Economics Development to Environment in

¶ … Economics Development to Environment in Canada There is no doubt that economic development is vital for both developed as well as developing nations for the general improvement in the standard of living and for their citizens to achieve their complete human potential. Economic development is a dire necessity for the financial well-being and economic stability of Canada. It is well-established that economic policies and decisions of the government and the people can have direct and adverse bearings on the environment.

Therefore, it is a challenge for the government to find out ways and means to undertake economic development in a sustainable manner so that the well-being and health of Canadians can be improved without any harm to the environment. (Kwiatkowski; Ooi, 2003); ("Economics and Sustainability," 2009) the three northern territories of Canada, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut, have a low population density mainly comprised of Aboriginals. These areas have a historical problem of high unemployment accompanied by various problems concerning the health and well-being of the people.

Economic development is an urgent requirement of these areas but it remains to be seen how the process is carried out without disturbing the unique interaction that the Aboriginals have with the environment. (Kwiatkowski; Ooi, 2003) Economic development encompasses a wide range of activities which have a profound impact on our living standards and way of life. It also has a direct effect on our consumption of the natural capital and its depletion/pollution.

The immense geographical size of Canada makes this all the more striking because of its immense volume of consumption and production. Despite the environmental and conservation policies, Canada remains one of the leading polluters of the world. Canada also has the notoriety of being one of the biggest global emitters of per capita sulphur dioxide. The aquatic populations on the east coast of Canada have virtually collapsed. Industrial and household emissions have drastically affected the air quality in the urban areas.

(Copeland, 1998); (Park, 1986) for example, the province of Alberta is rich in fossil fuels and most of its wealth, approximately two-thirds or more of its merchandise exports, comes from exporting natural gas, coal, natural gas liquids, petrochemicals and crude oil. The expansion of this industry has also resulted in an increasing demand for electricity. In addition, bitumen extraction from the oil sands results in the consumption of large volumes of water. This has resulted in tremendous pressure on the fresh water resources.

(Griffiths; Woynillowicz, 2009) in addition, oil sands development also releases huge volumes of toxic wastes like naphthenic acids which have an adverse impact on the ecosystem and is linked with undesirable effects on the traditional ways of life and subsistence activities as well as on people's health. The discharge of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide gases in the surrounding water bodies has resulted in an increase in the level of acidity in these waters. ("Fact Sheet: The waters that bind us," n.

d.) According to a government report, industrial activity in this region is expected to result in a climatic change in the near future. It is estimated that there will be a considerable temperature rise and may go up by 4oC by 2050. Precipitation is also expected to decline in this region by 6% in the summer months. Evapotranspiration is expected to increase in the prairie region which may lead to an increase in the arid area size and frequency of droughts.

It has been observed that glaciers in the upper levels of the Saskatchewan, Athabasca and Bow rivers have gone down by 25% in the last hundred years. Winters are expected to be abnormally warm leading a reduction in the overall snow accumulation in the alpine regions. This, in turn, will eventually lead to a reduction in the summer river flows. Thus, there is expected to be a general decline in water supplies in the future.

(Griffiths; Woynillowicz, 2009) the focus on increased economic development has resulted in an indiscriminate granting of water licenses to oil sands operators. It is shocking to learn that the volume of freshwater consumed for oil sands development per year can satisfy the annual water needs of three million people. ("Fact Sheet: The waters that bind us," n. d.) Economic developmental activities have resulted in an increase in global warming emissions in Canada. These emissions are a result of fossil fuel combustion.

Carbon dioxide is a major constituent of these emissions and accounts for approximately 78% of the gases. These greenhouse gas emissions -- GHG arise from fossil-fuel power generation, fossil fuel industries, oil sands development, and fugitive emissions from oil and natural gas. Environment Canada has estimated that in case no action is taken to check these emissions total emissions in Canada will grow from 756 Mt as of 2006 to 937 Mt by 2020. (Griffiths; Woynillowicz, 2009) There is excessive per capita energy consumption in Canada compared to other developed countries.

Energy consumption has increased by 14% in the period between 1990 and 2001. The energy sources like electricity, natural gas, coal and petroleum products have an adverse impact on the environment. The important sectors which contribute to the Canadian economic development and account for energy consumption include the sectors of industrial - 38.5% of national energy consumption, agricultural -- 2.7%, construction -- 0.7% approx. And transportation -- 29%. The residential sector is also responsible for around 17% of total energy consumption. Buildings and transportation make up approximately 60% of the total energy demands of Canada.

