Major Challenges Facing Canada and the World Water Issues Global Warming Environmental Sustainability Your Ecological Footprint

Water Issues How much water do you and your family use each day? Students will have an opportunity to examine their household water use at the beginning of Chapter 36.

How closely do you think your water use matches the percentage breakdown in this pie graph? This pie graph reflects a typical Torontonian’s daily water use during the winter of 2004.

Canada’s fresh water needs to be protected from…

Two Proposed Water Diversion Plans The three arrows on the left side of this image show a proposed plan to divert water from Alaska, the Yukon, and British Columbia to southwestern and central American states. The three arrows on the right side of the image illustrate a plan to dam James Bay in order to turn it into a freshwater lake, pump the water into the Great Lakes, and then send the water to the Prairies and the American Midwest. If time permits, initiate a discussion with students focusing on this question: Should Canada’s freshwater supply be protected from large-scale schemes to divert water from one part of Canada to another or to the United States?

The Second Issue in This Unit Is…

As of 2004, the five hottest years on record have been: 1998 2002 2003 2001 What has happened since 2004? Years are ranked starting with the hottest (1998). Scientists at NASA predicted that 2005 would be the hottest year to date. Did this happen? Yes, it did. The primary reason for this record in 2005 was the high Arctic temperatures. Students can look up the hottest years on the Internet. One Web link is http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/recordtemp2005.html.

Earth’s Atmosphere Traps Heat Like a Greenhouse The increase of greenhouse gases is causing the atmosphere to trap too much heat. The main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and water vapour.

The consequences of global warming could be devastating: Parts of the world close to sea level, such as Bangladesh, could suffer permanent flooding. Canada’s North is already being affected! Scientists have discovered that global warming affects polar regions more dramatically than other parts of the globe. The photo on page 495 (Fig. 37-7) of the student book shows some of the effects of flooding.

How Can We Reduce Global Warming? Buying appliances that use less energy can help.

Environmental Sustainability The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) has been created to measure environmental progress in 146 countries. It considers each country’s current environmental conditions and sustainability over the next several decades. The ESI uses 76 data sets, including measurements such as amount of fresh water, amount of waste recycling, and number of people who attend college or university.

Sustainable development meets the needs of people in the present without affecting the ability of people in the future to meet their needs. The 2005 ESI Report ranks Canada…

…in sixth place! The ESI values range from 0 to 100, with a high score indicating a good level of environmental sustainability. North Korea had the lowest ranking, with an index of 29.2 in 2005.

Your Ecological Footprint What is the environmental (ecological) impact of your lifestyle?

How can we determine the impact that all our activities have on the environment? Ask students to indicate what impact each of these activities has on the environment. Some students may be able to conclude that almost all activities affect the environment, and that there are variations in degree of impact and risk of impact.

The ecological footprint (EF) is one method for measuring the impact of all our activities. The EF measures the ecological impact of a person’s activities by determining the amount of productive land and water (in hectares) required to support that person and to dispose of his or her wastes.

How Big Is the Average Canadian’s EF? The amount of productive land needed to support the lifestyle of the average Canadian is... This diagram uses the measurements of a Canadian regulation-sized football field (100 m long by 59.4 m wide). (An American football field is 91.4 m long x 48.8 m wide.) 1 ha = an area 100 m by 100 m (10 000 m2) 6.4 ha = 64 000 m2 or a square with sides approximately 253 m long (the square root of 64 000)

How does Canada’s EF compare with the world’s EF? What does this diagram tell you about Canada? Students should be able to see clearly that Canada uses more of the world’s resources than most other countries.

Taking Action What actions can we take to reduce our EF? We can reduce our consumption of resources reduce the production of wastes recycle materials reduce our pollution of the air, water, and land The last question provides an opportunity to obtain some ideas from students. Record these ideas and when you have finished studying the unit, review the ideas with students to see if any of their views have changed. What can you personally do?