Kills in the name of oil are continually occurring in Canada and will eventually cause a massive number of wildlife deaths. Since its inception, tar sands oil drilling has been one of the most dangerous environmental problems facing the world. The environmental effects of drilling have global implications. Not only does drilling harm those closest to it, but its greenhouse gas emissions and effects on waterways extend across the globe and primarily affect the world's population. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay This article will give a brief history of the tar sands and then continue to examine the negative effects that the tar sands have on different species. of wildlife. This includes loss of habitat for several different species of animals that rely on the boreal forest, where drilling primarily takes place. Also included are the effects of pollutants released by treatment on wildlife. Tar sands are areas of land that contain deposits of oil, and Canada has an excessive amount of these tar sands. Due to the demand for fossil fuels, extracting this oil is extremely profitable. In order to extract the oil and turn it into usable fuel, several industrial steps must be taken. These extraction methods have a very negative impact on the environment; not only do they use three gallons of water for every gallon of oil produced, but they obtain that water from nearby sources, such as rivers. Besides the water needed to make this oil, extracting the oil also requires digging up about two tons of earth in order to produce a single barrel of this fuel. The amount of greenhouse gases produced during these processes is three times the amount of gas produced from normal oil. Taking into account the increasing levels of sand drilling that are taking place, it is estimated that oil sands operations will produce more greenhouse gases this year than any previous year. Negative impacts of the tar sands include: loss of terrestrial habitats, pollutants released into the air and water, loss of water from nearby streams, decreased wildlife populations, increased tailings ponds, higher cancer rates among indigenous populations, and oil spills due to the distribution of these refined oils. One of the animals most affected by habitat loss is the woodland caribou, an animal already considered critically endangered. The destruction of their habitat has already caused their population to decline by 50% over the past 10 years, with an expected continued decline of 5-15% per year. Of the eighteen distinct caribou herds living in Canada, nine are affected, three of which are severely affected. Three herds are stable and the effects on the remaining six herds are unknown. If tar sands mining continues to expand, woodland caribou are expected to become extinct, making woodland caribou the third species of caribou to disappear from the Earth. In an effort to counter this loss of caribou population, the Department of Fish and Wildlife Canada kills hundreds of gray wolves each year. They use poisoned bait traps and shoot them from helicopters to exterminate this natural predator of caribou, allowing more oil drilling. This attempt to poison wolves with.