Mr. Speaker, on September 21 I asked the Minister of the Environment what measures the government was taking to counter the human causes
of climate change. In the meantime, a draft report by the United Nations panel on climate change has been published citing human activity as the contributing factor to climate change. In addition, there has been an Environment Canada report citing increasing summer temperatures in the last 10 years.
What is the cause of climate change? Briefly, it is caused by an envelope in the atmosphere which is created by the burning of fossil fuels on our part as a society, beginning with the industrial revolution 150 years ago.
What are the effects of this envelope? This envelope does not allow solar rays deflected once they touch the earth's surface to re-enter the atmosphere. Thus, the greenhouse effect is gradually formed. In other words, the effect of solar rays as deflected by the earth's surface is no longer the same as in the past. They are contained by the greenhouse gases envelope.
What is the main problem at the base of this? In essence, it is our dependence on fossil fuels, coal and gasoline, but also the emission of methane gases in our dump sites and the production of other gases that are mostly correlated to human activities or the necessities of agriculture and the like.
Next month the international panel on climate change will meet and likely approve a draft report which will mark a major turning point in the climate change debate.
Until now some members of the scientific community believe that the rising temperatures since the beginning of the industrial revolution could be attributed to at least in good part a variability in climate rather than the result of human activity. With this draft, the scientific panel will likely state and confirm that climate change is taking place as a result of human activity. Hence the adoption of this report by the international panel on climate change would result in an authoritative confirmation that global warming is posing a threat.
Some have suggested that the effects of climate change may actually be advantageous to Canada. These assumptions are now being refuted.
The report I am referring to predicts the changes associated with climate change are likely to have a negative impact not only on human health but on other human activities such as agriculture, forestry and the like.
The consequences are far reaching in economic and social terms. These are again explored in the panel's draft report as discussed last week in Montreal. The first attempt to assess the social and economic impact of climate change is the one that took place in Montreal.
I would appreciate very much a reply by the parliamentary secretary to this issue which, although stretched into the long term, is going to be of significant importance for the human family the globe over.