Canada and the World Backgrounder articles from October 1995

Canada and the World Backgrounder archives from October 1995

A change of life. (a peaceful environmental revolution may be needed to achieve sustainable development)(Editorial)
October 1, 1995... Many people think the phrase "sustainable development" is another way of saying "Be kind to Mother Nature." It is, but it's more; truly sustainable living means a fundamental change to our lifestyles In 1971, the world had its first Earth Day....

The pulse of the planet. (excessive consumption of natural resources cannot continue)(Sustainable Development - Overview)
October 1, 1995... Most of us accept that economic progress must be in harmony with the environment -- most of us also behave as though we can go on plundering the world's limited resources forever In one day the world uses up oil that took 1 10,000 years to...

Military. (armed forces around the world are the biggest sources of pollution)(Sustainable Development - Overview)
October 1, 1995... A group of Canadian scientists called for Peace has pointed its finger at the world's worst polluter -- the military. According to a 1992 report from the group. * The U.S. military generates more than five times the toxic waste of the five...

The greening of lawns. (some Canadians are converting their lawns to natural habitats because conventional lawns hurt the environment)(Sustainable Development - Overview)
October 1, 1995... There are five million lawns in Canada; the ultimate symbols of Nature subdued. Maintaining a perfect lawn has become an act of good citizenship even though it's far from Earth-friendly. Most lawns get regular and heavy applications of...

Earth moving. (Prof. Robert Hooke calculates that humans move more than 45 billion tons of earth each year, more than natural processes disrupt)(Sustainable Development - Overview)
October 1, 1995... Some human activity dwarfs the powerful forces of Nature. Robert Hooke is a professor of geology at the University of Minnesota, and he's been doing some interesting calculations. According to Prof. Hooke, humans move dirt around each year at the...

People pollution. (the world's population is increasing at a rate of 94 million per year causing environmental problems)(Sustainable Development - Population)
October 1, 1995... Each night, 250,000 more people sit down to supper. The world's population is increasing at the rate of 179 per minute, or 94 million per year. Today's population of 5.6 billion will become 8 billion in just one generation. The increase in...

Mother nature's solution? (several studies of birds, fish, predators and people have found declining fertility and hormone changes which may be a natural response to overpopulation)(Sustainable Development - Population)
October 1, 1995... Scientists all around the world are noticing events that may be linked. A zoologist with the World Wildlife Fund studied 16 predator species in the Great Lakes in the late 1980s. Theodora Colborn found the young of all the species were not living...

In praise of veggies. (in John Robbins's book 'Diet for a New America' he provides statistics on the wastefulness of a meat-based diet)(Sustainable Development - Population)
October 1, 1995... In 1990, John Robbins wrote the book Diet for a New America. In it he uses the following figures: * Livestock eat 80% of U.S. corn production, and 95% of the oats grown. * By cycling grain through livestock 90% of its protein is wasted, and...

Megafolly? (China's Three Gorges Dam project will force 1.4 million people to relocate and could pose long-term environmental hazards)(Sustainable Development - Megaprojects)
October 1, 1995... One fifth of the world's population has 84% of its income. Canadians are members of the privileged 20%; in fact, we're near the top of the wealthiest few. If you weren't in the exclusive club of the rich wouldn't you want to be? So, would...

Natural capital. (the World Bank ranked Canada as the second richest nation in 1994, under a new method of calculation that takes into account such factors as natural capital and human resources)(Sustainable Development - Megaprojects)
October 1, 1995... Canada is the second richest country in the world. So says the World Bank, which has devised a new method of calculating the wealth of nations. The old system was based on average per capita incomes; in 1993, Canada placed 16th on this scale....

Temperature rising. (scientists disagree on the role greenhouse gases play in climate changes)(Sustainable Development - Global Warming)
October 1, 1995... No one denies the climate is changing and causing worldwide problems. But experts still are debating about how much of the change we've created ourselves and what to do about it It's enough to make skiers groan and sun-lovers rejoice. But...

Breaking away. (some scientists think global warming could have caused a piece of Antarctica's Larsen Ice Shelf to break away in 1995)(Sustainable Development - Global Warming)
October 1, 1995... A huge piece of ice broke off the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica early in 1995 and scientists think it could be the result of a relatively recent change in climate. Over the last 50 years, the average temperature on the Antarctic Peninsula has...

Bottom-line thinking. (a study by U.S. environmental groups found that a 70% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions could result in a net savings of $2.3 trillion)(Sustainable Development - Global Warming)
October 1, 1995... A U.S. study by four environmental groups in 1992 concluded that aggressive action to lower carbon dioxide emissions by 70% over 40 years could cost the economy about $2.7 trillion (U.S.) But, it could also save consumers and industry $5 trillion...

Brrrr. (some scientists think industrial pollution will accelerate the pace of the next ice age, which they predict will occur in 10,000 years)(Sustainable Development - Global Warming)
October 1, 1995... During the last Ice Age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, the polar ice cap reached as far south as Long Island, New York. Some scientists predict the next Ice Age will reach its peak in about 10,000 years. Greenhouse warming, triggered in...

