Climate Change in Canada
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Climate Change in Canada
Climate change refers to the periodic modification of the earth’s climate that is caused by atmospheric changes. Changes in climate are brought about by global warming, which impacts negatively on human, physical, and biological systems. Global warming results from the greenhouse effect, a phenomenon by which the atmosphere retains some of the sun’s heat to enable the Earth to support life. Canada is one of the nations globally that has encountered extreme global warming levels, especially in the northern and western regions. Global warming in Canada is majorly intense during the spring and winter periods, and it severely impacts the country. The impacts include higher temperatures, increased rainfall, rising sea levels, and ice melts and frost in the Arctic region. Therefore, addressing the topic of climate change in Canada is of significant concern. The paper discusses the major climate problem that the oil and gas industry causes in Canada, the best solution that can be adopted, and an alternative solution that may not be effective.
The oil and gas industry in Canada causes the greenhouse effect as a significant climatic problem. The oil and gas industry emits greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, creating climate change (Change, 2017). Carbon emissions from oil and gas industries are significant contributors to global warming in Canada. According to Bais et al., (2018), oil and gas industries are a major cause of global warming and threaten human life, plants, and animals. Gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide play a substantial and growing role in enhancing the greenhouse effect, which results in global warming (Kweku et al., 2017). Global warming as greatly affected Canada in different ways. First, the excess water vapor in the atmosphere condenses back as rainfall and causes much flooding, thus endangering the lives of people, plants, and animals. Secondly, during hot weather, the rate of evaporation increases, resulting in drought and may result in famine. A significant effect of global warming in Canada is the rapidly rising sea level when the temperature increases and causes glacier and ice to melt very fast. The rapid melting of ice and glacier results in a massive rise of water levels in seas, lakes leading to floods.
Consequently, global warming can cause a severe impact on human beings. Heart diseases and hypertension can be as a result of extreme temperatures (Harvey, 2018). Since most human food comes from plants and animals when there is drought, plants and animals may not thrive, and these may result in weak immune systems causing human beings to be vulnerable to diseases(Ogden & Gachon 2019). However, solving the greenhouse effect that results in global warming is of great importance to Canada. According to Boyd (2019), Alberta is one of Canada’s provinces that contributes to over a third of greenhouse gas emissions. Controlling gas emissions in this province will be beneficial to Canada than any other region. To reduce Canada’s emissions, several policies and initiatives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Alberta province should be implemented. However, a detailed study of provincial climate change policy in Canada shows that the country focuses on those provinces that do not emit many gases into the atmosphere, such as Ontario and Quebec. Although Alberta province leads in the emission of greenhouse gases, its policies and initiatives on controlling the emission are influenced by tensions and decisions from bordering provinces. Therefore, the province has never been serious about reducing carbon emissions. However, since 2013, Alberta has been dedicated to coming up with provincial policies to ensure that it is ready to deal with climate changes. Alberta province can implement policies that limit the supply of oil and gas from Canada so that the industry producing oil and gas do not produce them. When there is no or reduced production of oil and gas due to decreased demand, emission of carbon gases will be low, reducing the greenhouse effect and solving climate change (Hasegawa et al., 2018). Also, Alberta can enhance policies such as carbon pricing and methane usage guidelines as a way of emissions.
An alternative solution to the greenhouse effect is the Paris and Pipeline agreement. According to MacLean (2018), the Canadian government signed a commitment agreement with Paris to build and own an oil pipeline to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. The agreement appears a puzzle and a fight between politics, business, and climate. Canada is a carbon economy; therefore, the oil and gas industry is the primary source of revenue. The Canadian government is aiming at benefiting from the agreement with Paris. However, to resolve the paradox, all the revenue from the pipeline should be channeled into an environmental fund. The environmental fund would then be used in supporting infrastructure and plans aimed at minimizing the sources of greenhouse gases and facilitating carbon sinks that are essential for carbon dioxide storage. However, the Paris and Pipeline agreement may not be effective in solving climate change. Since it is an agreement, all the two countries must benefit, and not only Canada can own the pipeline.
Additionally, the Canadian government is not much interested in addressing the issue of climate change through oil pipelining agreement with Paris but focuses on business. Therefore, when Canada is pipelining oil, it means promoting the growth of the oil and gas industry. Since the oil and gas industry is causing much harm than good to the Canadian climate, resorting to oil pipeline agreement is a betrayal of efforts channeled by UNEP and other organizations.
In summary, climate change poses a significant threat to humanity, animals, and plants. Global warming is a significant cause of climate change, is harmful. It is worth noting that the industrial revolution has contributed heavily to climate change. Industries and motor vehicles emit poisonous gases into the atmosphere, which results in climate change. Consequently, gases such as carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere fall back as acid rain destroys crops and corrodes iron sheets. Also, gases can lead to respiratory complications when inhaled. In the future, people worldwide are at high risk of suffering from burns as a result of global warming, and some people may end up dying. Therefore, nations globally should take appropriate initiatives of fighting climate change through the implementation of policies that govern the use of oil in the transport and construction sectors. Countries should resort to other sources of energy, such as electricity and shun fossil fuel.
References
Bais, A. F., Lucas, R. M., Bornman, J. F., Williamson, C. E., Sulzberger, B., Austin, A. T., … & Aucamp, P. J. (2018). Environmental effects of ozone depletion, UV radiation and interactions with climate change: UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, update 2017. Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences, 17(2), 127-179.
Boyd, B. (2019). A Province under Pressure: Climate Change Policy in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique, 52(1), 183-199.
Change, M. S. S. I. C. (2017). Climate change.
Harvey, L. D. (2018). Global warming. Routledge.
Hasegawa, T., Fujimori, S., Havlík, P., Valin, H., Bodirsky, B. L., Doelman, J. C., … & Mason-D’Croz, D. (2018). Risk of increased food insecurity under stringent global climate change mitigation policy. Nature Climate Change, 8(8), 699-703.
Kweku, D. W., Bismark, O., Maxwell, A., Desmond, K. A., Danso, K. B., Oti-Mensah, E. A., … & Adormaa, B. B. (2017). Greenhouse effect: Greenhouse gases and their impact on global warming. Journal of Scientific Research and Reports, 1-9.
MacLean, J. (2018). Paris and Pipelines? Canada’s Climate Policy Puzzle. Canada’s Climate Policy Puzzle (August 8, 2017), 32(1). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327716676_Paris_and_Pipelines_Canada’s_Climate_Policy_Puzzle
Ogden, N. H., & Gachon, P. (2019). Climate change and infectious diseases: The challenges: Climate change and infectious diseases: What can we expect?. Canada Communicable Disease Report, 45(4), 76.