Canada is a nation that consists of one of the largest portions of fresh water in the world.  Located just above the United States, Canada holds one the longest land border in the world.  With this being in mind, Canada is the second largest country by total area in the world, with a vast amount of land to conserve.  In Regards to its land size and large scale forests, Canada has been rated as one of the lowest in environmental protection.  According to the CDI rankings (Commitment to Development Index), Canada has fallen dead last in its rankings regarding environmental protection, being the only country “with an environmental score which has gone down since we first calculated the CDI in 2003”.  The CDI consists of 27 of the world’s wealthiest countries in regards to different categories of development.  This blog intends on expanding the knowledge of issues that are a threat to Western Canada’s water, as well as generate knowledge of the effects it has on the biodiversity of surrounding wildlife.

In relation to the low score of environmental protection, Canada has had several environmental impact points in its recent past.  These consist of the Howe Sound oil spill which greatly affected the wildlife of streams, ocean habitats, and fresh water sources around, pulp mills which produce dioxins and furans into the environment, as well as mining, one of Canada’s largest industries.  Western Canada, specifically British Columbia, is home to over 7,300 oil fracking sites, with 1,000 new ones being permitted each year, as well as “the world’s largest frack”.  With these issues at hand, environmental hazards produce detrimental materials for the environment which are producing high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as hazardous materials being spread into the natural waters and surrounding lands.  With this being said, Canada has a steep hurdle to climb towards to place in the CDI rankings once again.