Main Body
Chapter 20. Population, Urbanization, and the Environment
Learning Objectives
20.1. Demography and Population
- Understand demographic measurements, such as fertility and mortality rates
- Describe a variety of demographic theories, such as Malthusian, cornucopian, zero population growth, and demographic transition theories
- Be familiar with current population trends and patterns
- Describe the process of urbanization in Canada
- Understand the function of suburbs, exurbs, and concentric zones
- Discuss urbanization from various sociological perspectives
20.3. The Environment and Society
- Apply the concept of carrying capacity to environmental concerns
- Understand the challenges presented by pollution, garbage, e-waste, and toxic hazards
- Describe climate change and its importance
Introduction to Population, Urbanization, and the Environment
The Alberta tar sands (or bituminous sands) in the northeast of the province have been recognized as an important petroleum resource since the 19th century when the first extensive surveys were made. They cover about 140,000 square kilometres of boreal forest and muskeg, largely in the Athabasca River basin. The petroleum is in the form of crude bitumen, which is a dense, tar-like substance mixed with sand and clay. Extracting bitumen and heavy oils from the tar sands requires pit mining or surface mining; processing the ore with water, steam, and caustic soda; and storing the toxic by-products in tailings ponds. In 1967, when Suncor began the first intensive commercial development of the tar sands, oil was just over $3 a barrel and the high cost of production limited the rate at which the resource was developed. In 1967, Suncor was producing 15,000 barrels/day. Today at prices that sometimes exceed $100 a barrel, production is projected to double from the present 1.9 million barrels/day to 3.8 million barrels/day by 2023. Industry projects that eventually 9 million barrels of bitumen will be produced per day (Gosselin et al. 2010; Grant, Angen, and Dyer 2013).
The controversy over developing the tar sands pits two competing logics against one another: environmental sustainability versus capital accumulation. Environmental sustainability is the degree to which a human activity can be sustained without damaging or undermining basic ecological support systems. Environmental critics of the tar sands development note that the process of bitumen extraction requires vast amounts of energy, fresh water, and land, while producing significant environmental impacts in the form of greenhouse gases, reduction in air quality, destruction of peat bogs and wetlands, and accumulation of toxic waste in tailings ponds (Grant, Angen, and Dyer 2013). There are also health impacts: local aboriginal groups have experienced a 30 percent greater risk of cancer over expected cancer rates since 1998 (Droitsch and Simieritsch 2010). These are factors in addition to the basic problem of sustainability—they involve human re