If an alien life form came to Earth and happened to ask me for a brief overview of what's going on with our planet, here's what I would say: Did you see that big blue area covering more than 70 per cent of the Earth's surface called the global ocean? It's the source of all life, it supports more than 50 per cent of the planet's species and creates more than half of our oxygen supply but because of human - the species I belong to - behaviour, its ecosystem is on the verge of collapse, a massive extinction is about to take place. Humans have the most to lose and our leaders aren't doing anything about it.
What I'd be referring to is the international report recently released by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), a consortium of scientists dedicated to (and I quote from the official website) "saving the Earth and all life on it." Early this year, the group organized a meeting at Oxford University, where 27 of the world's leading ocean experts from eight countries concluded that from their perspective things didn't look so good on the oceanic front.
In fact, our ocean is so sick that it can't handle much more abuse and is on the verge of collapse. The report identified climate change, resulting in rising sea temperatures and acidification, as the prime culprit in the ocean's imminent death. Over-fishing, oil and gas extraction, pollution, and habitat destruction were listed as the other big threats.
No surprise: We've heard these all before. But because of the cumulative effects of the above-listed stressors, IPSO has ascertained that the marine ecosystem is deteriorating so much faster than previously understood that just one decade remains before irreversible and catastrophic damage occurs. Basically, Planet Earth has just made the endangered species list. Life as we know it on our little blue planet is in jeopardy.
One decade. At the current rate of economic growth. Ten more years of iPods, computers, cell phones, plastic overpackaging, useless gadgets, disposable junk, gas-powered lifestyles and bad Hollywood movies means that just one decennial is left of wild salmon, fresh-off-the-boat prawns, orca and dolphin sightings and polar bears.
However, the report also states that there is still time for human behaviour to change to avoid this global ecological disaster. Unbelievably - thankfully - there is hope. And the proposed solutions are just as familiar-sounding as the problems. Reducing CO2 emissions will reverse the effects of climate change; new and improved management of fisheries will stop over-fishing; the establishment of marine reserves is the best line of defence against oil and gas extraction, pollution and habitat destruction. Again, no surprises. So, what's the problem? Let's get to work!
But in the days following CBC's radio and TV broadcasts about the IPSO report, I didn't come across any follow-up stories indicating that the report has been taken seriously by the world's leading politicians. No news surfaced in mainstream media about new global initiatives or intergovernmental movements to address the warnings about the ocean's collapse. Apparently, the Oakland preacher who predicted that May 21, 2011 would be the end of the world (and has since changed his prediction to Oct. 21) received more press, as did the post-Game 7 riots in Vancouver and B.C.'s HST debacle.
Already despondent - my fires of optimism having been dimmed a few weeks earlier by a story on the Internet (albeit, a highly disputed one) that there is more plastic than plankton in the Pacific - I decided to turn to my Canadian government for some reassurance that myself, my country, and the future of the world were in good hands.
An honours history major, I'm trained to view Canada as the purveyor of all that is good in the international community. Surely, even for a majority Conservative government, the source of all life on Earth would trump everything and anything on the political agenda of an advanced country such as ours.
What I discovered instead is that the Harper government is slashing more than 20 per cent of the National Research Council of Canada's budget to the tune of more than $200 million in addition to cutting more than 50 Environment Canada contract positions involved in climate change research.
With some departments such as Corrections Canada getting budget increases, the Ottawa Citizen reported that when it comes to federal cutbacks to tackle the national deficit, the government is ideologically motivated, meaning "non-core departments and agencies... are likely to be hit hardest."
Apparently, life on Earth doesn't trump building more jail cells, or oil production - the leading cause of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and the antithesis to restoring the ocean's health.
According to the Canada Climate Action Network website, Alberta's tar sands receive a disproportionate amount of the $1.4 billion in yearly federal subsidies to Canada's oil and gas companies. And it was reported in the Financial Times on May 18 that Alberta's oil minister Ron Liepert said Alberta was going "full speed ahead" in an effort to double production by the end of the century and that technological progress might allow the province to find new ways to extract oil, further increasing production. But according to the head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Earth's leading climatologist, James Hansen, in a June 23 interview, the dangerous levels of atmospheric CO2 caused by the continued development of the energy-intensive process of extracting oil from Canada's tar sands means "it's essentially game over."
Obviously, Liepert or the Harper government didn't get the memo that true technological progress needs to lead us away from oil dependency, not further entrench us in it. So now that the Canadian government is choosing to ignore climate change and cut back the department responsible for the cutting-edge research needed for the development of, in the words of Green Party leader Elizabeth May, a "future-oriented economy that needs to be resilient and stable in the face of global changes," Canadian MPs who profess to care about the future of the planet must begin to think outside party lines and decide on a new course of action.
Crossing the floor of the House of Commons to join May seems to me like the logical first step. The country can't wait four years until the next election to bolster the only political party in Canada with its priorities in line with the changing times.
