Comprehensive Study Guide: Canadian Geography, Climate Change, and Physical Systems

Climate Crisis and the Case of Jakarta

• Relocation of Indonesia's Capital:

  • Background: The idea of moving the capital away from Jakarta has existed since Indonesia's independence.

  • Primary Driver: Land subsidence (sinking land) caused by rapid urbanization and excessive groundwater extraction. Jakarta is currently one of the fastest-sinking cities in the world.

  • Submergence Projections: Some areas of Jakarta are sinking by as much as $25\,cm$ per year. Estimates suggest large portions of the city could be fully submerged by the year $2050$.

  • New Capital (Nusantara): First announced by President Widodo in $2019$, the new capital will be located in East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.

  • Motivations:

    • Redistribution of wealth and activity; historically, the economy has been centered on the island of Java.

    • Mitigating the impact of flooding exacerbated by climate change.

  • Controversies:

    • Logging and ecological impact on undeveloped areas of importance.

    • Funding strategy: The government relies on private investment to fund $80\%$ of construction costs.

The Melting Arctic: Arctic Amplification

• Arctic Warming: The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet due to specific feedback loops.

• The Albedo Effect Feedback Loop:

  • Definition: Albedo is the amount of energy reflected off a surface.

  • Low Albedo: Darker surfaces (like the ocean) reflect very little energy and absorb most of it, causing the surface and land to warm up.

  • High Albedo: Light surfaces (like ice and snow) reflect a lot of energy, keeping the land and water cooler.

  • Arctic Loop: As ice melts, it reveals darker ocean water ($\text{lower albedo}$), which absorbs more heat, leading to even more ice melt.

• Ocean Currents:

  • The Arctic ice cap is melting from the bottom due to heat from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

  • Atlantic Water Inflow: Warm water enters via the Fram Strait and Barents Sea.

  • Pacific Water Inflow: Warm water enters through the Bering Strait.

  • Upward Heat Flux: This warmer water provides a constant heat source that melts ice from beneath regardless of air temperature.

Climate Justice and Pathways to Action

• Climate Justice Definition: A concept and movement recognizing the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized communities, advocating for equitable solutions and human rights.

• The Clyde River Case Study:

  • The Clyde River Inuit (Ellesmere Island) won a landmark case at the Supreme Court of Canada against seismic testing to protect their environment and traditional ways of life.

• Types of Climate Action:

  • Individual/Behavioural Action: Personal choices to decrease environmental impact (e.g., carpooling, using reusable bags, vegetarianism/veganism).

  • Systems Action: Laws, taxes, and regulations initiated by governments and industries (e.g., Carbon Tax/Pricing Pollution, environmental laws).

  • Nature-Based Action: Actions to protect ecosystems that naturally sequester carbon, such as grasslands, wetlands, old-growth forests, and oceans.

• Agents of Change:

  • Youth Leadership: Figures like Greta Thunberg and Canadian youth strikers (e.g., Emma-Jane Burian).

  • Indigenous Leadership: Jocelyn Joe-Strack (geographer from Champagne and Aishihik First Nations) emphasizes turning to Indigenous peoples for leadership.

  • Indigenous Guardian Programs: Local monitoring of ecosystems in over $40$ Indigenous communities across Canada.

  • Industry Innovation:

    • Stella McCartney: Developing "leather" from fungi.

    • Carbon Engineering (BC): Developing Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to remove $CO_2$ directly from the atmosphere ($~400\,PPM$ down to $~100\,PPM$).

    • Transportation: University of Surrey research into electric car batteries that recharge in the time it takes to fill a petrol car.

Understanding Climate vs. Global Warming

• Climate Change: Any change occurring in climate over a long period. This includes warming, cooling, or changes in precipitation. It can be caused by human activity or natural events (e.g., volcanic eruptions).

• Global Warming: A specific type of climate change characterized by an increase in world temperatures due to the buildup of greenhouse gases from human activities (e.g., burning fossil fuels).