Therefore, consideration should be given to the infrastructural design which can be operationally energy efficient, utilize materials which have "low embodied energy" and helps in promoting lifestyles which have "low energy intensity." (Cuddihy; Kennedy; Byer, 2005) The main environmental problems in Canada arise from the widespread natural resource exploitation. This is quite strange considering the country is sparsely populated and possesses amazingly large tracts of natural land. This extensive exploitation has resulted in a drop in the biodiversity and has caused substantial damage to the freshwater fish population.

(Weidner; Janicke; Jorgens, 2002) There is an external economic factor which affects the environmental situation of Canada. This is the densely populated developing countries which are going through a rapid phase of economic growth. These countries require resources like minerals, forest resources and food which Canada can supply. However, this places a burden on the environmental resources of Canada. An increase in international trade is detrimental to the economy of countries like Canada that "exports the services of open access resources" without checking indiscriminate access to such resources.

Canadian government should keep in mind that if it is unable to implement proper conservation measures, it should not give foreign countries any access to its natural resources. (Copeland, 1998) Canada is one of the world leaders in the export of minerals and related products. A related environmental problem in Canada generated due to economic development in this industry is the problem of acid rain. For example, the ore-smelting process in a sparsely populated region of Ontario discharges approximately 2750 tons of sulphur dioxide per day.

These emissions blend with other pollutants and precipitate into acid rain which not only affects the region but also drifts downstream as far away as the U.S. This industry which extracts nickel and copper from the massive ore deposits in that area has had a devastating impact on the ecosystem of that area. All the lakes in this area are highly acidic and dead since it is unable to support any kind of aquatic life.

Even the ground adjoining this region is barren; such is the extent of pollution - a cost that had to be paid for making economic gains from exploiting earth's bountiful resources. Mining activities in Ontario have had other environmental impacts as well. Prospecting and staking activities disturb wildlife and bother the migrating wildlife. Early exploration removes vegetation and erodes the soil surface. The use of heavy machinery for the purpose of drilling adversely affects the surface and ground water. (Hokikian, 2002); (Carter-Whitney; Duncan, et.

al, 2008) Currently, no environmental assessment is done at any stage of the mining process. Mining activities are important for the Canadian economy as it improves the investment climate and increases economic opportunities. However, the main challenge is to make sure that lands which are environmentally sensitive are protected at all costs. Therefore, it is essential that detailed land use planning is done before any kind of mining activities are undertaken. (Carter-Whitney; Duncan, et. al, 2008) a significant economic as well as environmental resource for Canada is the Great Lakes.

However, there has been deterioration in the aquatic ecosystem of these Lakes because of the considerable amounts of harmful, persistent and bio-accumulative chemicals which have been introduced into the ecosystem by way of atmospheric and fluvial depositions. Chief among these pollutants are the PBDEs or Polybrominated diphenyl ethers which are a type of brominated flame retardant. These chemicals have the capacity to drastically affect the environment. Out of the eight Great Lakes provinces, only four have implemented rules to ban or restrict PBDE use.

(Ward; Mohapatra; Mitchell, 2008) The Great Lakes also contain large amounts of 'polychlorinated dibenzo-furans - PCDFs' and 'polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins -PCDDs' which are a result of the chlorine bleaching process of paper and pulp mills. In a nation wide study conducted for a period of 4 years on samples of fish and shellfish from various freshwater and marine water bodies in Canada, it was found that the fish from the Great Lakes were among the most contaminated samples.

(Steinhart; Doyle; Food Research Institute, Cochrane, 1995) the paper and pulp industry has also grown with the growth of the economy. However, contaminant discharge from this industry still continues despite the various environmental measures taken by the paper and pulp industry of Canada. This industry has also caused disturbance to the huge boreal landscape of Canada. Approximately 50% of Canada's fresh water is located in these boreal forests.

Developmental activities have affected these water bodies in terms of water clarity, oxygen content, nutrient and algae content, ions and buffering capacity, and aquatic organisms. The removal of trees for industrial activities can result in catchment disturbance which can impact the quantity and quality of the receiving waters. Since trees pull up water through transpiration, their felling leads to surplus soil water. This in turn leads to an increased water and nutrient export through overland as well as subsurface flow from the catchment areas following rainstorms and snowmelts.

