Acid Precipitation In Canada

Introduction: The Western existence of modernization, especially technological and industrial development, economic growth, material prosperity, urbanization, and democracy, has been built upon a long line of industrial capitalism, an economic system predicated on the accelerating extraction and consumption of fossil fuels for energy (Clark & York, 2005). A major unintended consequence

By: Sebastian Velez-Bolivar Issue We once lived in a world lush and plentiful where we enjoyed all the natural resources peacefully. However at the beginning of the industrial revolution more people moved to the cities therefore increasing their dependency load. Fastforward to today and the world has seen a drastic change in the loss of natural resources as well as a number of health related illnesses like asthma. This is mainly due to the effects from carbon pollution, greenhouse gases and global warming. Canada as a country is thought of as environmentally aware and progressive. Actually has many issues regarding this topic and if it is not taken care of it will affect the future of the nation. I care about this topic because it has to

Describe realistic strategies that Canadians could take to reduce their negative impact on land, water and the atmosphere.

Aamjiwnaang First Nation Group effected by the Nearby Chemical Valley “The more clouds in the sky, the more people will die”, are the words of a young child in Sarnia, Ontario. The first thing you notice about Sarnia is the smell of rotten eggs, but it is not rotten eggs you are smelling. That would be all the chemicals that are polluting the air from all the industries that have been developed. The air pollution has been described as the the worst air in Canada. Aamjiwnaang is a first nation tribe that is located in Sarnia, Ontario. Their territorial grounds is near a Chemical Valley that is made up of forty percent of Canada’s industries. There is about “sixty oil refineries and industrial strips that over see the St. Clair River”. These industries have severely impacted the environment by releasing toxic fumes into the environment resulting with an impact on the health and habitat and wildlife.

In 1972 The United States and Canada signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to try to control pollution in there waterways. Since then very little has improved. Scientists in Ohio studying the pollution

c. In the late 1970’s scientists concluded that products releasing carbonflourochloride (CFC) was causing the ozone to deplete. The ozone layer is a protective layer from the sun’s rays and depleting the ozone layer allowed the stronger, harmful to health on earth, rays to get through. International action was taken in 1987 and the Montreal Protocol came into being. It was an international treaty to phase out CFC producing products. It went into effect in 1988 and has achieved international success. Once the Montreal Protocol had been agreed to the World Health Organization released information on the harmful effects CFC’s were having on the ozone

Canada is one of the developed nations in the world and with that comes a certain type of lifestyle that its citizens are accustomed to and often expect. This lifestyle is definitely not conscious of the environment at most times, however is trying to improve or at least find some kind of alternative to environmental problems that we can’t actually fix because they’ve become an important part of our everyday life. For that, our lifestyle has been measured by way of an ecological footprint and the results obviously haven’t been something to be proud of. Although there are many reasons why the ecological footprint of Canada is so high, one of the reasons is because of our excessive fossil fuel emissions from our cars, trucks, busses and planes.

Climate change has become the most serious global environmental threat with sides of people who do not believe it exists and people who are actually aware. The release of greenhouse gases such as carbon and methane into the

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aspires to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.” The Paris Agreement, created under the UNFCCC, helps make that goal a reality. Signed by Canada on Earth Day 2016, the agreement “requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through ‘nationally determined contributions’ (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This includes requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts. There will also be a global stocktake every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the agreement and to inform further individual actions by Parties.” As of 5 November 2016, ninety-seven parties out of one hundred ninety-seven have signed the agreement that went into effect on 4 November 2016. Canada’s involvement in the UNFCCC and the Paris agreement is just the tip of the iceberg, and it is quite a contribution to global efforts to reduce climate change.

systems. As Canada is the largest exporter of fresh water we recognize the importance and severity of this issue. In order to counteract this issue Canada hopes to instate a variety of

-The Montreal Protocol was designed to phase out the production and use of ozone-depleting substances by reducing the amount of CFCs in the atmosphere which will help protect and strengthen the earth's ozone

In 2014, mining contributed $54 billion to Canada’ gross domestic product. The mining industry has thrived on the concept of globalization. It has been reported that 75% of the world’s mining companies are headquartered in Canada (Dean, 2013) and many have expanded to other countries. Mining is notoriously known for acid mine draining; the pollutant that occurs when water flows through a sulfur-exposed material. Not only is treatment for acid mine drainage expensive, causing taxpayers millions of dollars to clean it; it also contaminates drinking water, kills wildlife, and destroys infrastructure. The Telkwa Coal Mine in Smithers, British Columbia, is especially known for its role in damaging one of the town’s biggest industries; fishing. The coal mine is located near the Skeena River; a river filled with fish. In 1997, the Skeena fishery reported a 12% decrease in salmon population (Zilker, 1998) due to the acid drainage material released by the Telkwa Coal Mine. This was a significant hit considering the Skeena fishery was one of the provinces’ most important sources of income (Zilker, 1998). Due to action taken by protesters, however; mining companies are faced with strict regulations by Environment Canada (Souza, 2013), and the effect of acid mine drainage has lessened over the years. However, bit by bit, globalization is continuously destroying Canada’s environment and negatively

Institutionalized Road Blocks to Addressing Climate Change In 1988, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had conclusive proof products adding to the output of carbon dioxide and methane gases in the atmosphere were causing the earth to warm; and, if not stopped will make it inhabitable for human life. In the 1970’s the United States had conclusive proof that products releasing Chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere were causing the ozone layer to deplete; and, that if continued would be dangerous for human life. The United States took international global action, by joining the Montreal Protocol, to phase out the products producing chlorofluorocarbon and the ozone layer has been successfully replenished .

Acid Despotism affecting North America Acid despotism means the rain, snow, and hail; have all been made sufficiently acidic by atmospheric pollution that will inevitably cause environmental harm. How the the atmosphere becomes polluted is from NOx’s, SOx’s and CO2. These source evaporate into the atmosphere and accumulate. North America has a wind pattern that moves from west to east so all the atmospheric pollution moves to the east. Normal atmospheric pH is 5.5; according to the graph all of the brown is sitting at 5.5 pH level. The blue parts in the graph shows where the pH is lower and is atmosphere is more acidic. Provinces that are not part of the precambrian shield, like Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, are hardest hit because

• A sensible plan of creating new advances innovation to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, which they did with acid rain. “ Canada ought to accomplish more, as we are quite a small part of the global issue,” said Brian Mulroney.