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Drought and deluge

May 11, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Doug Skeates

There has been a great deal of attention in the media about stewardship of resources. The most outstanding topics pertain to global warming and the resultant dire changes in climate patterns with high destruction of communities and loss of life. While increasing temperature worldwide is a root cause, the impact on human life is of major concern as each disaster occurs. Hurricanes are nothing new to coastal communities, but the severity of destruction and death caused by Hurricane Katrina in Caribbean communities and Hurricane Sandy in the northeast U.S. should provide a real awakening to what the future holds.

Such events, though massive, have particularly severe consequences on a local basis, but the real impact on human life is of broader ecological concern. 

The melting of ice caps reduces obvious surface reserves. Luckily precipitation has a greater effect on supporting the basis of life, i.e. storage of fresh water underground. Wise stewardship of land and oceans ensures the production of food. However, over the last couple of centuries, mankind has placed a higher priority on converting the world’s resource base into more economically profitable forms. Society is now experiencing the results. Death and destruction on the home front make news, but the real story of starvation and inadequate water is far more widespread.

Stewardship of the world’s resources, the land on which we live, and the food provided by the world’s oceans are essential elements of survival. Conversion of vast areas from food productivity to cities and highways and the destruction of ecosystems for economic purposes, along with the pollution of oceans and misuse of the atmosphere, have left the planet in a serious state of affairs. 

Mankind has put its eggs into an ecological basket with its dependence on a monetary base. All members of society require the air we breathe and the food and water we consume every day of the year.

A report prepared by students of Guelph University emphasizes the potential contribution of Indigenous and Northern communities to Ontario’s well-being. Those who live closest to the natural world tend to be more aware of the importance of existing ecosystems and how they affect their lives. 

Those living on Aboriginal reserves could be major producers of seedling production and provide sources of increased manpower for youth employment. The industrial revolution and its tremendous technological advances have given society its present prosperity, but at the same time, they have created serious problems through misuse of the world’s resource base.

Over the last few decades, the greatest societal change has been the emphasis on the evolution of ecological values. 

Scientists have been warning about an increasing level of the world’s mean temperature and expected resultant changes in climate. There has been considerable debate on the subject, but the implementation of necessary elements has been difficult to achieve. Strangely enough, one of the effects of the Russian attack on Ukraine has been the European increase in the development of renewable forms of energy. Reliance on Russian oil has forced several countries to concentrate on greater self-reliance.

Many countries have promised to increase their emphasis on renewable energy sources and reducing carbon production in the atmosphere – the major cause of the world’s greenhouse effect. In Canada, the Prime Minister has pledged to increase forest re-establishment of ecosystems by planting two billion more trees by 2030. The industry is placing greater emphasis on electric vehicles, a change from dependence on fossil fuel. Canada’s Boreal Forest is one of the world’s greatest ecological rain forests supporting the world’s atmosphere. Similarly, those ecosystems help to protect the viability of the planet.

Those dependent on the resource base are in a valuable position to maintain and improve productivity. Protection of ecosystems requires a greater emphasis on the production of trees and the provision of adequate funding for employing residents and particularly local young people. 

The establishment of nurseries and rebuilding forest lands are basic to the prosperity of northern communities. 

Similarly, the utilization of waste materials from past harvesting practices can add considerably to the province’s economy.

The current ‘war’, mankind vs the planet, is proving to be one of the greatest problems faced yet. The human race is a formidable force, with nature being an effective adversary.  

It must be recognized that the planet’s surface can just as quickly be an ally if managed cooperatively.

By Doug Skeates

There has been a great deal of attention in the media about stewardship of resources. The most outstanding topics pertain to global warming and the resultant dire changes in climate patterns with high destruction of communities and loss of life. While increasing temperature worldwide is a root cause, the impact on human life is of major concern as each disaster occurs. Hurricanes are nothing new to coastal communities, but the severity of destruction and death caused by Hurricane Katrina in Caribbean communities and Hurricane Sandy in the northeast U.S. should provide a real awakening to what the future holds.

Such events, though massive, have particularly severe consequences on a local basis, but the real impact on human life is of broader ecological concern. 

The melting of ice caps reduces obvious surface reserves. Luckily precipitation has a greater effect on supporting the basis of life, i.e. storage of fresh water underground. Wise stewardship of land and oceans ensures the production of food. However, over the last couple of centuries, mankind has placed a higher priority on converting the world’s resource base into more economically profitable forms. Society is now experiencing the results. Death and destruction on the home front make news, but the real story of starvation and inadequate water is far more widespread.

Stewardship of the world’s resources, the land on which we live, and the food provided by the world’s oceans are essential elements of survival. Conversion of vast areas from food productivity to cities and highways and the destruction of ecosystems for economic purposes, along with the pollution of oceans and misuse of the atmosphere, have left the planet in a serious state of affairs. 

Mankind has put its eggs into an ecological basket with its dependence on a monetary base. All members of society require the air we breathe and the food and water we consume every day of the year.

A report prepared by students of Guelph University emphasizes the potential contribution of Indigenous and Northern communities to Ontario’s well-being. Those who live closest to the natural world tend to be more aware of the importance of existing ecosystems and how they affect their lives. 

Those living on Aboriginal reserves could be major producers of seedling production and provide sources of increased manpower for youth employment. The industrial revolution and its tremendous technological advances have given society its present prosperity, but at the same time, they have created serious problems through misuse of the world’s resource base.

Over the last few decades, the greatest societal change has been the emphasis on the evolution of ecological values. 

Scientists have been warning about an increasing level of the world’s mean temperature and expected resultant changes in climate. There has been considerable debate on the subject, but the implementation of necessary elements has been difficult to achieve. Strangely enough, one of the effects of the Russian attack on Ukraine has been the European increase in the development of renewable forms of energy. Reliance on Russian oil has forced several countries to concentrate on greater self-reliance.

Many countries have promised to increase their emphasis on renewable energy sources and reducing carbon production in the atmosphere – the major cause of the world’s greenhouse effect. In Canada, the Prime Minister has pledged to increase forest re-establishment of ecosystems by planting two billion more trees by 2030. The industry is placing greater emphasis on electric vehicles, a change from dependence on fossil fuel. Canada’s Boreal Forest is one of the world’s greatest ecological rain forests supporting the world’s atmosphere. Similarly, those ecosystems help to protect the viability of the planet.

Those dependent on the resource base are in a valuable position to maintain and improve productivity. Protection of ecosystems requires a greater emphasis on the production of trees and the provision of adequate funding for employing residents and particularly local young people. 

The establishment of nurseries and rebuilding forest lands are basic to the prosperity of northern communities. 

Similarly, the utilization of waste materials from past harvesting practices can add considerably to the province’s economy.

The current ‘war’, mankind vs the planet, is proving to be one of the greatest problems faced yet. The human race is a formidable force, with nature being an effective adversary.  

It must be recognized that the planet’s surface can just as quickly be an ally if managed cooperatively.

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