the oil in Alaska, a huge oil consumer like the USA won’t have to rely on other countries as much for energy as they have a constant supply from Alaska. * Employment- since 1968 when the oil in Alaska was discovered there has been a consistent amount of employees needed to run the refineries, there are many locals who are involved in the basic tasks which brings a lot of money to the local area, but then also lots of people from far and wide who need places to stay so therefore have produced work for locals too. * Investment in the local area and environment- since the creation of the pipeline, large oil companies have invested large amounts of money in the area of Alaska where the oil fields are, they have also had to make sure that the environment is well looked after, so have therefore made many improvements to the environment where they had once changed it for the worse. * State revenue increase- state revenue has increase hugely in the Alaskan state as they have taxed the oil passing through it and have made millions in tax revenue which is then used throughout America to provide different services and also to discover new energy sources.
Negatives
* Risk of disasters- the huge risk that the oil poses is that if there is a leak huge amount of damage can be done to the wildlife and environment. * Huge amount of money needed to set it up- huge amount of investment was needed to fund the huge pipeline from Alaska to the USA and also the drilling of the oil was extremely expensive. * Interference with caribou and migrating animals- the huge pipeline has had to be modified as they cut straight through the caribou migratory tracks which meant that they were unable to migrate and find the vegetation which they needed to survive, which meant that the eco system was affected. * Co2 emissions- the refineries which refine the oil in the north of Alaska produce huge amounts of co2 which is continuing to affect global warming and increase the overall temperature of the world. * Strip the environment of vegetation- by harvesting the oil beneath the surface of the ground you need to clear areas of land on top of the surface to put machinery, meaning that vegetation is destroyed * Increase erosion- which could lead to landslides and flooding, this can cause environmental problems as habitats and areas of sanctuary. * Seriously fragment once unspoiled wildlife habitats- herds and large groups of animals will be split up and be in danger from predators more then.

Features of the pipeline * They are heated to allow the oil to travel freely through the pipeline * In some areas they are elevated or have ramps built over them to allow caribou and migrating animals to still migrate * They have sensors on them which allow the authorities to know if there has been a leak * There are about 250 spills each year, a “spill” includes a single drop of oil so that is not as bad as it first seems. By this standard the average car park has more oil spills than that each year. Of the 250 spills, nearly half are zero-to five-gallon spills that never leave the gravel pad. The contaminated gravel is all scooped up and taken to an incinerator where the oil is burned off. Alaska relies heavily on oil as a main source of its income as it has very little other infrastructure to rely on. Oil is a risky business as you can reap big rewards, yet at the same time can lose millions if it all goes wrong. Currently the Mid-East is flooding the market with millions of gallons of oil driving down the price world-wide for a barrel of oil. This is forcing out many businesses which use more expensive methods compared to the Middle East. They are doing this as they have a huge oil reserve and want to push many people out of the business, and then they can hike up the prices and make a profit. Due to them flooding the market, the price has dramatically dropped hitting below the £1 a litre which means that the American government are not making as much revenue in taxes, and also the state of Alaska and the businesses that run the oil fields are not getting the money they should be getting for the oil which they produce which tightens their profit margins.

Alaska’s economy is driven by these industries: * Oil * Tourism * Fishing

Alaska’s economy is driven by these industries: * Oil * Tourism * Fishing

Other important industries are: •Timber
•Mining
•Agriculture
Other important industries are: •Timber
•Mining
•Agriculture