Intro: http://www.unep.org/gc/gc23/UNEPLAST.html
David Suzuki-Test Tube Clip: http://testtube.nfb.ca/#/testtube
Story of stuff: http://www.storyofstuff.com/ http://breathingearth.net/

• 80 million babies born every year
• Mostly in developing world, so less impact
• 20% of population consume 85% world’s resources
• 20% is in Industrialized western countries
• If small fraction of developing world lived like developed world, Earth would quickly be overwhelmed with pollution and waste http://www.royalsaskmuseum.ca/gallery/life_sciences/footprint_mx_2005.swf
Your footprint!
http://www-popexpo.ined.fr/eMain.html

• 1500 litres of water produce 1 kg of wheat, while
500 litres for 1 kg of potatoes
• More MEAT more DAIRY-1000 litres of water to make
1 litre of milk, and nearly 16000 for 1 kg of beef.
• Added to this are the costs of deforestation to create grazing land, energy use to ship food, and depletion of resources.

• Maintaining economic growth without compromising the environment.
• Focus of the 1987 Bruntland
Commission (aka: UN Commission on the State of the Environment).
• Called on developed world to reduce consumption & live sustainability
• Called on developing world to reduce population growth
• Canadians look to gov’t to take action, but gov’t and international actions have failed
• 1992 Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro,
Brazil produced statement of action called Agenda 21
• Intended to encourage development of sustainable world economy
• Over 10 years later, little progress has been made
First Nations Approach
• Environmental stewardship
(sustainable management)
• In the Squamish Lil’wat teach
“that we should keep in mind seven genera rations ahead of us in everything we do, to ensure that we care for future generations as well as present.”

• Intro=Animation on Water-see cd
• Value of fresh water underrated
• 3% of world’s water is fresh water
• Is enough to supply the world, but distribution is unequal.
• 78% of that locked in ice caps and glaciers
• Remainder is underground (ground water)
• Great Lakes = 18% world’s surface fresh water
• Developed nations known for water waste and pollution

•
•
-June 22, 1969, Cuyahoga River that feeds Lake
Erie caught on fire
• NOT THE FIRST TIME! 1936 blow torch spark ignited debris & oil floating on surface. Several other fires also occurred, but June 1969 caught international attention.
•
•

• In fact most of our fresh water is locked underground in AQUIFERS
• Problems:
• Can be hard to access
• Can get polluted
• Can become depleted from overuse
• Groundwater supply threatened by:
• Increasing population
• Diversions of surface supply (agriculture)
• 40% world’s harvests come from irrigation
• USA, China & India facing reduced g.w. supplies
• These three nations produce ½ the world’s food
• Last ½ 20 th C, amount of irrigated land more than doubled
(over 250 million hectares)
• Farmers had better technologies to access groundwater
• Access water in “Aquifers”

• One of the largest aquifers in the world, but is depleting quickly from agriculture
(greatest user of freshwater!)
• Aquifer is also heavily used for golf courses
• In 50 years, reduced by 50%
• US gov’t allows “groundwater depletion” as tax write off for farmers…so much for conservation!
http://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=uQRvN6MUajE

• Water supply is cheap and reliable
• Once depleted, takes long time to recharge
• North China Plain where most China’s food produced, water table falling 1.5 m per year
• India’s water tables falling 1-3 m per year and could reduce India’s harvest by 25%, making India more dependent on imported grain

• Lakes, Rivers & Coastal Waters
• Disposal for sewage & agricultural + industrial waste
• Tanker accidents
• Municipal waste water=human waste, detergents & solvents
• Farmers = herbicides & pesticides
• Industry=oil refinery, pulp mill & chemical factory waste http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1
&v=cCAGwHawRXk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9rse9eUaDY&feature= related

• Current technology can = sustainable water management
• Micro-dams
• More efficient rainwater harvesting
• Reclaimed/recycled water
• De-salinated seawater
• Low energy sprinkler systems
• Drip irrigation directing water to roots
• High efficiency/low flow toilets
• Taxes or user rates to encourage water conservation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl9owddp0wQ&feature=related
• Renewable – Water, wood, wind power, solar power, geothermal energy
• Non-renewable – Fossil fuels, coal, oil, gas, nuclear power http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBTnVoEIb98

