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Cold Environments : Alaska (opportunities (Tourism (2 million tourists a…
Cold Environments : Alaska
opportunities
Minerals : gold, silver, iron ore and copper
2.2 billion to GDP (2013)
fishing e.g. salmon, crab and pollock
employs 79,000 people and contirbutes $ 5 billion to the economy
Oil and gas (half of Alaska's income)
many oil field around Prudhoe Bay (linked to port by trans-Alaskan pipeline)
Tourism
2 million tourists a year
bring money and jobs
Challenges
Inaccessibility
very remote ( difficult/ expensive to access)
some towns can only be accessed by air or dangerous ice roads in the winter and in the summer the ground thaws and the roads become too soft to drive on
Small scattered population: Jobs and services may be far away
buildings and infrastructure
Construction limited to summer
Conditions are difficult/ expensive to build in
people overcome the challenges for valuable resources e.g. the Trans-Alaskan pipeline is raised on stilted to prevent melting the permafrost
Extreme temperature
mean temp -9 in Prudhoe Bay
Snow and strong winds are common
exposure to cold conditions can cause injury/ death and health care can be long distances away
in the winter dark most of the time and in the summer light most of the time
Facts:
part of the USA
Northern part is inside the arctic circle
Largest by area but one of the smallest by population
Most people live on the south and south-east coast