GLOBAL WARMING

• The 1990s was the hottest decade of the 20th century and probably of the last 1,000 years. Temperatures in the lower mainland have already increased about 0.5 degrees Celsius in the last hundred years.
  
  
• Globally, 700,000 deaths per year could be prevented if moderate GHG emission reduction policies were implemented by 2020.
  
  
• The annual net cost of global warming for developed nations is 1-2% of GDP. In Canada, that's $8-16 billion each year.
  
  
• In the GVRD, 40% of greenhouse gas emission come from vehicles, 29% from heating and cooling systems, and 24% from industrial sources.
  
  
• Canada is one of the worst producers of greenhouse gases. While Canada's emissions are slightly less per capita than Australia and the United States, they far exceed most other countries. Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are almost 23 tonnes per capita, compared to 11 tonnes in Japan, 12 tonnes in the United Kingdom and 3 tonnes in China.
  
  
• Warmer drier summers and milder winters are likely to result in increased insect infestations, reducing the productivity of the lumber industry in B.C. There has already been a four-fold increase in mountain pine beetle infestation.
  
  
• Increasing temperatures of coastal waters are disrupting the spawning and migration of salmon, which in turn is impacting the feeding habits of bears and bald eagles.

URBAN SPRAWL

• 80 per cent of Canadians live in cities, double the figure of 100 years ago.
  
  
• In 1999, approximately four million people lived in BC. By 2015, our numbers are expected to grow to five million, resulting in 500,000 new homes and 800,000 new vehicles.
  
  
• Commute times in the GVRD have increased by 33% in the last decade.
  
  
• Due to rising demand for electricity, BC Hydro is projecting that overall electricity use in BC will grow by 30 per cent between 1998 and 2015.
  
  
• We share our planet with myriad forms of life, but the habitat that sustains these animals and plants is disappearing at an alarming rate.
  
  
• Currently 30% of Vancouver's land area is dedicated to roads, bridges and parking.
  
  
• Since 1981, the Fraser Valley, Canada's most fertile agricultural region, has lost agricultural land and greenspace equivalent to nearly 35 Stanley Parks.
  
  
• In what scientists describe as the greatest mass extinction since the age of dinosaurs, the world may soon lose one in every three species of fish, one in every four mammals and one in eight plants.
  
  
• Thirty-six vertebrate species in the Georgia Basin are either threatened or endangered. An additional 32 are considered vulnerable, including the Great Blue Heron.

WATER SHORTAGES

• Today, many important freshwater and marine areas have been so spoiled that many species are at risk, including ourselves. Sources of contamination include: human sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff, fish farming and other aquaculture, logging, mining, and automobile use.
  
  
• It would cost hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs to meet anticipated increases in water demand over the next 20 years. Initiatives to reduce demand would significantly reduce these costs.
  
  
• Unless we remain vigilant, we may find the water in our own backyard both being privatized and being shipped around the world.

AIR POLLUTION

• Up to 150 premature deaths per year in the Lower Mainland can be attributed to air pollution, about the same number as from HIV, accidental falls or traffic accidents.
  
  
• Between 1989 and 1992, asthma, allergies and other chronic breathing problems in Canada increased by 60 per cent. Childhood asthma is now the leading cause of school absenteeism in the country.
  
  
• The BC Ministry of the Environment estimated the annual costs of air pollution resulting from impacts to human health in the Lower Fraser Valley was in the order of $830 million in 1990 and projected this cost would increase to $1.5 billion by 2005.
  
  
• Automobiles and light-duty trucks account for more than 58% of all the common air pollutants in the region.
  
  
• Three quarters of the air pollution in the GVRD comes from automobile tailpipes.
  
  
• The equivalent of $8 million per year in crop losses are estimated for the Lower Fraser Valley as a result of low level ozone.

SOLID WASTE

• Canadians produce more garbage per person than any other nation in the world - 1.8 kilograms per person per day. Landfilling garbage represents a waste of the earth's energy and resources, a significant cost for communities that must find new landfills when existing ones fill up, and adverse effects such as groundwater contamination and other forms of pollution.
  
  
• People in the GVRD currently generate about 2.7 million tonnes of solid waste a year. Of this total, 25 per cent is residential, 43 per cent is industrial, commercial and institutional, and 32 per cent is demolition, land clearing and construction waste.
  
  
• Solid waste produces greenhouse gas emissions in two ways. Emissions come from the fossil fuel energy used in the management process and the landfill sites themselves produce landfill gas, a major source of methane.

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