• Indicators of Change:

  • Historic Rate: Over the past million years, global temperatures rose $4^{\circ}C$ to $7^{\circ}C$ over roughly $5000$ years.

  • Modern Rate: In the past century alone, temperatures have climbed $0.7^{\circ}C$. This is roughly $10$ times faster than the average ice-age-recovery rate.

  • Predictions: Earth is predicted to warm between $2^{\circ}C$ and $6^{\circ}C$ in the next century, a rate $20$ times faster than historical precedents.

Canada's Responsibility and Regional Impacts

• Total Emissions: Canada is among the top $20$ countries for total $CO_2$ emissions.

• Per Person Emissions: Canada ranks significantly higher (within the top $5$) in $CO_2$ emissions per person, alongside Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Australia, and the United States.

• Impacts Across Canada:

  • Arctic/North: Melting permafrost affecting houses and roads; alteration of traditional Inuit lifestyles; year-round shipping potential but increased iceberg hazards.

  • Prairies: Shorter season for winter roads; extension of growing seasons ($30\%$ or more); increased drought frequency; shift of grasslands north.

  • Ontario/Quebec: Increased heat waves; $15\%$ reduction in space-heating costs but higher summer air conditioning demand; Great Lakes shipping season extended by $6$ to $10$ weeks, though lower water levels may decrease ship cargo sizes.

  • Atlantic Canada: Rising sea levels and coastal inundation; need for costly dikes; changing ocean currents affecting fish migration patterns.

Climatology: Climate Graphs and Calculations

• Components of a Climograph:

  • Red Line: Represents Average Monthly Temperature.

  • Blue Bars: Represents Total Monthly Precipitation.

  • Green Line/Threshold: Represents the Growing Season (temperatures at or above $6^{\circ}C$).

• Calculations:

  • Total Annual Precipitation: The sum of all monthly precipitation totals.

  • Annual Average Temperature: The sum of all monthly temperatures divided by $12$.

  • $T_{avg} = \frac{\sum T_{monthly}}{12}$

  • Temperature Range: The difference between the highest and lowest monthly average temperatures.

  • $\text{Range} = T_{max} - T_{min}$

  • Growing Season: The total number of months where the temperature is $\ge 6^{\circ}C$.

• Maritime vs. Continental Climates:

  • Maritime (Moderate): Locations near coastlines. Characteristics include a Temperature Range less than $25^{\circ}C$ and Total Annual Precipitation more than $1000\,mm$.

  • Continental (Extreme): Locations surrounded by land. Characteristics include a Temperature Range more than $25^{\circ}C$ and Total Annual Precipitation less than $1000\,mm$.

  • Modified Continental: Land-locked areas near large lakes (e.g., Toronto) that experience a moderating effect from the water.

Factors Affecting Climate: The BOWLER Acronym

• B - Bodies of Water: Water moderates temperature. Locations near water stay cooler in summer and milder in winter. High precipitation counts.

• O - Ocean Currents: Currents bring the temperature of their origin to the coast. Warmer currents (like the Gulf Stream) bring more moisture/precipitation.

• W - Winds and Air Masses: Air takes on the conditions of the area where it forms.

  • $m$ (maritime) = moist; $c$ (continental) = dry.

  • $T$ (tropical) = warm; $P$ (polar) = cold; $A$ (arctic) = very cold.

• L - Latitude: Temperature decreases further from the equator due to the curvature of the Earth and less direct sunlight.

• E - Elevation: Temperature decreases as height above sea level increases due to lower air pressure ($\text{colder and drier}$).

• R - Relief: Windward sides of mountains are cooler and wetter; Leeward sides (Rainshadow) are warmer and drier.

Natural Vegetation in Canada

• Definition: Plants that grow without human intervention.

• The Tree Line: The northernmost latitude or highest elevation where trees can survive. Beyond this, it is too cold or dry for tree growth.

• Vegetation Types:

  • Tundra: Areas where trees do not grow; covered by small shrubs, mosses, and lichen.

  • Grassland: Areas covered by grass (short-grass and tall-grass).

