ENVIRONMENTAL TRENDS
& POPULAR MOVEMENTS
CLIMATE CHANGE
Figure 1. Sunset view along the Thames River in St. Marys Ontario (Boyes, 2022).
INTRODUCTION: THE PROBLEM
Climate change is a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is, in addition to natural climate variability, observed over comparable time periods (Hardy, 2003). This is not a new environmental concern. However, with recent extreme weather-related events across the world, we are particularly focused on what we can do to prevent further destruction. The change in climate has heightened focus on the growing impact on ecosystems, communities, and infrastructure. This environmental breakdown can be attributed to climate concerns that have continued to grow over the decades. We know that factors contributing to this breakdown include acid rain, oil spills, forest deforestation, ozone layer depletion, waste management, climate change, chemicals, and air pollution (Nullis, 2022). Greenhouse warming is a problem that is hard to control as humans continue consuming fossil fuels at record rates. Concerns are also due to the loss of species, higher water levels, food shortages, health risks, poverty, and displacement. “If we continue on our heavy dependence on fossil fuels, we will double the preindustrial atmosphere’s carbon dioxide level in a few decades and perhaps triple it by the end of this century” (Hardy, 2003).
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Figure 2. St. Marys Cement Plant (Boyes, 2022).
results
The resulting effects of our past actions have caused our current climate change and global warming concerns. The presence of severe weather conditions that result in frequent, droughts, flooding, heat waves, and hurricanes. One of the best examples of causes of climate change is the use of fossil fuels, which became the top energy source by choice. Its use resulted in rapid industrialization and further fossil fuel consumption. The constant burning of fossil fuels has increased the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide by 33% over the past 150 years (Hardy, 2003). Human activity is to blame for environmental change and changing human activity and increasing awareness is the only way to control it.
Figure 3. Snow melting on farmland outside of Exeter, Ontario (Boyes, 2022).
CLIMATE CHANGE MOVEMENTS
Environmental protests have been a strong trend for decades. Protests are demonstrations seeking to bring recognition of how people, companies, or governments impact a natural environment. These protests are staged to bring attention to environmental issues and to prompt action to prevent or address environmental problems (Bugden, 2020). Individuals and groups have over the decades taken on their own way of combatting the environmental issues with the use of protests or movements that are particularly trending in the world. Studies that have examined the effects of climate protests are hard to find and collaborate on. Undoubtedly, protests that have involved government officials, are associated with reduced carbon-dioxide emissions. Climate protests vary in topic and tactics, this can produce different effects. Protests can use lawful or unlawful disruptions, including the violence of peaceful marches and rallies. The change in the way protests advocate for change has evolved over the past 60 years due to social media and increased scientific information that has come about due to environmental concerns becoming visible (Bugden, 2020).
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The modern environmental movement began in the 1960s (Feldman, n.d.). The trend of environmental protests and environmental concerns was just beginning. Nuclear weapons and nuclear power were at the forefront of public concerns regarding the impacts of weapons testing. The environmental concern increased to pollution and air quality. Thanks to a committed young grassroots activists and Gaylord Nelson, a Democratic Senator in the United States, the first Earth Day took place on April 22, 1970. In 1972 world leaders at the UN conference recognized acid rain was falling on cities, oil spills were foiling oceans and forests were being clear-cut into oblivion to the present day (Rukikaire, 2022). From this, Earth Day, the most recognized environmental awareness day evolved. Marking the environment as a topic of concern for decades to follow with trends in awareness and solutions never-ending. The success of Earth Day immediately created the Environmental Protection Agency, and the passage of environmental bills, including the Clean Air Act of 1970, the Clean Water Act of 1972, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Feldman, n.d.). This environmental protest would become the most recognized form of environmental protest to date.
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Entering the 1980s, acid rain was an environmental concern. Acid rain occurs when sulphur dioxide and other pollutants mix with moisture in the air to form rain droplets with a high level of acidity (Vella, 2021). This acidity causes aluminum to leach out of the soil and water, potentially poisoning the plants and animals in the impacted ecosystem. During this time in environmental history and marine environmental issues, Greenpeace International was born as a strong fighting organization becoming on of the worlds best-known environmental groups to this date (Vella, 2021). Greenpeace has shifted focus over the decades from anti-nuclear issues, commercial whaling and overfishing to deforestation and the escalating climate crisis of today. Its core mission is still to preserve the plant and remarkably it still does not take donations form corporations and governments to avoid the risk of corruption.
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During the 1990s, the environmental talk was about saving the ozone layer and stopping the forests from deforestation to save oxygen. The ozone layer is one layer of the stratosphere and the second layer of the Earth’s atmosphere (Stott, Sun, Otto, & Christidis, 2016). The stratosphere, the second layer is the mass of protective gases that clings to our planet. The realization that human activity is the predominant factor in realizing artificial chemicals, known as ozone-depleting substances, into the atmosphere (Vella, 2021). These substances do not break down in the lower atmosphere. Deforestation has been a concern globally, with many stories from South America and closer to home in Canada. Again, in the 1990s, Greenpeace began protesting the destruction of the Great Bear Rainforest located in British Columbia (Sousa, n.d.). Through blockades, protests, and banners they exposed the story of forest destruction, particularly in first nation communities. Twenty years later, after their pressure on logging companies and the local government to change their approach finally worked (Sousa, n.d.). The trends in environmental protests you could say have evolved in the past 60 years to current-day concerns.
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What we see now could be said to be the result of many years of environmental neglect. Climate change and global warming are now the focus of environmental protests. The protest trends involve famous people, including Sir David Attenborough (filmmaker & broadcaster), Leonardo DiCaprio (actor), Jane Fonda (actress), Meryl Streep (actress) and Prince Harry. Most recently, Gretta Thunberg, an ordinary teenage girl who, in summoning the courage to speak truth to power, became the icon of a generation (Alter, Haynes, & Arbugaeva, 2019). Greta led her peers around the world in ‘climate strikes’. She has succeeded in creating a global awareness calling for urgent change. Her voice has persuaded leaders, from mayors to Presidents, to make commitments that had previously not been fulfilled. She, with the assistance of the British environmental group Extinction Rebellion, was able to have the U.K. passed a law requiring that the country eliminate its carbon footprint (Alter, Haynes, & Arbugaeva, 2019). The difference with this protest was its worldwide recognition that something needs to be done, and she has been successful.
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Figure 4. Ice on Lake Huron in Bayfield, Ontario (Boyes, 2022).
Figure 5. View of the Thames River from the Grand Trunk Trail in St. Marys, Ontario (Boyes, 2022).
Figure 6. St. Marys Grand Trunk Trail at the end of fall (Boyes, 2022).
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the trends in past environmental protests include the effects of nuclear weapons, air quality, acid rain, ozone depletion and global warming. These trends have evidently made an impact on today's environmental awareness. The increased awareness that we need to reduce waste and use low-carbon transportation could also promote sustainable behaviour. Protests will only continue and evolve. It is easier to see others take action, particularly with the advancement of social media. This will only motivate and empower others to take action, that’s a good trend. “In human lifetimes, climate change is slow, barely perceptible, and its potential impacts are understood by few” (Stott, Sun, Otto, & Christidis, 2016).
Figure 7. Rock Glen Waterfall in Arkona, Ontario (Boyes, 2022).
REFERENCES
