Browse "Nature & Geography"

The major contemporary use for nickel is as an alloying agent. Nickel is present in some 3000 different alloys that are used in more than 250 000 end-use applications. The most popular alloy in which nickel is used is stainless steel (seeIRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY).

The nighthawk is a medium-sized bird of the goatsucker family (Caprimulgidae).

Eight species of Solanum occur in Canada, of which only S. carolinense (horse or ball nettle), found in southern Ontario, is native. The most familiar nightshade found across Canada is S. dulcamara (climbing nightshade or European bittersweet).

The North American racer (Coluber constrictor) is a non-venomous snake that is native to North America. It has an extensive geographic range that extends from southern Canada south throughout most of the United States, parts of Mexico and into Guatemala and Belize. Eleven subspecies are recognized across this species’ range, three of which are found in Canada: the blue racer (Coluber constrictor foxii; ON), the Eastern yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor flaviventris; SK, AB) and the Western yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor Mormon; BC). (See also Snake Species in Canada.)

The North-West Territories was the first Canadian territory. It was Established on 15 July 1870. As a territory, the region became part of Canada. But it lacked the population, economic and infrastructure resources to attain provincial status. It thus fell under the jurisdiction of the federal government. It covered a vast area, stretching west from a disputed boundary with Labrador, across the northern portions of present-day Quebec and Ontario, through the Prairies to British Columbia, and north from the 49th parallel to the Arctic Ocean. The territory was subject to numerous boundary changes before 1905. At that time, the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta were carved out of the southwest portion of the region. In 1906, the remaining territory was renamed the Northwest Territories.

The northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis, family Procellariidae, order Procellariiformes), medium-sized, tube-nosed seabird, about 50 cm long, related to the albatrosses.

The $7.9 billion Northern Gateway project was a pipeline proposal that Enbridge put forward in 2008. Northern Gateway would have carried diluted bitumen (“dilbit”) about 1,170 km from Bruderheim, Alberta to a terminal on the Pacific Ocean at Kitimat, British Columbia. Enbridge claimed that the project would create $1.2 billion in tax revenue for BC, as well as 560 jobs. The Federal Court of Appeal overturned the pipeline’s approval in 2016. That same year, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected the project.

Current theory states that the energy driving auroras is obtained from the solar wind, a gas composed primarily of protons and electrons, blowing away from the SUN at supersonic velocities of 300-1000 km/s (seePHYSICS).

Over a century’s worth of shifting environmental policy means that today, maintaining Canada’s forests is as important as cutting them down. Tree planting is an essential part of this maintenance, and each year thousands of young Canadians trek through rough conditions and remote areas to replant thousands of trees.

The nuthatch (Sittidae) family consists of small, tree-climbing birds with a short tail, pointed bill and long, sturdy toes and claws

The Oak (Quercus) is a genus of trees and shrubs of the beech family (Fagaceae). Of the estimated 200 species found worldwide, 75-80 occur in North America and 10 in Canada.

Oats (Avena sativa), member of the grass family (Gramineae), are grown for cereal grains.

Octopus is the common name for all 8-armed cephalopod molluscs; it more properly refers to the largest genus in order Octopoda (over 100 species).

Oilseed Crops are grown primarily for the oil contained in the seeds. The oil content of small grains (eg, wheat) is only 1-2%; that of oilseeds ranges from about 20% for soybeans to over 40% for sunflowers and rapeseed (canola).

The vegetation is of the tundra type, with outliers of the boreal spruce forest; willow thickets line the course of the Old Crow River.