Tarmageddon: The oil firms behind the exploitation of Canada's
wilderness where locals say they are dying from pollution This
used to be a vast Canadian forest, until the petroleum giants
discovered the world’s third-largest oil field lay beneath it A
tar sand excavation site in the Alberta forest, Canada. Deep
below the forest floor, is the third-largest oil field in the
world: 173 billion barrels of recoverable oil Through the blur
of the Cessna’s propeller I can see a vast forest stretching to
the horizon – two million square miles at the top of the
northern hemisphere that’s home to 140, 000 species of plants,
wildlife, insects and micro-organisms. The Canadian forest in
Alberta is second only to the Amazon in size. It’s critical in
absorbing the Earth’s mounting deposits of carbon dioxide and
carbon. Over 500 Indian tribes have lived and hunted here for
thousands of years. Suddenly a smell of sulphur begins to infuse
the cockpit. Abruptly, the trees stop – where once stood
towering spruce and conifer are