Browse "Nature & Geography"

Natural gas ranks among the fastest-growing energy sources in Canada and is seen by many in the energy industry as a game-changer, a comparatively clean, low-cost and versatile fuel. It can directly generate power and heat and can be chemically altered to produce a wide range of useful commodity chemicals. It burns cleaner and more efficiently than other fossil fuels, releasing significantly fewer harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. Natural gas is colorless, odourless, shapeless, lighter than air and contains a mixture of several hydrocarbon gases, which are organic compounds consisting of some combination of hydrogen and carbon molecules. The primary consumers of natural gas are the industrial (54.1 per cent), residential (26.6 per cent) and commercial sectors (19.3 per cent). Canada is the fifth largest natural gas producer after the United States, Russia, Iran and Qatar. Currently, all of Canada’s natural gas exports go to the United States through a network of pipelines, making Canada the largest foreign source of US natural gas imports. At the end of 2016, Canada had 76.7 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and had produced 152 billion cubic metres of natural gas that year. It is forecasted that global natural gas consumption will double by 2035.

Natural regions are intended to describe areas of the Earth's surface which possess similar qualities or attributes. They may refer to either land or water, and can vary in size. The term “natural region” is often used interchangeably with the word “ecozone.”

See RESOURCES.

Alberta’s natural resources include mountains, lakes, rivers, fossil fuels, forests and agricultural land.

British Columbia’s natural resources include forests, agricultural land, fish, minerals, natural gas and hydroelectricity.

Manitoba’s natural resources include agricultural land, minerals, hydroelectricity, fish and wildlife.

Ontario’s natural resources include agricultural land, forests, lakes, rivers, hydroelectricity, minerals, and wind and solar energy.

Quebec’s natural resources include forests, hydroelectricity, minerals, agricultural land, rivers, lakes, wind energy, fish and wildlife.

Saskatchewan’s natural resources include agricultural land, forests, minerals, oil, fish and wildlife.

The natural resources of the Atlantic provinces include fish and crustaceans, forests, hydroelectricity, minerals, fossil fuels and agricultural land.

The natural resources of Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut include wildlife, freshwater, minerals, oil and gas. Yukon and the Northwest territories also have vast forests.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is the largest land conservation charity in Canada. Since 1962, NCC has helped to protect more than 160,000 km2 of land and water across the country. Its mission is to partner with individual donors, corporations, non-profits and governments to purchase and protect areas rich in species diversity (see Biodiversity). The charity and its partners achieve this goal by working with local communities to identify habitat and species in need of protection, and by implementing the best evidence-based conservation science available. As of June 2019, the NCC has conserved habitat across Canada for 34 per cent of Canada’s species at risk. (See also Endangered Animals in Canada.)

Nematoda are a phylum of unsegmented, cylindrical worms; approximately 30 000 species are known.

Nepheline syenite is a white to light grey medium-grained IGNEOUS ROCK. It consists mostly of soda feldspar, nepheline and potash feldspar, accessory magnesium and iron-rich minerals.

See SALAMANDER.