Geography Case Study: Alaska-Cold Environments

Development opportunities

Energy - Half of Alaska’s income, Oil + Gas in Prudhoe Bay and the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

Mineral Resources - Gold, Silver, Iron can be mined in Tintina gold belt.

Tourism - 2 million visit, $2.5 billion annually 39000 employed

Fishing - good fish stocks of salmon and crab, employs 100,000 people

Challenges to development

Extreme cold - Prudhoe bay average temp -9C, dangerous to work in.

Remote and bad infrastructure - terrain makes access difficult making it expensive to use air travel and limiting development.

Conservation of environment - cold environments are fragile and can take centuries to repair. preserve rare species

Strategies to balance economic development

Action by governments - the National Environmental Policy Act ensure that the extraction and transportation of oil has to protect the environment.

International agreement - Antarctic treaty prevents economic development and also controls tourism to prevent disturbances

What conservation groups help to protect cold environments

WWF the World Wildlife Fund encourage sustainable management and report on environmental issues.