Canada is geographically the second largest country in the world, but it only had 33 million people. This means that we enjoy a great deal of open space. It is widely believed that Canada has copious amounts of fresh, clean water, and large forests. This is true, but perhaps not to the extent that people might think. Our wildlife is increasingly endangered by loss of habitat, and our rivers and lakes are quite polluted. Air from Southern Ontario and the United States floats to other more rural areas such as Nova Scotia, creating environmental sensitivities. Our environment is quite compromised, and it continues to get worse. In Halifax, we were the first Canadian city to make recycling and composting mandatory, but our sewers still lead directly to the harbour. We signed the Kyoto accord, but we still comsume more fossil fuels than most countries.
Yesterday in Kenya, at a UN conference on climate control, Canada’s efforts were criticized. Two environmental groups presented a list of 56 countries. The countries were ranked according to what they were doing about global warming. The first few nations on the list were Sweden, UK, Denmark, Malta, and Germany. Canada placed 51st out of 56. The only countries that ranked lower were Kazakhstan, United States, China, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.
This ranking does not suit my image of Canada, or what I want my country to be like. I want our country to do more to fight for our future on this planet. Some of the most beautiful places in the world are within our borders, and we are taking them for granted. We are depleting our resources and polluting our nation and globe. What are we going to do to stop it?
1 comment:
Well written. I do hope your country will start to do more, best wishes, The Artist
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