H20h dear! (the World Bank reports that expanding populations and greater demand could cause water shortages in at least 80 countries)(Sustainable Development - Water)
October 1, 1995... Take away salt water, ice caps, glaciers and other unusable sources, and you find that human life is sustained by only one hundredth of one percent of all the water in the world "There is a huge problem looming." That's World Bank...

Water - some numbers. (various statistics on water and water usage)(Sustainable Development - Water)
October 1, 1995... Total amount of water, in cubic kilometres, that is present in the world: 1,360,000 Percentage of this that is saltwater: 97.5 Percentage of freshwater that is locked in ice caps and glaciers: 87.3 that is underground: 13.2 that is on the...

Green plan turns brown. (Canada's $3-billion environmental plan formulated in 1990 was discontinued when the Liberals came to power)(Sustainable Development - Water)
October 1, 1995... The Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney announced its Green Plan with great fanfare in 1990. This $3-billion master plan was going to turn Canada into a green paradise and make the country a world leader in environmental reform....

Loggers versus tree-huggers. (Canadian environmentalists have clashed with the timber industry over such issues as clear-cutting forests)(Sustainable Development - Forestry)
October 1, 1995... We've all heard a lot about how terrible the Brazilians are for hacking down their rainforest, but we don't have to look so far afield for examples of mismanagement of timber resources Clear-cutting -- the word has come to symbolize all that...

Nature's air conditioners. (trees supply needed oxygen; deforestation around the world could threaten ecological balance)(Sustainable Development - Forestry)
October 1, 1995... Humans have a very close relationship with trees. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide; trees "breathe" in carbon dioxide and "breathe" out oxygen. Without each other, we might both become extinct. The industrialized countries...

Wilderness report card. (the World Wildlife Fund rated each of Canada's provinces on environmental progress)(Sustainable Development - Forestry)
October 1, 1995... The provinces and Ottawa have some lofty goals: to preserve a portion of each land ecosystem in the country by 2000, and a portion of each marine ecosystem by 2010. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), some jurisdictions are doing better...

Environmental accounting. (economists are trying to find news ways to calculate natural resource exploitation)(Sustainable Development - Forestry)
October 1, 1995... As trees are cut down and made into paper and two-by-fours, wealth is generated. The more trees that are cut, the greater the wealth. If we cut down all the trees in the land in one year, we'd have a terrific looking Gross Domestic Product (GDP)....

Net loss. (new technology and overfishing has caused a severe reduction in worldwide fish supplies)(Sustainable Development - Fisheries)
October 1, 1995... All over the world too many people have chased too few fish -- the result is perhaps the classic example of unsustainable development The way the old-timers tell it, the fish were so thick in the sea you could almost step over the side of the...

Plan sails off course. (The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy, Canada's plan to reduce the nation's fishing industry by 50%, has largely been a failure)(Sustainable Development - Fisheries)
October 1, 1995... After Canada's eat coast fishery collapsed, Ottawa et up a scheme called TAGS -- The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy. Its major aim was to reduce the side of the fishing industry by 50%. By the spring of 1995, TAGS was running well over its $1.9...

Farming the sea. (aquaculture may help to increase the supply of fish and give new jobs to unemployed fishers)(Sustainable Development - Fisheries)
October 1, 1995... Perhaps the best hope for the future is an aquaculture. Fish are reared in submerged pens or large tanks in much the same way as cattle or sheep are raised on land. With salmon, for example, eggs are hatched in freshwater basins. When large...

Falkland's fish fortune. (the Falkland Islands imposed a 28% levy on foreign fishing fleets, which helped reduce overfishing and increased the nation's GDP and fish stocks)(Sustainable Development - Fisheries)
October 1, 1995... Fish are an important part of the economy of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. When stocks started to decline because of overfishing, mostly by foreign fleets, the government acted. Foreign fisherpeople were charged up to 28% of the...

The two-edged sword. (science and technology have provided many benefits, but they also have caused a great deal of environmental harm)(Sustainable Development - Technology)
October 1, 1995... Science and technology have made possible a lifestyle of luxury and richness that our forebears could not even imagine; science and technology also threaten our existence Chlorine could stand as a symbol of what's good and bad about our...

Mutant gulls. (researchers at McMaster University discovered that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are causing genetic mutations in herring gulls)(Sustainable Development - Technology)
October 1, 1995... McMaster University scientists say we should be worried about a group of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). According to a recent study, PAHs are causing genetic mutations in birds. The study found that nearly half the...

Superpats. (drug-treated cattle in Ireland produce almost indestructible cow-patties that hurt pasture ecology)(Sustainable Development - Technology)
October 1, 1995... Many drugs are given to cattle to protect them from insects and infection. As with most drugs, there are side effects. Irish researchers have discovered that treated cattle produce indestructible cowpats that set like concrete. With each cow...

