In recent years, environmental degradation and pollution become an issue of the day in Canada. The main problem is that international regimes do not pay much attention to the conservation of engendered species and forests affected in many parts of Canada. The main task of the global community is to persuade the global South to join in environmental protection regimes and reduce pollution. As aboriginals sought control over their resources and fairer prices, they turned to intertribal cooperation (Assembly of First Nations 2008).
Many tribes in the northern plains created a natural resources federation that dealt with minerals, water, and agriculture. Water rights have remained a vital subject for both aboriginals and whites. The basic issues changed little after the late 1990s. In the absence of general legislation defining Indian water rights, Indians believed that the international doctrine and other case law entitled them to sufficient water for their irrigable land and additional quantities for other types of development. “Following the Marshall decision, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) initiated a process to provide the 34 First Nations affected by the decision with increased access to the commercial fisher” (Aboriginal fisheries 2007). Human-induced climate change such as global warming represents another example of the decisive shift in both the intensity and extent of contemporary environmental problems.
Nature is considered a ‘resource’ to be used instrumentally to fulfill human desires. The most extreme manifestation of this anthropocentric paradigm is reflected in the dominant values and beliefs of consumerism. The dominated culture industry seeks to convince its global audience that the meaning and chief value of life can be found in the limitless accumulation of material possessions (INAC Land Claim Maps 2004).
At the dawn of the 21st century, however, it has become impossible to ignore the fact that people everywhere on this planet are inextricably linked to each other through the air they breathe, the climate they depend upon, the food they eat, and the water they drink. Despite this obvious lesson of interdependence, our planet’s ecosystems are subjected to continuous human assault in order to secure wasteful lifestyles. Granted, some of the major environmental challenges the world faces today are problems that afflicted civilizations even in ancient times. Two of the major concerns relate to uncontrolled population growth and lavish consumption patterns in the global South.
Since farming economies first came into existence, the global South has exploded a thousand-fold. With the possible exception of some rodent species, humans are now the most numerous mammals on Earth. In Canada, pollution causes environmental degradation problems in aboriginal areas affected by fishing and forestry. The global impact of humans on the environment is as much a function of per capita consumption as it is of overall population size. “The AFN climate change program will build stronger networks to work on climate change issues with First Nations provincial and territorial organizations, communities and various government departments” (Assembly of First Nations 2008).
The global South should join in international conventions and charters in order to control and reduce hazardous pollutants dumped into the air. Vastly increased demands for food, timber, and fiber have put severe pressure on the planet’s ecosystems. Today, large areas of the Earth’s surface, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, have nearly ceased to be biologically productive. Concerns about the relationship between population growth and environmental degradation are frequently focused rather narrowly on aggregate population levels. Unless humans are willing to change the underlying cultural and religious value structure that sustains these ominous dynamics, the health of Earth is likely to deteriorate even further (Boardman, 2002). The resulting ‘greenhouse effect’ is responsible for raising average temperatures worldwide.
References
- Aboriginal fisheries: Marshall Ruling. (2007). Web.
- Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Environment page (2008). Web.
- Boardman, ed. (2002). Canadian Environmental Policy: Context and Cases, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.
- INAC Land Claim Maps (2004). Web.