Despite the fact that British Columbia arguably has the dubious honour of leading Canada’s provinces and territories in displaying the most visible signs of climate change, the production of greenhouses gases has gone up nearly 30 percent in the province since 1990.
What will it take for British Columbians to wise up to the effects their excesses are having on the forests, rivers and oceans that are so often lauded in promotional brochures and television spots across the country? If bearing witness to the kilometres of orange needled skeletons in the formerly healthy pine forests of the interior or living in apprehension of another fire-filled summer in the Thompson-Nicola and the Okanagan region will not stop people from driving their Hummers to work, is there anything that can be done to convince people that the melting of artic ice floes and the degradation of global air quality really is going to have a lasting and harmful effect on BC?
What does climate change actually mean for this province? In both economic and social terms, British Columbians have already lost a lot and stand to lose a lot more.
Without factoring in timber losses, fighting the wildfires in the summer of 2003 cost BC over $500 million and the loss of three dedicated fire-fighters. Unusually severe storms knocked down hundreds of trees in Stanley Park in the winters of 2006 and 2007. Salmon runs have been decimated or severely altered in the last decade. Water scarcity led to a drought in Tofino in the summer of 2006, virtually shutting down the city’s tourism industry during the peak month of August. The mountain pine beetle has now killed over 8.7 million hectares of BC forest, which threatens the livelihood of over 30 communities across the province.
The cost of climate change can be measured in both real and abstract terms in provinces across the country. Sadly, in the province of British Columbia, which has long defined itself as the natural mecca of Canada, these drastic changes seem all the more tragic, particularly in light of the fact that the increase in greenhouse gas emissions are coming primarily from the oil and gas sector and vehicle usage. The more oil that is drilled, the more oil British Columbians consume.
A recent and drastic increase in fuel prices has a lot of environmental and economic pundits asking consumers how much they are willing to pay to keep driving. The question is a good one. Just how much are we, as British Columbians, Canadians and citizens of the world, willing to give up? An extra 20 bucks a week to fuel up? A scenic forested landscape outside our window? Clean and constant drinking water?
As Malcolm Gladwell noted in his book, The Tipping Point, often the slightest incident can serve as the catalyst of great change. Hopefully, that catalyst is coming to British Columbia. Soon.
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