• Ozone layer =thin layer 15-50 Km above surface of Earth
• O
3
=only gas that can block
UV rays from sun
• UV rays can cause skin cancer
• Damages plant and animal species
(plankton)
• Penetrates up to 20 m into ocean
• Depletion most evident at N &
S Poles, esp in Spring
• 60% depleted above
Antarctica
• Why there?
Higher levels of chlorine found there will react to destroy the Ozone!
http://www.umich.edu/~gs26
5/society/ozone.htm
http://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsystem/ozonelayer/

• Chemicals, esp. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) cause 80% of damage
• Widely used since 1930s
• Coolants for fridges & air conditioners
• In foams, solvents & aerosol spray cans
• UN Environmental Program (UNEP) working to phase out use of ozone depleting chemicals
• Montreal Protocol (1987) all industrial nations agree to cut use of CFCs by 2000
• Amount of chemicals released increasing
• Only complete elimination of CFCs & recapture of those in the atmosphere will halt damage to the Ozone Layer
• Simple phasing out of CFCs = 100 yrs to reach
1980’s atmospheric condition

Issue #4
• Gases trap heat energy from sun similar to a greenhouse
• Natural factors (volcanoes, meteor impacts) have caused climate change in past
• Since industrial Rev. burning fossil fuels
(coal, oil, gas) = more CO
2 in atmosphere
• Causes rise in temperature 1-3 degrees by
2050 (slight changes=profound impact) http://www.brainpop.com/science/ourfragil eenvironment/globalwarming/

Known:
• Causes increase in heat waves and violence of storms
• Melts glaciers in Polar regions causing rise in sea level
Suspected:
• Diseases extend range due to warmer temp
• Earlier arrival of Spring in some regions
• Shifting plant & animal ranges
• Coral reefs losing colours as algae fail to adapt to warmer water temps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpu7IZcdzXE and
Animation-see cd http://www.unep.org/wed/2007/english/melting_ice.swf
?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J1ydwbO320&feature=related
EPA kids animation: http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/animations.html
Global Warming in pictures: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/interactive.aspx?type=ss&launch=1
6913964,3032493&pg=1

Problems
• Arctic sea ice shrinking & seasonal melt = weeks earlier than in past
• Polar bears starving, need ice to hunt seals
• Bears’ birth rate & av. Weight has fallen
• Arctic communities face sinking shorelines as permafrost melts
• Survival rate of BC’s spawning salmon 1/3 rd what it was in 1990
• Warmer water temps deplete phytoplankton salmon eat, less growth, smaller fish can’t survive swim upstream
• Ripple effect in ocean food chain if salmon stocks reduced
• Winter recreation areas economically impacted by warmer winters
• Freak weather systems & devastating storms more likely
• More droughts and forest fires
• Permafrost (soil up North) melts and releases methane gas much more potent than CO2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVpQnpWS2wU
• Arctic Sovereignty-potential wars fought over oil rich area as
Northwest Passage melts
Benefits
• Tree line could be extended further north and higher up mountains
• Longer growing seasons could benefit farmers
• Possibly offset by droughts

ON FORESTS
•
•
•
•
•
• Loss of carbon sink-Death releases more CO2
• Pine Beetle spread • POSITIVE
ON AGRICUTLURE (SEE LEFT)
ON WATER
Melt of Glaciers-HIMALAYAS
LESS PRODUCTIVITY
Contamination/bacterial growth
Rising Sea Levels
More floods
• Increased productivity due to warmer temperatures
• Growing new crops
• Longer growing seasons
NEGATIVE
• Insects kill crops
• Crop damage
• Less water
• More soil erosion
• More weedsmore herbicides and pesticides
• More droughts

