alaska casestudy

• what have been the effects of economic development

  1. roads
  2. oil leaks
  3. rich resources of oil, coal and gas found which are in high demand so are extracted for money
  4. housing for workers
• how have problems with pipelines being solved

  1. zig zag so more flexible for earthquakes
  2. suspension bridges so can cross major river yuken
  3. built on 11m stilts to prevent is melting permafrost
• what damage have off road vehicles caused

  1. in summer land is boggy and deep tyre tracks are made which takes years for land to recover
• what are the benefits of the pipeline

  1. 90% of the tax raised by alaska has come from this sector
  2. doesn disturb migration route of tundra caribou
• development vs construction

  1. international agreements
  2. governments
  3. technology
  4. conservation groups
• the WWF is an example of a conservation group
• governments

  1. unregulated development can lead to damage environments
  2. 1964 wilderness act was passed to protect designated areas
• international agreements

  1. 1959 Antartica treaty where visitors were limited to 100 a site
• technology

  1. building are built on gravel beds because heated buildings melt permafrost which makes subsidence occur
• subsidence is the gradual caving or sinking of land
• economic opportunities in alaska

  1. mineral extraction
  2. energy development
  3. fishing
  4. tourism
• opportunities in energy

  1. 50% of alaskas income comes from oil and gas
  2. oil fields around prudhoe bay which is linke to valdez by trans Alaskan pipelines so oil can be shpiped around world
• what are the negatives of the pipeline

  1. locals only take 400/2000 jobs
  2. oil spills where 5000 sea otters killed
  3. seals and eagles killed
• opportunities in mineral resources

  1. gold, copper, iron ore found in tintina gold belt
  2. in 2015 $154 million worth of gold was exported
• opportunities in fishing

  1. 2016 there was a value of $1.7 billion
  2. 30000 fishermen employed
• opportunities in tourism

  1. scenic wilderness
  2. 2 million visitors each year raised $2.5 billion
  3. 39000 people employed
• what are the challenges of economic development in alaska

  1. small state population
  2. hard to access resources
  3. hard to find workforce
  4. remote location
  5. extreme conditions
  6. poor infrastructure
• managing economic development

  1. national environmental policy act - regulate transport of water to protect water and the rights of native people which created the western arctic reserve
  2. 9 million hectares of land protected so no oil drilling meaning caribou not effected
  3. national oceanic and atmospheric administration meant sustained fishing