Canada has one of the worst track records with dealing with carbon emissions. They are, on a per capita basis, one of the worst polluters on the planet.
Canada has had a worst time, than most other industrialized countries, to stand up to their commitments made under the Kyoto accords. And in fact, by 2007 Canada was up 34% from where they agreed to be, under the Kyoto Accords.
One of the major reasons, has been the continued cultivation, and use of the sand-tar reserves, along with a lackluster attempt at carbon emission caps/regulations.
But it seems that Canada is starting to make strides towards understanding the effort of their pollution.
They have choose to save around 250 Million Acres (An area more than twice the size of California) of their boreal forests.
More after the fold:
The nature-made pollution fighter:
The boreal forests in Canada, have been known as one of the best combatants in the fight with carbon emissions.
It's forest mix, with trees, wetlands, peat and tundra, has been very beneficial, in the absorption of carbon emissions. According to the International Boreal Conservation Campaign, boreal forests soak up around 22% of all the carbon stored on the Earth's land surface.
"If you look across Canada one of [the boreal forest's] great values to us globally is its carbon storage value," said Steve Kallick, director of the Pew Environment Group's International Boreal Conservation Campaign. "There is so much carbon sequestered in it already that if it escaped it would pose a whole new, very grave threat."
Canada's recent track record:
This maneuver seems completely out of the norm for Canada, who many say are dragging their feet on proposing any substantial legislation to held hinder their carbon footprint as a nation.
The produce 2% of the world's carbon emissions, but only have 33 Million residents. Some have called for much tougher measures be taken. And for the development of the Alberta tar sands be stopped.
The sheer scale of the forest conservation drive is somewhat of an anomaly for Canada, whose government has been accused of sabotaging the global climate change talks by its development of the Alberta tar sands and its refusal to make deep cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions.
Many, including a former adviser for President Obama, have asked for more actions from Canada's Prime Minister, who has seemed lacking in the field of carbon emissions, and many say is continuing the same efforts that were undertaken by President Bush.
Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, is resisting doing much more, committing to just a 6% cut over 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. "I see Harper's policy as a continuation of the Bush agenda," said David Martin, climate director for Greenpeace Canada.
A key advisor to Obama made a similar point last week, comparing Canada's current climate change policy to the inaction in America under George Bush. "The Canadians would be well served by keeping up with what's going on in the United States with respect to this push towards clean technology," John Podesta, who oversaw Obama's transition team, told a conference in Ottawa.
There is also fears, that even if any actions are acted upon by Prime Minister Harper, it won't include the Alberta tar sands-a major cause of much of Canada's carbon emission woes.
What Lies under the forest's trees:
According to a Greenpeace study, there is approximately 27 year's worth of the world's pollution, stored in the 1.3 Billion acres of boreal forests in Canada.
The fear is, that not protected, the removal and damaging of those forests would be the equivalent of a "carbon bomb", because the release of all the stored carbon.
So the efforts to protect these lands are being undertaken by local governments, and by local people and organizations, since the Canadian government will not do it.
In a series of initiatives, Canadian provincial governments and aboriginal leaders have set aside vast tracts of coniferous woods, wetlands, and peat. The conservation drive bans logging, mining, and oil drilling on some 250m acres – an area more than twice the size of California.
One of the biggest supporters in Canada of this is current Canadian Ambassador to Washington, and former provincial premier of Manitoba, Gary Doer.
His last action as provincial premier was to give $10 Million Canadian to preserve 10.8 Million Acre expansion of either boreal or evergreen forests.
The money will go to support local indigenous leaders efforts, to designate boreal forest lands in eastern Manitoba as a Unesco world heritage site. One of the groups also helping along is the Pimachiowin Aki world heritage project.
The Pimachiowin Aki world heritage project, which straddles the Manitoba-Ontario border, extends efforts by Canadian provincial leaders to protect the wide swaths of pristine forests in the north. It also ensures the survival of one of the best natural defences against global warming after the world's oceans, environmentalists say.
But this not a completely safe system, and the system itself, can be harmed by the efforts of Global Warming.
Canada's cold temperatures slow decomposition, allowing the build-up of organic soil and peat. The forest floors beneath its evergreens hold twice as much carbon per acre as tropical forests, such as the Amazon.
With the constant rising temperatures, and the area of main concern being the area near these boreal forests are located, there might be very little time left, before the forest could hold no more.
It is unclear how long Canada's forests can continue to serve as carbon vaults. "As the climate warms, the place is going to dry up. There will be a problem with insect infestation. There is going to be increased natural carbon release due to fire or wetlands drying up," said Sue Libenson, a spokeswoman for the International Boreal Conservation Campaign.
But that does not mean that these forests should not be protected.
But she added: "The general premise is that there is still a hell of a lot of carbon in there." Its release would be a climate catastrophe.
What we can do to help:
There are many things that we can do to help.
#1 Being, preserving our national resources, by using less electricity and burning of fossil fuels. Turn the TV off an hour earlier, turn you computer off for the night, walk or ride a bike instead of driving, and try to keep things you don't need unplugged.
#2 We can show our support for renewable energies, by supporting Repower America, and donate if you possibly can.
#3 If you Canadian Citizen, please pressure your local officials, and government leaders to endorse and continue the efforts to save these forests, and to help Canada move away from the dangers of nonrenewable energy.
#4 Support the IBCC (International Boreal Conservation Campaign), and the Boreal Songbird Initiative. Along with the The Pimachiowin Aki world heritage project
Together, we can save these forests, and help with some of the most important sources of carbon elimination. If we can do this, and then start to eliminate some of our harmful ways, we can preserve them for years to come.
Without any efforts, we could see not only a huge loss of forest grounds, but a huge amount of carbon being released into the air, with catastrophic consequences.