  • Forest: High density of trees.

    • Coniferous: Needle-leaf trees with cones (e.g., Pine, Spruce).

    • Deciduous: Broad-leaf trees that lose leaves in winter (e.g., Maple, Oak).

• Vegetation Regions:

  • West Coast Forest: Coniferous/deciduous mix with high rainfall.

  • Cordilleran Vegetation: Mostly coniferous at high elevations.

  • Boreal & Taiga Forest: High northern latitudes, mainly coniferous.

  • Mixed Forest: Transition zone between deciduous and boreal.

Forces Shaping the Land

• Weathering: The breaking down of materials on the Earth's crust into smaller pieces.

  • Types: Mechanical, Chemical, and Biological.

• Erosion: The process of moving broken-up pieces of rock (sediment) from one place to another via water, wind, ice, or gravity.

• Deposition: The building up/dropping off of eroded materials in a new location, creating landforms like deltas or floodplains.

• Glaciation:

  • Alpine Glaciers: Form at high elevations (mountains) and move via gravity.

  • Continental Glaciers: Form at high latitudes and cover vast areas.

  • Glacial Erosion Processes:

    • Plucking: Glaciers pick up rocks from the ground.

    • Abrasion: Rocks within the ice scrape the bedrock like sandpaper.

• Oak Ridges Moraine: A ridge of rolling hills in the GTA formed $15000$ to $13000$ years ago by glacial deposits between the Simcoe and Ontario ice lobes. It acts as a massive aquifer for southern Ontario.

Earth's Internal Structure and Geologic Time

• Concentric Layers:

  1. Inner Core: Solid iron and nickel due to extreme pressure; temperatures between $4000^{\circ}C$ and $5000^{\circ}C$.

  2. Outer Core: Melted iron and nickel; consistency of toothpaste.

  3. Mantle: Thickest layer; melted rock where convection currents move tectonic plates.

  4. Crust (Lithosphere): Outermost rock layer ($35\,km$ to $75\,km$ deep).

• Geologic Eras:

  • Precambrian ($4.6\,\text{billion}$ to $570\,\text{million}$ years ago - $87\%$ of Earth's history): Canadian Shield forms.

  • Paleozoic ($570$ to $245\,\text{million}$ years ago - $7\%$): Shallow seas cover North America; Appalachians form.

  • Mesozoic ($245$ to $66\,\text{million}$ years ago - $4\%$): Rocky Mountains and Innuitians begin to form; era of dinosaurs.

  • Cenozoic ($66\,\text{million}$ years to Present - $2\%$): Ice sheets cover North America; continents take current shape; Rocky Mountain formation completes.

Theories of Plate Tectonics

• Continental Drift Theory (Alfred Wegener, $1915$):

  • Postulated a supercontinent named Pangea ($300\,\text{million}$ years ago).

  • 5 Proofs: Jigsaw fit of continents; Fossil distribution (freshwater animals/plants); Matching mountain ranges across oceans (Appalachians in North America and Africa); Ancient climates (coal in Antarctica); Glacial gouging (scrapes on land from moving ice).

  • Failure: Wegener could not explain how the continents moved.

• Plate Tectonic Theory (J. Tuzo Wilson, $1960$):

  • The Earth's crust is broken into Tectonic Plates.

  • Plates move due to Convection Currents in the mantle. This completed Wegener's theory.

Plate Boundaries and Movements

• Convergent Boundary: Plates collide.

  • Continent-Continent: Creates mountains (e.g., Himalayas/Everest).

  • Ocean-Continent: Subduction zone; creates trenches, volcanoes, and mountains.

  • Ocean-Ocean: Creates deep-sea trenches (e.g., Mariana Trench, $11\,km$ deep).

• Divergent Boundary: Plates pull apart.

  • On Land: Creates Rifts/Rift Valleys (e.g., East African Rift).

  • Underwater: Creates Ridges (e.g., Mid-Atlantic Ridge).

• Transform Boundary: Plates slide past each other.