• Kyoto Protocol
• Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6% of our 1990 levels by 2012
• Countries not meeting reduction targets could buy credits from others that were below allotted levels (developing nations could benefit greatly)
• Canada among top emitters of greenhouse gases, and despite Kyoto our levels are increasing
• 1990s fossil fuel industry campaigned vs. Kyoto standards: too costly in $$ and jobs
• While Federal gov’t signed, Prov gov’t must regulate industries
• 2000: Ontario listed as NA’s 2 nd worst polluter = not taking Kyoto or global warming seriouslyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tCenQh3Rw&feature=related

Idea
Carbon Tax
Cap and Trade
Description
Tax on fossil fuels
A maximum is set on how much you can emit. If you exceed this you need to buy credits from other countries/companies.
PROS: ?
CONS: ?
Carbon Sequestration (lock away) Carbon placed below impermeable rock. Gas leaks?
http://debatepedia.idebate.org/e n/index.php/Debate:_Carbon_cap ture_and_storage http://suite101.com/article/danger s-from-carbon-sequestrationa24305

• Acid Rain is caused by emissions from cars – but mostly factories
• The gasses like sulphur oxide and nitric oxide mix with rain and fall as
“poison rain”

•
•
•
http://goanimate.com/videos/02VLWVlKPrKY http://www.absorblearning.com/media/item.action?q
uick=vd

• Many sustainable sources of energy
• Wind turbines, solar power, tidal power, ground source energy, geothermal power
• Greenpeace believes wind power could provide 10% world’s electricity needs in next 20 years
• New hydrogen or methanol fuel cells could be adapted for cars, buses, homes and industries

• Renewable
• Irrigation
• No CO2 emissions/contribution to GHG/acid rain
• Dams cost $ but cheap to operate
• Flooding of land
• People displaced
• Breeding ground for insects
• Interfere with ground H2O
• Wildlife habitats disturbed

• Controversial
• No CO2 emissions or anything that pollutes atmosphere
• By-products are radioactive
• Radiation
• Cancerous: devices to heat water
• Nuclear waste is not properly disposed of (proposed ideas to get rid of: space, ocean, rocks)
• No one wants it in their city
• Affects soil
• Used for terrorism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnd2
R6mcD2s&feature=related

• Sunlight converted to NRG
• Passive solar energy: buildings are designed to make the most of sunshine
• Active solar energy: devices to heat water and space in building

• Last damaging
• Costly
• Ugly (no aesthetic value)
• Clean

• No acid rain
• Clean
• Environmentalists/fishers are against it
• Affects water movement/raise sea level
• Costs A LOT of money

• Heat in crust
• Geysers and hot springs
• Cheap source of heat
• Hydrogen sulphide is given off
• Steam is used to drive turbines
• Water could have salt and heavy metal
• Noisy and release large amount of heat
• May not be renewable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4VNQ_nIBGQ
• Created from solar energy
• Photosynthesis
• Great amount of energy from wood (hog fuel or wood waste)
• Log smog
• Dung from farms and methane from landfills can be turned into gas that is used for heat and electricity

• Only 11% of land area on Earth can be used to grow crops
• Desertification: land turning to desert
• Overgrazing of cattle & livestock
• Removal of trees for firewood
• Irrigation in arid areas leaves soil too salty
• Soils in tropical areas nutrient poor
• Nutrients must be replaced into soil
• Soil on bare slopes quickly washed away http://www.unep.org/wed/2006/english/Information_Material/WED2006_animation.swf

• Increasing use of pesticides & herbicides
• Controls incects & kills weeds
• Leads to toxic soils & residues in foods
• Agri Chemicals can seep into groundwater and streams
• Harmful to farm workers (less protection for workers in developing nations)
• Insects needed in agriculture killed by pesticides too (ladybugs, honeybees)
• Increased interest in organically grown foods, people willing to pay higher $$-creation of
“locavores”

Genetically Modified Foods
• Altered by splicing in another organism’s gene
(+)Some more resistant to disease or pests
(+)Require fewer pesticides
(+)Promises to increase yields
(-)Controversial, consumers resistant
• CDN gov’t approved 50 GM foods since 1994, including corn, canola, soybeans, squash, potatoes and cotton
• 75% of all processed foods made with corn, soy or canola products
• Not required to label GM foods http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY3w73d6JTI&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE2OFfmrJRI

