Ryan Mai

ID# 71802528

ICS 5

A2: Collaborative Mapping Assignment (Canada)

Located in the upper part of North America, Canada is the second largest country in the whole world, based on the size of its land. With French and English being the predominant language, Canada has a population of a little over thirty million people. It has one of the highest and best quality of life. Although this country has all these great benefits to its people, it comes with a cost to its own environment. Pollution in the Great Lakes, Deforestation of forests, and over mining of its minerals are three of the biggest problems with the environment in Canada. Only with the effort of the citizens of the country and the government can these environmental problems be minimized to indirectly and directly give citizens a better life.

Surrounding the Hudson Bay is the Canadian Shield, which is the patch of land that includes Quebec and Ontario, and it is known for mining of minerals, such as diamond, gold, copper, and many others. Because the soil in the land is very rich with all these types of minerals, miners have taken advantage of this by extensively digging and mining the area which has caused the area of land with these minerals to be ruined and unsalvageable. Since many people around the Canadian Shield rely on the mining of minerals to live, they have mined a large portion of it and the dust and chemicals from the mining has been emitted to the Canadian atmosphere [3]. This only causes people to have a worsened living environment because of the lower quality of air due to these chemicals. The costs outweigh the benefits because the air they will be breathing in the long run will not be healthy at all. The Canadian Shield is getting worse by the day since the mining is continuing.

In connection to the lower air quality due to the extensive mining of land, another environmental issue of Canada is the pollution of the Great Lakes. Not only does bad air quality affect the respiration of citizens, but it also affects the water people drink and use. The chemicals from the mining industry released into the air causes acid rain which in then tarnish the Great Lakes from the precipitation of the water cycle. Automobiles have also been known to emit smog and cause acid rain that will then be rained into the lakes. Due to the large amount of cars in Canada, acid rain has been a large issue. Other than the mining industry and smog emission, pollution from factories and power plants of Canada causes the lakes to be contaminated [4]. Spills and leaks from the factories easily go into the Great lakes and negatively affect the water. A major problem with this is that not only does it affect the drinking and useable water, it also harms the marine life in the lakes. Fish and other living organisms die from the acid rain that goes into the Great Lakes. If they do not die, they could also be contaminated and when people fish them to eat, humans get the contamination in their body systems. Acid Rain has become a large problem in recent years to the Great Lakes.

The most important environmental issue in Canada is deforestation and timbering. Canada's land is more than half covered with large forests and this means that the timber industry is very large because of the vast amounts of trees. Since there are so many trees, people cut them down at a very fast rate. They cut down the trees to make paper, furniture, and many other things. The problem about this is that because they cut the trees down at such a fast rate, many forests are ruined since it takes a substantially long time for the forests to be grown again [5]. This causes many species and animals to live their habitat and it also causes soil erosion. All these things are very harmful for the environment as a whole. Deforestation is a main issue in Canada because it is one of the leading industries for its income.

Information Technology is a very important aspect in dealing with the environmental issues in Canada. Deforestation, especially, connects with this because of how the cut-down trees are being used. Information Technology allows us to think of a more sustainable way to communicate and live our lives without having to make our future generations suffer. Although Canada is thought of as one of the leaders in sustainability, many forests are being cut down in order to make things like newspapers, furniture, binder paper, etc [1]. This is where Information Technology comes in to play. Instead of making hundreds and thousands of newspapers that will just be thrown away after a day or two, a type of IT is something like online articles to read the news. iPads and Tablets are developed in order to read the news. Instead of buying a newspaper daily, you can buy an iPad or any other form of electronic device that can surf the internet and use it to read the news. That way, less paper is being consumed. Another example would be the use of the internet to turn in essay papers and homework instead of printing them out. Students use a lot of paper to print out homework every month. Using the computer and internet to turn these things in save a lot of paper and hence trees. The use of these technologies can help with deforestation, but this does gain controversy. Although many trees are saved with the use of electronic devices for communication and such, people argue that making these devices are more harmful to the environment than cutting down trees because they use harmful materials to make and they do not last very long. But, that is not true because computers and such can last quite a few years. Paper on the other hand, does not last long after being used. The amount of trees that need to be cut down to make paper is a lot. After these trees are cut down, it takes decades for them to grow back. In the meantime, animals have no habitats, less oxygen is pumped into the air from photosynthesis, and less carbon dioxide is being absorbed [5]. The use of electronics can help with all these. A possible solution to the controversy of whether or not electronics are less harmful to the environment is to use Information Technology to create a more sustainable electronic device, one that is environmentally friendly and has a longer lasting use life. In fact, it was proposed by the Canadian government in 2011 that devices and factories must be created with energy efficiency within a few years [2]. A device that is made of less chemical-filled chips and glass is a good way to ensure the environment is safe. If all the plastic, microchips, aluminum cases, and glass screens can be created to be harmlessly recycled or reused, then the issue of whether or not the materials are toxic towards the air is not a question. Instead of buying a new computer or tablet every few years, people should be sticking with what they have already. If the product is not broken and is still useable, it is not a good idea to buy something new just to keep up with what is current.

Although there are three types of environmental issue in Canada, deforestation is the biggest issue since most of Canada's land is covered in trees. A great solution to this problem is to use less paper for school and work and more encourage the use of electronics. Encouraging the use of electronics is not enough of a solution to the problem. We need to use more energy efficient products that were safely and environmentally-friendly made.

References

  1. Boyd, David R. "Chapter 1: Canada's Environmental Record." Unnatural Law: Rethinking Canadian Environmental Law and Policy. Vancouver: UBC, 2003. N. pag. Print.

  2. "Timeline: Action on Climate Change." Canada's Action on Climate Change. 4 Dec. 12. http://www.climatechange.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=1CD1DFC3-1

  3. "U.S.-Canada Air Quality Agreement." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. http://www.ec.gc.ca/Air/default.asp?lang=En&xml=8ABC14B4-ED53-4737-AD51-528F8DBA2B4C

  4. "Water Quality in the Great Lakes Region." Water Quality in the Great Lakes Region. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.

  5. Technology Transfer Seminar on the Timber Processing Industry, March 10-11, 1977, Toronto, Ontario: Proceedings. Ottawa: Environmental Protection Service, 1978. Print.