Lethal legacy: Russia has been called the most polluted country on Earth. (oil spills and nuclear waste are major problems)(Sustainable Development - Russia)
October 1, 1995... Russia has a lot on its plate -- political turmoil, economic breakdown, organized crime, and civil rebellion. Environmentalists believe these troubles are small compared with the ghastly mess left behind by reckless Soviet industrial and military...

The Aral tragedy. (Russian irrigation projects diverted river runoff away from the Aral Sea causing it lose 75% of its volume and the salinity level to triple)(Sustainable Development - Russia)
October 1, 1995... What used to be the world's fourth largest lake (now number seven) is drying up. A legacy of Soviet-era megaprojects, the level of the Aral Sea is now 16 metres lower than in 1960, it covers only half the area it did, and its volume has dropped...

Cutting the garbage. (Canadian recycling programs are helping to reduce the need for landfills and are making Canadians more environmentally-aware)(Sustainable Development - Recycling)
October 1, 1995... Recycling programs aren't cheap but they keep the trash out of dumps. Six years after it started in 1986, Ontario's blue-box curbside recycling system diverted more than a million tonnes of rubbish away from sites across the province. Residential...

Waste glorious waste. (homes made with recycled materials can help reduce the waste generated by the construction industry)(Sustainable Development - Recycling)
October 1, 1995... Building construction is not only a big waste producer; it's a hungry mouth gaping for recycled goods. The recently built Waterloo Region Green Home included hundreds of kilograms of ground-up newspapers for insulation, a roof of recycled steel,...

Fashion - second time around. (clothing, shoes and other fashion items are being made from recycled materials)(Sustainable Development - Recycling)
October 1, 1995... The fashion industry is a favourite target of environmentalists. That's because of its habit of creating products to replace earlier ones that are a long way from worn out. But, not everyone is into the instant replacement mode. In 1993, Deja...

Professional recyclers. (the citizens of Calcutta, India, recycle almost everything; only 1% of glass, metal and paper end up in landfills)(Sustainable Development - Recycling)
October 1, 1995... Calcutta in India has been described as the waste recycling capital of the world. Coconut shells are soaked, pounded, ripped, and dried to use in mattresses at homes for the destitute. Animal droppings are mixed with burned coal cinders to make...

Canada's fishery. (overfishing by Canadian and foreign fishing fleets caused serious reductions in the Grand Banks fish population)(About Canada)
October 1, 1995... Europeans had been coming to fish off North America for centuries. After the Second World War the famed Grand Banks truly became an international fishing ground as fishers from more than two dozen nations came regularly to join with Canadians and...

The bounty of the deep. (Canada's North Atlantic cod supply has attracted fishing fleets from Portugal, Spain, France and the UK since the 15th century)(About Canada)
October 1, 1995... The Norse had explored and wintered in North America some 500 years before Giovanni Caboto, a Genoese explorer whom the British called John Cabot, rediscovered the land in 1497. Although Cabot failed to find a northern route to the rich spice...

Fish facts. (various statistics about fish harvesting and consumption)(About Canada)
October 1, 1995... * Humans ate 72.3 million tonnes of fish in 1993. * There were approximately 64,000 registered fishers, 60,000 plant workers, 800 plants and about 28,000 fishing vessels in Atlantic Canada in 1990. * The Department of Fisheries and Oceans...

Changes in fishing technology. (new fishing technologies have increased harvests but made sustainable fisheries in Canada almost extinct)(About Canada)
October 1, 1995... From the late 15th century through to the mid-19th, change came slowly to the fishing industry. By the 1840s, the British migratory fishery had come to an end as the trade passed to branches of English fish merchants operating from ports in...

Regulation without cooperation. (Canada's Grand Banks fish population was decimated because strict regulations on limits were imposed too late)(About Canada)
October 1, 1995... Each fishing craft that sailed to the Grand Banks, regardless of nationality, wanted to maximize its catch and make every voyage as profitable as possible. The cod and other species were, Unfortunately, no match for the mighty efficiency of the...

Conservation betrayed. (both Canadian and foreign fishing interests contributed to the sharp decline in the fish population in the Atlantic Grand Banks area)(About Canada)
October 1, 1995... Even while working within ICNAF, Canada and other coastal nations adopted a more aggressive role to claim and manage the fish stocks in the waters off their shores. Canada extended its territorial sea to 12 miles in 1970 and it unilaterally...

West Coast fisheries. (Canada's Pacific Coast salmon industry has also been hurt by overfishing)(About Canada)
October 1, 1995... While the ecological disaster in the east coast fishery has captured most of the headlines in Canada, the west coast salmon fishery has also experienced its share of trouble. The lucrative salmon fishery, which in 1994 was worth $450 million, has...

Sustainability: a serious commitment. (many factors contributed to the decline of Canada's fishing industry; a commitment to conservation is needed to revive it)(About Canada)
October 1, 1995... When the John Cabot stopped on the and Banks in 1497, the cod v v were so plentiful that he caught them in a basket. Later, his son, Sebastian, claimed that the fish "stayed" his vessel. Of course, this is all myth, but the fish were plentiful...