Combating Smog:
Working Together to Breathe
Easier
By John Godfrey, Minister of
State for Infrastructure and Communities
Summer smog has become a fact
of life in Canada.
With the
increasing frequency of smog days in our major cities, Canadians are
growing more and more aware of its dangers, particularly to the health of
our children, the elderly and those with cardio-respiratory problems. Few
of us, however, understand its causes.
Smog happens
when three factors come together – ground-level ozone, airborne
particles and warm, humid air. Ground-level
ozone forms when pollutants released by gasoline and diesel-powered
vehicles and oil-based solvents interact in sunlight.
Airborne particles are a mixture of liquid droplets, the tiny solid
matter that comes from industrial emissions, wind-blown dust and vehicle
exhaust. Combine ground-level
ozone with these particles on a hot, humid summer day and this chemical
soup hovers in the air we breathe.
Though we
understand the conditions that create smog, combating it is no simple
matter. Like climate change,
smog does not respect national boundaries. A recent Ontario Ministry of
the Environment study reported that 55% of the smog that hovers over
Ontario’s major cities originates from the United States.
Adding to
this challenge is the fact that international levels of greenhouse gases
emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2) are now increasing faster than
ever, and temperatures have risen to
record levels over the 20th century.
The 1990s were the warmest decade since records have been kept.
This increase in temperature is directly linked to our increasing number
of smog days.
Project Green:
Moving Forward on Climate Change
Any effort
to address smog must be comprehensive, international in scope, and
achievable. Those were the
goals of the Liberal government’s Moving Forward on Climate Change—a
ground breaking climate change plan aimed at meeting Canada’s
commitments under the Kyoto protocol while delivering cleaner air and a
healthier environment for all Canadians for generations to come.
The plan is part of Project Green, the Liberal government’s
broader environmental vision aimed at supporting a sustainable environment
and a more competitive economy.
Project
Green includes measures to regulate some 700 companies operating in mining
and manufacturing, oil, gas and thermal energy production to ensure both
emission reductions and long term economic growth and innovation. As well,
the Liberal government signed voluntary agreements with Canada’s auto
manufacturers that will reduce vehicle emissions by 5.3 mega-tonnes
annually.
But Project
Green is not our only clean-air and climate change initiative.
Implemented in 2000, our Air Quality Program invested over $210
million to substantially reduce sulphur in gasoline and diesel fuels,
resulting in significant emission reductions that are projected to prevent
2,100 premature deaths from air pollution over the next 20 years.
A Role for You
To further
reduce emissions, the government recently committed $800 million to
improve transit in cities across Canada, encouraging more Canadians to
leave their cars at home. As well, we are contributing $5 billion over
five years for environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure
targeted at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
These
initiatives in our cities and communities remind us of another important
factor in reducing smog-causing pollutants – you.
By participating in programs such as the One-Tonne Challenge, the
Commuter Challenge and Clean Air Day, and by simply taking greater care in
the choices we make, we can all help reduce emissions.
Learn more at www.climatechange.gc.ca
Good work has been done.
But much more work lies ahead. And the more we do now, the more our
children and grandchildren will breathe easier in the future.