  • Result: Strike-slip faults and earthquakes (e.g., San Andreas Fault).

The Rock Cycle

• Igneous Rock ("Born of Fire"): Formed from cooling magma or lava.

  • Intrusive: Cools slowly underground; large crystals (e.g., Granite).

  • Extrusive: Cools quickly on the surface; small/no crystals (e.g., Obsidian, Basalt).

• Sedimentary Rock ("Born of Sediment and Life"): Formed from compaction and cementation of sediments.

  • Key Feature: The only place to find fossils and coal.

  • Examples: Sandstone, Limestone.

• Metamorphic Rock ("Born of Change"): Formed from extreme heat and pressure over millions of years.

  • Key Feature: Layering (foliation).

  • Transformations: Limestone becomes Marble; Shale becomes Slate.

Earthquakes and Natural Disasters

• Measurement:

  • Measured by a Seismograph.

  • Rated on the Richter Scale (Logarithmic scale where each whole number increase represents $10$ times more ground motion).

• Terms:

  • Epicentre: Location on the surface directly above the focus.

  • Focus: Location inside the Earth where the earthquake originates.

  • Fault: The meeting point of two plates.

• Seismic Waves:

  • Primary (P) Waves: Compression waves.

  • Secondary (S) Waves: Oscillation waves; most damaging to buildings due to horizontal motion.

• Case Studies:

  • Chile (1960): Largest recorded earthquake at magnitude $9.5$.

  • Haiti (2010): Magnitude $7.0$; killed $\sim 250,000$ people.

  • Pickering, Ontario: The nuclear power plant sits on a geological fault line. Nuclear plants are located by Lake Ontario because they require massive amounts of water to cool reactors.

  • Vancouver ("The Big One"): Located on the Cascadia Subduction Zone ($1000\,km$ fault line).

• Tsunamis: Large water waves caused by the sudden release of energy during an underwater earthquake.

Canada's Landform Regions

• Canadian Shield: The geologic foundation of Canada; "Storehouse of Metallic Minerals." Rocky surface, rounded hills, and Boreal forest.

• Interior Plains: "Breadbasket of Canada." Rolling hills, rich fertile soil for wheat, and significant oil/natural gas deposits.

• Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands (GLSLL): "Industrial and Urban Heartland." Flat land, fertile soil, and home to $50\%$ of Canada's population.

• Hudson Bay - Arctic Lowlands: Low, flat land; Canada's largest wetland; layers of sedimentary rock and permafrost.

• Innuitian Mountains: Shaped by shifting tectonic plates in the Mesozoic era; remote, rugged, and barren "ice watchtowers."

• Western Cordillera: "Great West Wall." Geologically young, sharp, and tall mountains (Rockies); formed by tectonic pressure along the Pacific coast.

• Appalachian Mountains: Oldest mountains in North America ($300\,\text{million}$ years old); heavily eroded and rounded; rich in coal and minerals.

Questions & Discussion

• Q: Whose voices are being heard or prioritized in Arctic climate discussions?

  • Response: Historically, government and industry voices have been prioritized, but there is a growing movement (like the Clyde River case) to ensure Indigenous voices and traditional knowledge are heard.

• Q: What are the consequences of valuing one perspective over others?

  • Response: Valuing industry over Indigenous perspectives can lead to ecological destruction and the loss of cultural heritage, while neglecting economic needs can lead to job loss. A geographic perspective requires balancing social, economic, environmental, and political impacts.

• Q: How does climate affect where people live in Canada?

  • Response: People tend to settle in the south (e.g., GLSLL) where temperatures are warmer due to lower latitude and fertile land allows for agriculture and industry.

• Q: How are convergent and divergent areas balanced?

  • Response: While divergent boundaries create new crust (constructive), convergent boundaries (subduction zones) destroy oceanic crust (destructive), keeping the tectonic system in equilibrium.

• Q: What is the difference between weathering and erosion?

  • Response: Weathering breaks the rock (Mechanical/Chemical/Biological), while erosion takes/moves the sediment (via Water/Wind/Ice).