•
•
•

• BP is losing 480 million dollars in oil every day from the spill
• They are not expecting to have solved the spill before the end of August
• They are being investigated for criminal charges

• Destruction of tropical rainforests
• Storehouses of biodiversity
• Absorb CO
2 and supply O
• Deforestation
2
• Contributes to Global Warming
• Affects wind patterns
• Affects precipitation levels
• Alters temperatures beyond forest itself
• Threatens way of life for Indigenous peoples http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/deforestationintro.htm
http://www.amnh.org/sciencebulletins/bio/v/congo.20040818/l

• Poor encouraged to move into forest & clear land for farming
• Huge cattle ranches set up
• Development by oil & mineral companies = access roads opens up settlement
• Specialty woods (teak) in demand
• Reforestation virtually impossible
• Erosion and mismanagement results in arid wasteland
• Brazil, Ecuador, Columbia, Peru, Indonesia,
India

•
•
• These forests used primarily for logging and recreation
• Que & Ont nearly 1/5 of the forests damaged by dams, diversions & industrial development
• Along with acid rain and climate change, boreal forest may not last another 50 years (Global warming a huge threat)
• In Northern Ontario, average temps up 1.5% in the 1990s.
Accelerated evaporation from forest by 50%. Massive fires eliminated large portions of forest
• Key habitat for numerous species

•
• Largest segment of BC’s economy
• Sustainability concerns:
• Old growth watersheds require careful stewardship
•

• To “deforest” means to cut down trees –
“reforestation” is the act of planting trees to replace the ones cut down.
• The Amazon Rainforest has been under great attack as the land has been cleared for cattle grazing, and settlement of humans
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txa-
XcrVpvQ&NR=1&feature=endscreen
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejmuhOJyPzw

SADLY ALL OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS ARE
UNDER ATTACK…

• Forestry is going to take place – the question is whether or not we will manage our forests so that they will last for generations to come
• Ecotourism-profit for keeping our environment in tact
• PAS (1993)-Protected Areas
Strategy preserve 12% of our lands for parks, recreation, and wildreness
• Great Bear Rainforest-Spirit
Bear http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=E2His2yVlBg

•
•
•

• Canadians lead the way:
• Waste recycling programs
• Sewage-into fertilizer
• Energy efficient homes and cars
• Reduce pesticide and herbicide use
• Cutting back paper and water consumption
BUT
• However, our forests, groundwater, and other resources are being depleted at a concerning rate
• Canada has also opted out of
Kyoto.
Individuals make the difference:
• We consume 15 times more energy than those in developing world
Do:
• Recycle
• Compost
• Buy local
• Use energy efficient appliances
• Low-flush toilets
• Shorter showers
• Drink tap instead of bottled water
• http://www.youtube.com/wat ch?v=tnUjTHB1lvM
• Reusable shopping bags

“PRESENT COURSE IS UNSUSTAINABLE AND
POSTPONING ACTION IS NO LONGER AN OPTION” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euY7vdM5mpE

“GET R.E.A.L”
• The following acronym can be used to organize information when answering government exam questions that focus on solutions and or management strategies to environmental problems.
R. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
E. Educate people about the dangers or consequences of the problems
A. Alternatives. Provide people with alternatives to help solve problems
L. Legislate laws to enforce rules that would help to solve the problem at hand
EXAMPLE:
Using your understanding of geography solutions that would help slow down global warming that is currently threading northern ecosystems.
R. Reduce the number of cars on the road. This would limit the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Reuse and Recycle solid waste and other garbage from private house holds and industries. This would also limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted.
E. Educate citizens about the dangers of global warming like increased violent storms and rising sea levels that would impact their lives. Having an understanding of the dangers of global warming might change people’s behaviour to slow down this process.
A. Provide alternatives like public transportation for people to use to limit the amount of cars on the road and the amount CO2 emitted.
Development of alternative energy sources like wind and solar power would decrease CO2.
L. Legislate laws that require industries to find alternative energy sources. Legislate and enforce laws to decrease the number of cars on the road by providing tax incentives to people. (Carbon
Tax)