The Athabascan Tar Sands: Why Tree Hugging is Good Business
We are divided between the unethical and the irresponsible. We contribute to global emissions that are rapidly snowballing out of our control while trying to balance a precarious economy. Yet some feel that to benefit one would inherently be to the detriment to the other. Canada can not afford to view the world through the lens of this false dichotomy and reconciliation between these two sides is the only option. The exportation of Canadian fossil fuels is destroying our environment and is sacrificing our long-term economic prosperity for fleeting gains. A sensible and sound opposition to the expansion of the Athabascan Tar Sands must be taken, if not for our morals then for our wallets. …show more content…
The green house effect is a climate phenomenon caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that trap heat in the atmosphere (Shaftel). While necessary to maintain life on earth, this fragile ecological process can be tipped too far in either direction. Sadly, this is exactly what has been happening. Global temperatures have increased to an unprecedented 1.1 degrees since industrialization (Hansen et. La.). This may not sound momentous so to put that into perspective. 20,000 years ago, at the height of the last ice age, global temperatures were five degrees colder than now (Shaftel). Or for something a little closer to home, sixteen of the last seventeen years have been the hottest years ever recorded, with each new year setting the new record after the last (Shaftel). In 2014, 1300 independent leading ecological scientists convened for the Fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change at the United Nations. They concluded there was a 95% chance that this increase has been the direct result of human activities such as burning fossil fuels (Intergovernmental Panel). The temperature increase has far deeper consequences than just hotter days, though. As the temperature increases weather patterns are exaggerated, with a tendency of more arid climates. This means increased desertification, more powerful storms, and harsher droughts. Large bodies of ice, like glaciers or the polar ice caps, have also been melting into the sea causing higher sea levels and increased acidity in the oceans (Shaftel). Extreme weather has always been a possibility, but as temperatures continue to climb the likelihood of these catastrophic events rises with it. These cascading problems are devastating our environment and will only continue to
We are divided between the unethical and the irresponsible. We contribute to global emissions that are rapidly snowballing out of our control while trying to balance a precarious economy. Yet some feel that to benefit one would inherently be to the detriment to the other. Canada can not afford to view the world through the lens of this false dichotomy and reconciliation between these two sides is the only option. The exportation of Canadian fossil fuels is destroying our environment and is sacrificing our long-term economic prosperity for fleeting gains. A sensible and sound opposition to the expansion of the Athabascan Tar Sands must be taken, if not for our morals then for our wallets. …show more content…
The green house effect is a climate phenomenon caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that trap heat in the atmosphere (Shaftel). While necessary to maintain life on earth, this fragile ecological process can be tipped too far in either direction. Sadly, this is exactly what has been happening. Global temperatures have increased to an unprecedented 1.1 degrees since industrialization (Hansen et. La.). This may not sound momentous so to put that into perspective. 20,000 years ago, at the height of the last ice age, global temperatures were five degrees colder than now (Shaftel). Or for something a little closer to home, sixteen of the last seventeen years have been the hottest years ever recorded, with each new year setting the new record after the last (Shaftel). In 2014, 1300 independent leading ecological scientists convened for the Fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change at the United Nations. They concluded there was a 95% chance that this increase has been the direct result of human activities such as burning fossil fuels (Intergovernmental Panel). The temperature increase has far deeper consequences than just hotter days, though. As the temperature increases weather patterns are exaggerated, with a tendency of more arid climates. This means increased desertification, more powerful storms, and harsher droughts. Large bodies of ice, like glaciers or the polar ice caps, have also been melting into the sea causing higher sea levels and increased acidity in the oceans (Shaftel). Extreme weather has always been a possibility, but as temperatures continue to climb the likelihood of these catastrophic events rises with it. These cascading problems are devastating our environment and will only continue to