INDIVIDUALS
Can you face it? You're the ones responsible for what's going down. You are global warming. So now's your last chance to buck up and do something about it. Whether socially, at school, at work, or at your home, just get started!
CANADA DID IT.
Who? Us? Yes! Canadians are the second worst emitters of carbon dioxide per capita, next to Americans. Canadians have a huge appetite for energy.
Ironically, citizens of developing countries—where climate change will take its greatest toll—produce only a fraction of the greenhouse gases of Canadians. By the numbers:
- Canada is one of the greatest consumers of energy per capita, burning the equivalent of roughly 7,700 litres of oil per person each year. This is roughly 50 times the consumption rate of Bangladesh, a country that stands to be largely eliminated by climate change-induced sea level rise.
- Canadians use more energy than all of the 760 million inhabitants of Africa.
- Canada makes up less than one half of one percent of the world's population, but is the world's eighth largest producer of carbon dioxide.
- Canadians spend about $75 billion annually—10 percent of our GDP—on energy to heat homes and offices, and to operate cars, factories and appliances. This is equivalent to $2,500 per person.
Illustration: Jason Thompson
THE SOCIAL CONTEXT
We use a lot of energy, and our energy needs are growing quickly. This is due largely to the fact that our global population is growing.
Practices such as cutting down a dozen trees to build one house, clearing a field to feed a dozen cows, burning coal to heat a room, or cook a meal—even using a car to take just one person to work—are not going to fly for much longer. More people, more homes, more cars and more industry all equal more carbon dioxide outputs. The problem is growing faster than we can keep up with it. For each person trying to cut down on their energy usage, sadly there are others using more and more.
The expanding population is not solely responsible for the world’s growing energy needs. The industrialized world is largely based on the production, selling, and acquiring of goods. The planet’s limited resources are hardly an afterthought. Transporting these resources, the use of them, and their disposal all contribute to energy use.
Western thinking is based on having "stuff". Success is judged by how much ‘stuff’ one has, or how new/expensive/big one's ‘stuff’ is. This is the blueprint for how economies grow, and nations become rich. The idea of using less, or producing less, goes against what society has been striving for. Consumers have been conditioned to want more, buy more and use more. It's an epidemic, really, and it's going to lead to our earth's demise.
THE TRANSPORTATION ISSUE
Next to the energy we produce for electricity use, one of the fastest growing sources of carbon dioxide emissions is road vehicles.
All the cars and trucks we’re scooting around in produce 30 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Can you believe that? There are actually more than 500 million cars on the road today, and that number doesn’t even account for all of the millions of new cars manufactured every year.
The crazy thing is that the average Canadian spends more money owning and operating a car than on housing, food or education! It’s a wonder that most families even own two cars! Two cars and they’re used for convenience's sake. Most are driven with only the driver on board, and far too many are disposed of once a new model becomes available, even if the older car still works well.
Car culture is ever evolving. Manufacturers keep developing new gadgets and accessories. Most improvements to cars require the use of more energy. Power windows, seat warmers, and DVD players add up to higher fuel consumption. More powerful cars are on the market as a result. Once you consider all that, it’s not hard to believe that the average vehicle contains forty pounds of wiring alone, just to connect all the electrical components.
Pure Power. This is precisely how the SUV became popular. However, perhaps it was meeting the consumers’ needs for a status symbol more than it was meeting demands for a powerful car. And what were all these demands for, anyway? Less than 5% of SUV drivers take their vehicles off road. That’s a lot of power for a lot of nothing. What’s worse, SUVs have been recently granted the title of fastest growing cause of global warming. Could that be because they burn 45% more fuel than regular cars?
OKAY, SO WE'RE TO BLAME FOR EVERYTHING?
Let's not play the blame game. Instead, just scoot over to our WHAT YOU CAN DO page. It's filled with such helpful tips!
1 Source:www.prb.org/content/navigation_menu/PRB/Educators/
Human_Population/Population_Growth/Population_Growth/