LIAM MCCLEMENT--> CANADA AND US WATER

-Canada and United States Water-

~Friend Or Foe?~

 As many people already know, Canada and the United States are two of the closest nations on planet earth, sharing 8,891 km of maritime shores, coasts, and the great lakes. The two countries also share another 2,475 km because of Alaska. Because they are so close together, and have similar cultures, Canada and the U.S. Are known as “Sister” countries, because of the agreements made between the two of free trade and other negotiations.

 Because of the free trade agreement made between Canada and the States in 1987, there isn’t much of Canada that isn’t shared with them. For instance, Canada is the United States number one supplier of crude oil. This would be because Canada is rich in crude oil with our oil sands, but because of the free trade agreement made between the two countries, it also give the U.S. Access to our oil. Not only do they use our resources, but they take advantage of them as well. Canada is one of the richest of not the single richest county in water. This would be due to our great lakes. Now the great lakes do not all belong to Canada. In fact, the only great lake that is 100% not Canadian and on American soil is Lake Michigan. It is next to impossible to support a country with the necessary amounts of water that they need with one lake, so most of the Unites States water comes from Canada.

 It’s not that Americans are stealing our water, it is just they are believed to be taking advantage of the Canadian water supply. Not only is the average American about 10-15 people in a third world country, but the amount of water they consume doesn’t come anywhere close to how much they have for themselves. This is because the Unites States has been going through a drought since before the 1900s, but they have yet to come out of it. Generally, a drought is caused by lack of moisture in the atmosphere. Water vapour can be used from the atmosphere by a number of different things; over farming, excessive irrigation, deforestation, and any other way that Americans have depleted there resources and put pollutants back into the air.

 The picture above shown is the current condition of the United States. As you can see, the Southern states are affected much more by the drought then Northern United States. The closer you go up the map to Canada, the less drought that shows up. This would be because of our water supply, keeping a water -filled atmosphere, but also because we don’t have nearly as much Resource extraction going on which send all of those pollutants into the air.

 On the other hand of this argumentative issue, United States provides much support for Canada in return. Maybe not in absolute necessities like water, but in other things such as agriculture, technological advances and other important things like security. It may not seem as important as water itself, but with such a global issue like water, America will provide much protection is anything were to go wrong for Canada. Being one of the largest and most technologically advanced countries, if it ever came down to war as it has before, the Unites States will make a great Allie for protection. It will also not be surprising if war arises out of this conflict. If wars are fought over oil and land, what is going to happen with the fight over survival? Because all living things need water and without it, everything will be no more...

 Because this issue has two sides to it, i wanna know your opinion!

Do you think that Canada should keep on sharing it's water with Americans and continue with our current trade? Or should Canadians be much more cautious as to how much water we are giving away and to who...

COMMENT IN THE BLOG BELOW!!

WRITTEN BY LIAM MCCLEMENT

Summative Bibliography

LIAM MCCLEMENT

Reardon, S., & Hodson, H. (2013). Water wars loom as US runs dry. New Scientist, 217(2904), 8.

 Touches on the drought that has been going on in the U.S. and how issues will arise between states and municipalities.

Wikipedia. (2013, June 1). Drought in the united states.

Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought_in_the_United_States

 Due to lack of snow, not enough melt water was absorbed into the soil, causing drought in the United States.

Wikipedia. (2013, May 19). 2012-2013 north american droubt. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_North_American_drought

 Continuation of the 2011-2012 drought

Government Of Canada. (2012, Dec 11). Shared waters: Canada-united states. Retrieved from http://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=B947BAA8-1

→ touches on the trans-boundaries of waterways between Canada and the United States. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%E2%80%93United_States_Free_Trade_Agreement

--> Free Trade agreement made between Canada and the U.S. In 1987.

http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/us-eu.aspx?lang=eng

--> Trade negotiations between Canada and the United States.