Life In Canada
As a cold northern
country, Canada will be
one of the most greatly affected countries in the world. Temperatures are rising, particularly in the Arctic, where permafrost is thawing and the ocean's ice cover is shrinking. Even greater changes are expected in the future.
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Ongoing Activities
Interested in ways to help conserve our environment? Check out our ongoing activities to see how you can get involved.
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The Greenhouse Gasses
Most of our greenhouse gas emissions come from energy use. The following is a list of some important greenhouse gasses along with an explanation of how they are emitted.
- Water Vapour is just water in vapour form and it is the most common greenhouse gas. It exists naturally in our atmosphere and we can’t do anything about it.
- Carbon Dioxide is released through the burning of fossil fuels for electricity generation and transportation. Photosynthesis, the process by which plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Methane is not as abundant as carbon dioxide, but it is more effective at trapping heat, making it a powerful greenhouse gas. It is created when vegetation is burned, digested, or rotted in an oxygen-free environment. It is released from landfills, wetlands, rice paddies, livestock, and sewage treatment plants.
- Nitrous Oxide is released through the burning of fossil fuels, and through the use of chemical fertilizers and manure in agriculture.
- Ozone exists naturally in our upper atmosphere, it is also released.
- Halocarbons are human-made chemicals.
The three gases that are of most importance to climate change are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Once in our atmosphere, these gases tend to stay for a very long time – carbon dioxide for anywhere from five to 200 years, methane for 12 years, and nitrous oxide for a full 114 years.