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/
WHY CARE ABOUT THE
ENVIRONMENT?
• “a great change in our stewardship (care of) the earth and
the life on it is required, if the vast human misery is to be our
avoided”
• More storms, droughts, destruction of natural resources
(economicgreater taxes)
• Up north a war could be fought!
• Some countries including US, Russia, Denmark, and Norway
see the potential for economic wealth from oil and natural
gas deposits in the Arctic seabed and shipping lanes through
an ice-free Northwest Passage
• 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
• Earth’s carrying capacity is being lost!
http://www.royalsaskmuseum.ca/gallery/life_sciences/footprint_mx_2005.swf
Your footprint!
FEEDING A GROWING POPULATION
• 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.”
ISSUE #1:SPECIES EXTINCTION
• Definition: When a species is threatened to extinction.
• Causes: Habitat loss, deforestation, pollution, over-hunting, not being able to adapt to
environmental changes.
• Global Effects: We lose an important part of the food chain/web, other species are
effected.
• Human Health Effects: The food chain will be effected, and humans are at the top of the
food chain. There could be an increase of pests or an outbreak of diseases, loss of
medical cures.
1) Genetic Resources (loss of genes)
2) Potentially useful in the future (medicine)
3) Loss may threaten stability of ecosystems
4) Aesthetic value (beauty – and species have a value in themselves regardless
of any human use)
• Areas of Focus: The food chain/food web/ecosystems.
• Possible Solutions: Selective logging, recycling instead of polluting the environment or
proper disposal, and to not over hunt or hunt endangered species. Breeding programs,
wildlife protection programs, strict laws against hunting endangered animals. Problem is
political, cultural, economic and ecological
• International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES)
• Prevent commercial trade of endangered species
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF)=advises government how to protect species
• Captive breeding programs
• Protecting African’s Animals = Elephant and rhinoceros parts are being protected by
trade bans in the EU, US, and Japan
• Rhino horn is medicinal and in North Yemen it is a status symbol=leads to
poaching=>Kenya has ordered to kill poachers on sight, and they have tried to dehorn
• 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
• Shallowest of Great Lakes
• By 1960s & 1970s became very polluted
-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.
• Time Mag: “Cuyahoga oozes rather than
flows” and “a person does not drown but
decays”
• Sparked Clean Water Act and number of
other USA-Canada agreements. Pollution
persists, though fires less common.
• 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 20th C, amount of irrigated land more than doubled
(over 250 million hectares)
• Farmers had better technologies to access groundwater
• Access water in “Aquifers”
OGALLALA AQUIFER - USA
• 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.brainpop.com/science/earthsystem/watersuppl
y/preview.weml
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
•
Ozone layer =thin layer 15-50 Km
above surface of Earth
• O3=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
http://www.unep.fr/ozonaction/information
/video/ozzy.htm#english
http://www.ozonelayer.noaa.gov/science/
ozhole.htm
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 CO2 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 1/3rd 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
MORE CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED
WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
ON FORESTS
• Loss of carbon sink-Death releases more CO2
• POSITIVE
• Pine Beetle spread
• Increased
ON AGRICUTLURE (SEE LEFT)
productivity
ON WATER
due to
• Melt of Glaciers-HIMALAYAS
warmer
temperatures
• LESS PRODUCTIVITY
• Contamination/bacterial growth • Growing new
crops
• Rising Sea Levels
• Longer
growing
• More floods
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 2nd worst polluter = not taking Kyoto or global warming
seriously-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tCenQh3Rw&feature=related
BALI, 2007
• New agreement to replace Kyoto
• One group wanted to stick with Kyoto to reduce 2540 by 2020
• Second group, included Canada, Japan, Russian
and many APEC supported flexible goals for each
nation (criticized as too soft!)
COPENHAGEN 2009
• Developing nations like China and India blame developed countries
for Climate Change.
• Claim that they should not be restricted because they need to be
stronger economically to reduce poverty
• A few developed countries did agree to cut GHG, but no targets set!
It was not unanimously accepted therefore did not pass!
• The Maldives a developing nation claims: that if they (a poor
developing nation) can become carbon neutral, any country can
do it especially developed (where they have technology, but no
political will)
APPROACHES ON LIMITING GHG
EMMISSION
Idea
Description
Carbon Tax
Tax on fossil fuels
Cap and Trade
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
ISSUE #4– ACID RAIN
• 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”
EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN
• Forests, plants, and
lakes become
highly ACIDIC – high
PH reading
• Building become
destroyed
• Water becomes
toxic
http://goanimate.com/videos/02VLWVlKPrKY
http://www.absorblearning.com/media/item.action?q
uick=vd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl9owddp0wQ&feature=related
RENEWABLE/NON-RENEWABLE
RESOURCES
• Renewable – Water, wood, wind power, solar power, geothermal
energy
• Non-renewable – Fossil fuels, coal, oil, gas, nuclear power-Burning
causes some of the issues we saw earlier: CO2Global Warming
NOX/SOXAcid Rain
CFCs-Ozone Layer Depletion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBTnVoEIb98
WHERE DOES OUR ENERGY COME
FROM FOR…?
