Ecological Footprint In Canada

Ecological footprint helps us understand human pressure on the planet. It compares human demand with the planet Earth’s ecological capacity to regenerate it is important to change our lifestyles in order to lead a fulfilling life without degrading the environment.

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

Canada ranks among the leading energy producers in the world, through oil production. These oil deposits rank oil sands of Canada as the largest oil deposits in the world after the Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The only challenge with the oil sand deposits is that oil deposits are seen as unconventional. In effect, tar sands are recognized as one of the dirtiest energy sources in the world (Bailey & Droitsch, 2015). This fact is founded on the production factor; in producing one barrel of tar sands oil, the hazardous emissions are three to five times that of producing the equivalent of conventional oil. The Alberta oil sands are viewed as the single largest economic project in human history. The Canadian government and oil

Today corporate profitability outweighs any environmental consequences and certainly takes precedence over implications to future generations. Canadas situation can be accurately surmised in a quote from Alanis Obomsawin, an Abenaki from the Odanak reserve, located northeast of Montreal and is quoted as saying:

55% of Canada’s trade balance in 2006, with a value of 21.8 billion Canadian dollars, was from forest products (Martin, 2012). Canadian government policies are used to pursue social, economic, and environmental goals (Martin, 2012). This includes regional development, job creation, community stability, the conservation of forests, and ecosystem protection (Martin, 2012). While each province has different policies, the overall goals are quite similar. In the late 1980’s there were two changes that led to much greater forest sustainability. An agreement from 1985-1990 named the Canada-British Columbia Forest Resource Development agreement led to a significant increase in funding (Brown, 1997). The funding was used for forest renewal research and reforestation of areas that had previously been improperly stocked (Brown, 1997). In 1987 the responsibility of covering the cost and regenerating the forests after harvest was traded off from the government to the forest industry (Brown, 1997). According to Robert G. Brown, manager of Silviculture Practices at the Forest Practices branch of the BC government, the two changes

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

For centuries, Canada has been extracting and using all of the resources that we could at an increasingly shocking rate. Ever since the beginning, we have been seen as a resource-rich country, and with so much, it makes perfect sense that we are one of the most wasteful countries in the entire world. Our country extracts so much and much of that eventually ends up in landfills, in fact, Canada has one of the highest garbage rates and electricity consumption rates in the entire world.

A very important issue tied to Canada’s future sustainability is that of recycling. There is currently a shortage of suitable landfill spaces in Canada, and the current landfills produce harmful emissions (Statistics Canada, 2008). Using methods to divert as many of these wastes away from landfills will help to slow their growth and improve Canada’s future outlook. Recycling is one such method.

Ontario has its own creative and effective strategies to combat climate change. One of Ontario’s goal is a low-carbon future. To accomplish this the province started making carbon reductions in 1990 and are on track to reduce carbon emissions by 15% in 2020, 37 per cent in 2030 and 80 per cent in 2050 (Climate Change Action Plan, 2017). Ontario’s target of reducing emissions by 6% was met on schedule in 2014 (Climate Change Action Plan, 2017). One of the reasons this has been made possible is because of Ontario’s investment in carbon reduction. For example, in 2015 Ontario committed $325-million payment to Ontario’s Green Investment Fund to support programs that help households and businesses implement

What is the impact of unsustainable practices in the development of new cities like Canberra on Global Systems? (Draw on any experiences from your own background)

The industrialization of Canada is severely affecting the nations lakes, streams, and rivers. If something is not done to improve the situation it is going to have some severe environmental problems in its future. The following essay will be looking at the factors that cause pollution, and the effect that pollution has on the environment of Canada. It will also explore some of the methods used to treat and clean-up wastewater, and oil spills.

Because carbon footprints are such hot topics in the news these days, it's an ideal topic for this particular paper. As concerns about global warming and potential climate change have continued to evolve the term "carbon footprint" has become ingrained in many people's consciousness. Though the large Fortune 500 companies focus on reduction of their own carbon footprints, individuals can help in their own small way as well.

This essay reviews my personal carbon footprint and discusses ways to manage it and reduce some of the biggest areas of my resource consumption. The footprint calculator that I used required that I answer a series of questions about my consumption habits, and based on the answers I provided, showed the impact of my lifestyle on the planet. The footprint calculator uses data for selected countries, based on National Footprint Accounts. The online calculator asked questions to determine how to distribute the ecological footprint into different categories based on the country's average consumption profile. In addition to calculating the amount of carbon a person is responsible for through their daily activities, the calculator also estimated a total ecological footprint to represent the amount of land and sea area required to provide the resources a person needs and to absorb their carbon emissions.

In The Golden Spruce, John Vaillant explores different concepts of sustainability as he examines the historical facts of Haida Gwaii, Grant Hadwin, and the logging industry of British Columbia. Defining sustainability among each of these factors highlights the difference in values held by first nations and industry towards nature and resource. Grant Hadwin acts as a component to both the Haida Gwaii and the logging industry's definition of sustainability. Hadwin defines both parties definitions of sustainability by testing their priorities, and his own.

The number of people living in urban areas is dramatically increasing across the world. Currently, 75 % of people live in cities in the developed world, (Bernhardt E.S. and Palmer M.A, 2007) despite such high percentage many do not get access to the green and blue spaces available, in other words cannot interact with nature. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency green spaces are ‘land that is partly or completely covered with grass, trees, shrubs or other vegetation’ (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014) This includes community gardens, parks as well as cemeteries. (Environmental Protection Agency, 2014) On the other hand, blue spaces include rivers, canals and lakes. (Sally, M, 2010) As urbanisation increases, it will pose a greater threat to nature such as pollution, habitat destruction, erosion and colonisation of native species. There are various ways to engage with nature. However, one reason for green and blue spaces not being utilised effectively by people may be due to people being unaware of the values that these have and the crucial functions they undertake in the ecosystem such as recycling nutrients and controlling the hydrological cycle.