Ineffective forest harvesting techniques can also adversely affect aquatic systems. (Burton; National Research Council Canada; Adamowicz, 2005) The slag produced from metallurgical operations in Canada has also been responsible for major environmental hazards. In Canada, it has been found that slag contains arsenic, lead and various other heavy metals, nickel, copper, cobalt and even radioactive elements in some places. It has been estimated that over the past hundred years, smelting operations in Canada have resulted in the huge production of ten million tons of waste slag.

Because of the lack of economically feasible processes to process this slag, considerably huge amounts of slag have accumulated near smelters resulting in potential environmental hazards. Chemicals contained in this slag often leached into groundwater contaminating it. (Agioutantis, 2007); (Singer; Mernitz; Farthing; McKenzie; Johnson; Petty, 2007) Despite its impressive environment conservation policies, Canada's overdependence on exploitation of its natural capital for economic development has been its undoing.

Its reliance on extraction and export of natural resources is far greater than that of other industrialized economies with more than 25% of its GDP coming from natural resource exports. 10% of the total global forest cover is present in Canada and covers approximately half of its land mass. 21% of the global forest product trade is initiated in Canada. More than half of the global export of newsprint and softwood lumber comes from Canada.

Approximately 20% of the world's zinc, 30% of its nickel and 8% of its iron ore comes from mining and extraction activities. (Lafferty; Meadowcroft, 2000) Economic development has provided a better standard of living for Canadians and has also increased their consumption and possession of material goods. The large number of vehicles has resulted in a rise of air pollution. Emissions from vehicles like cars, buses and trucks can have a detrimental effect on our health as well as the environment. Even off-road engines like snow mobiles and lawn mowers add to these emissions.

It has been estimated that in Canada, approximately thirty percent of carbon dioxide emissions emanate from vehicles. In Canada, auto emissions also produce 23% of volatile organic compounds and 19% of nitrogen oxides which, when combined, result in ground level ozone. Ground level ozone is one of the chief elements of smog. Auto emissions also produce 37% of the overall annual carbon monoxide in the air. Moreover, the combustion of sulphur-based and carbon-based chemicals in diesel and gasoline produce fine particulate matter of less than 10 microns which forms a part of smog.

This FPM is what is deposited as soot. ("Pollution & air quality," 2008); (Labelle, 1998) FPM can also build up in the upper atmospheric levels leading to climate change and other environmental effects. It can lead to severe health problems when inhaled into the respiratory tract. It increases the propensity of respiratory problems like asthma, bronchitis and allergies. It lowers physical performance and stamina of people in the urban areas and decreases the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood corpuscles.

Exposure to air pollutants has also been found to have a link with frequency of cardiovascular diseases and mortality. The four regions in Canada which are most affected by air pollution are the Lower Fraser Valley, Windsor-Quebec Corridor, Atlantic Region and Southern Ontario. In Lower Fraser Valley, around 80% of the ground level ozone is a result of tailpipe emissions. Other sources of pollutants comprising smog include manufacturing industries, electricity generating stations, incinerators, gasoline evaporation at service stations, and solvents like barbecue starters.

("Pollution & air quality," 2008); (Labelle, 1998) Agricultural development also contributes to the economic development of the country but advances in agriculture entails the use of chemicals like pesticides. In Canada, agricultural area pollution constitutes one of the more problematic factors of environmental pollution. These pesticides can contribute to area source pollution and point source pollution. There are some pesticides which can break down quickly whereas some others persist and accumulate in the atmosphere for a very long period and sometimes break down into equally harmful by-products.

Pesticides can be mobilized in the environment through soil, wind and precipitation. For example, huge amounts of 2,4-D, a herbicide, was found in the precipitation in Alberta. This was found to be due to the large-scale use of this herbicide by Lethbridge farmers. These pesticides get deposited in the waterways and the ground plants absorb them and thus enter the food chain and eventually find their way into animal fat. These pesticides do not remain localized but travel long distances with the help of wind currents.

("Pesticides in the environment," n. d.) Wind currents, in combination with specific chemical and physical characteristics, carry pesticides and persistent organic pollutants -- POPs as far out as the Arctic region via a cycle of long-range transportation. Apart from the agricultural sector, households also use pesticides. It is estimated that two-thirds of households in Canada use pesticides inside their homes or on their pets or lawns. Pesticide concentrations of drinking water have been found to be in harmful proportions in agriculturally intensive areas like Prince Edward Island.

Atrazine, one of the most commonly used pesticides have been detected in ground and surface waters of Ontario, British.