•
•
•
•
•
Electric light
Mobile phones
Power for your mp3
TV
Hot Water
TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
You need an energy source, e.g. coal
This is burnt to produce heat or steam
The heat or steam then drives a turbine
The turbine then can drive a generator
The generator then produces electricity
The electricity is then transported in
cables to where it is needed
NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES:
COAL
What is it?
• Formed underground from decaying plant material
How much left in the world?
• About 200 years
Advantages?
• Plenty left
• Mining is getting more efficient
Disadvantages?
• Pollution: CO2 emissions (linked to global warming),
SO2 (linked to acid rain)
• Heavy & bulky to transport
NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES:
OIL
What is it?
• Formed underground from decaying animal and plant
material
How much left in the world?
• About 40 years!
Advantages?
• Quite easy to transport
• Efficient in producing energy
• Less pollution than coal
Disadvantages?
• Not much left
• Pollution: air and danger of water pollution through spills
GULF OF MEXICO- FRAGILE
• 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
NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES:
NATURAL GAS
What is it?
• Formed underground from decaying animal and plant
material
How much left in the world?
• About 60 years
Advantages?
• Clean, least polluting of all non-renewables
• Easy to transport
Disadvantages?
• Some air pollution
• Danger of explosions
NUCLEAR
• Controversial-– Japan/Chernobyl
• 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
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
WATER POWER
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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
SOLAR POWER
• 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
WIND POWER
•
•
•
•
Last damaging
Costly
Ugly (no aesthetic value)
Clean
TIDAL POWER
•
•
•
•
•
No acid rain
Clean
Environmentalists/fishers are against it
Affects water movement/raise sea level
Costs A LOT of money
GEOTHERMAL POWER
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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
BIOMASS ENERGY
• 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
• 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
• Only 11% of land area on Earth can be used to grow crops
• Soil takes hundreds of years to replenish, but water and wind can erode it in no time!
• Remember the “Dust Bowl” during the GD? Following led to improved farming
techniques: planting trees as wind breaks, contour plowing, and stubble mulching to
contour soil erosion!
• 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
• 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
•
Destruction of tropical rainforests
• Storehouses of biodiversity
• Absorb CO2 and supply O2
• Deforestation
• 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
• 20% Earth’s land cover = temperate &
northern forests
• Canada has ¼ of world’s temperate &
boreal (northern) coniferous forests and
virtually all the world’s old growth red and
white pine
• 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
• Western Mountain region: 14% of
Canada’s forested land, produces 40%
of its marketable timber
• Largest segment of BC’s economy
• Sustainability concerns:
• Old growth watersheds require careful stewardship
• “Brazil of the North” according to
Greenpeace and Sierra Club
REVIEW: DEFORESTATION
• 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=TxaXcrVpvQ&NR=1&feature=endscreen
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejmuhOJyPzw
SADLY ALL OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS ARE
UNDER ATTACK…
SUSTAINABILITY IS THE
ANSWER
• 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
ISSUE 8: LANDFILLS
• Definition: Where our garbage ends up in the environment in
large piles or holes in the ground.
• Causes: Humans create garbage/throwing things away and
not recycling.
• Global Effects: Landfills are being filled too quickly and they
are being overfilled. Toxic wastes and methane gas can be
released from the decomposing garbage. It also attracts pests
like rats.
• Human Health Effects: Toxic chemicals can leak into the
groundwater supply and contaminate the fresh water supply.
Humans can get diseases from the contaminated water
supply.
• Areas of Focus: Globally, groundwater is getting
contaminated from landfills. Developing nations are worse off,
some developed countries send their garbage there.
• Possible Solutions: Reduce, reuse and recycle. Compost.
ISSUE 9: TOXIC WASTE
• Definition: Includes hazardous wastes that are toxic to
living things.
• Causes: Produced by humans in industries, factories and
weaponry.
• Global Effects: Contamination in water sources can
cause disease/death.
• Human Health Effects: Toxins can cause long-term health
defects or can lead to death.
• Areas of Focus: Toxic waste sometimes gets dumped into
lakes and rivers and spreads.
• Possible Solutions: Proper disposal of toxic wastes and
government laws against dumping.
FIRST NATIONS LEAD THE WAY
• Tlinglit First Nation
switched from
diesel to run-of-the
river power
• Haida Gwaii-Wind
Turbines
• T’Sou-ke Nationlargest system of
solar power in BC
DOING OUR PART
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
PROVINCIAL EXAM – HELP
SOLUTIONS???
“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)