Canada
Zane Sanford
Seasonal Climate
Canada is the second largest country in the world, covering almost 10 million square kilometers from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts and from its southern border to the North Pole. The arrival of spring varies across the country. You can generally expect the weather to start getting warmer by April, although some areas experience spring even sooner. In Nova Scotia, the average spring temperatures range from 34˚F in late March to 63˚F by early June. Canadian summers bring the heat to many parts of the country, especially in the central and mid-western provinces. Fall temperatures in Nova Scotia usually hover between 41F and 68F. By late December, much of Canada is transformed into a winter wonderland, blanketed in a layer of snow.
Food Production
Canadians represent about 0.5% of the global population, produce about 1.5% of the food in the world, and consume about 0.6% of world food production. In 2004, Canada ranked 8th in the world for production of cereals, including wheat, barley and oats; 10th in meat production; and 19th in fisheries and aquaculture production. As the global population increases, the interdependency of food, energy, water, land and biological resources becomes more apparent.
Geography of Canada
Canada is the second largest country and has an extremely varied topography. In the east, the mountainous maritime provinces have an irregular coastline on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic. The St. Lawrence plain, covering most of southern Quebec and Ontario, and the interior continental plain, covering southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan and most of Alberta, are the principal cultivable areas. They are separated by a forested plateau rising from Lakes Superior and Huron.