“Global warming is one of the most serious challenges facing us today. To protect the health and economic well-being of current and future generations, we must reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases by using the technology, know-how, and practical solutions already at our disposal”.

Global warming is the warming of the Earth’s temperatures as a result of rising levels of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. “Greenhouse gases occur naturally in the environment and also result from human activities”. Carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and nitrous oxide are some of those gases. Earth relies on normal amounts of greenhouse gases to be present in order to maintain normal temperatures on earth. However, when there is an increased concentration of these gases in the atmosphere, it acts as an insulator and helps retain heat. This heat retention causes the Greenhouse Effect. The greenhouse effect can be described as excessive trapping of heat energy in the earth’s atmosphere which in turn, increases the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere, oceans and land on Earth.

Interesting Fact

“Although climate models predict Canada will have a longer growing season because of global warming, reports suggests that water may not be available to sustain crops that depend on rivers that are fed from the snow pack in the mountainous areas of the West.”

The following 5 major areas of Canada will be affected by Global Warming:

Prairies: global warming has already taken its toll on this region by evaporating water into the air and forcing farmers to sell their farms and cattle. Due to rising temperatures in this area, the soil is getting dried up and isn’t suitable for growing crops. Global warming will destroy farmers because they will be running out of food to feed their cattle and water to make crops grow.

Skiing industries of Canada (Quebec and British-Columbia mostly). Winters are already getting shorter, making the skiing season shorter. Eventually there will be a shortage of snow because with increasing temperatures these areas will be getting more rain instead of snow.

Fishing industries in the east and west coasts will be impacted because of global warming. There are certain fish like salmon for example who like the cold water (where they spawn). If the water gets warmer and warmer, the salmon will just keep moving upstream trying to find colder water. Eventually they won’t find it or they will just die trying to find it. There are many water living animals that are like that. It will definitively make it next to impossible for the fishing industry to survive if our water keeps getting hotter and fish do not live.

The Arctic in Canada is probably the area that will have most effect on the world, not just Canada. Studies show that temperatures are increasing in the Arctic. Rising temperatures melt the polar ice caps more rapidly; eventually flooding low lying areas on earth (the breakdown of the ozone layer over the Arctic is certainly not helping either). When the ice disappears so does many food sources and habitats of people and animals living in the Arctic region.

Our forest areas would be damaged by increased rainfalls and temperatures. The vegetation regions would also be changed. “After global warming there would be more forested areas than there are today but the distribution would be completely different”. Towns that live near forested areas and depend on the forest industry for their livelihood would have to look for other means of survival. Animals would have to migrate to different parts of Canada in order to survive and many may not survive.

Solutions

In order to change or slow down the effect o global warming, we have to remove some of the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and we must also cut down on our production of excessive greenhouse gases.

How do we remove carbon dioxide from the air?

By increasing our carbon sinks. A carbon sink is what keeps carbon in, such as trees and plankton, in the carbon cycle. “Trees, especially young and fast growing-ones, soak a great deal of carbon dioxide, break it down in photosynthesis, and store carbon in new wood”. We must therefore preserve our forests by minimizing logging and we must plant new trees, not only to replace the ones that have been cut down, but plant in excess of what was originally there. We must also reduce water pollution in order to protect plankton. “Warm ocean waters can absorb less carbon dioxide than colder water, so as global warming occurs, the oceans will not be efficient carbon sinks”.

How do we cut down production of greenhouse gases?

We produce harmful gases when we burn fossil fuels and solid wastes, when we drive vehicles, and generate electricity. Harmful gases also come from rotting wastes in landfills and during the manufacturing process of certain products. In order to cut down we must:

Reduce our energy consumption by:-buying more energy efficient appliances in our homes-driving energy efficient cars, carpooling, use public transits, live closer to work or school, and walk to places more often. -reduce idling of cars-turn lights off when you leave the house, turn computers off when not in use, use programmable thermostat in your homes. Same applies to office buildings. Add insulation to your house or replace old windows.

Reduce the amount of garbage we produce and increase our recycling of paper, metal, plastic, and glass.

Encourage our government to invest money in research and development into alternative energy sources that emit no greenhouse gases, exp: solar and wind power. The goal should be to eliminate or reduce our use of fossil fuels for energy.

In conclusion, global warming is not only a Canadian problem but a world-wide obstacle that can in turn be very dangerous to our world. All the countries must come together and find a solution to this problem and avoid any further damage to the earth. As a team, I’m positive we can eliminate the greenhouse effect and avoid global warming!

Cited Work

1. Clark, Bruce W and John K. Wallace. Making Connections, Canada’s Geography. Toronto: Prentice Hall, 1999.

2. “Environment.” Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. 18 Nov.2005. http://ca.encart.msn.com.

3. “Global Warming,” Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. 18 Nov.2005. http://ca.encarta.msn.com.