Stress to the Atmosphere

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The earth is like a greenhouse. The mixture of gases in the earth's atmosphere, called Greenhouse Gases (GHG), traps the sun's heat near the surface of the earth, helping to provide a life support environment for the planet. Over thousands of years, the level of GHG in the atmosphere has changed very little. However, the increasing GHG emissions from human activities, in the last one and a half centuries, appear to be breaking this balance.

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Figure 1 shows the time series data of the atmospheric GHG concentrations over the last millennium. Along with the increasing trend of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere, there has been the same trend of temperature increases. The changes in the earth's surface temperature since 1860 are shown in Figure 2. Apparently, there is a close correlation between the trend of carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration in the atmosphere and global warming over the last one and half centuries. A more detailed introduction to the relationships between GHG emissions and the global temperature changes is provided in The Issue of Climate Change.

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Figure 1. Changes in the Atmospheric Concentration of Greenhouse Gases

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Figure 2. Changes in the Earth's Surface Temperature Relative to 1961 to 1990 Temperature Normals

Canada ranks high in GHG emissions in the world, due partially to its natural resource centred economy, great distances for travel and its cold climate. As shown in Figures 3, Canada is in the 8th place in terms of total energy-related CO₂ emissions in 1996. In terms of CO₂ emissions per capita, Canada ranks the 9th place in the world (Figure 4), and the 4th place in the Annex B countries (Figure 5). In 1999, Canada's total GHG emissions were equivalent to 650 million tonnes of CO₂. The per capita emissions in 1999 were equivalent to 24 tonnes of CO₂. Both of the measures are higher than those for the previous years.

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Figure 3. Countries with Largest Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the World

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Figure 4. Countries with Largest Energy-related CO2 Emissions per Capita in the World

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Figure 5. Countries with Highest Energy-related CO2 Emissions per Capita in the Annex B Countries

This Module

There has been a scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities have created stress to the atmosphere, which has induced climate warming as currently observed. This module is intended to represent the sources and sinks of GHG emissions in a geographical context, for both the current time period and for the expected future. Maps are used in combination with charts to allow for enhanced visualization.

For this first phase, this module includes only three greenhouse gas maps, based primarily on the greenhouse gas data and projection provided by the Energy Sector of Natural Resources Canada. The data are available on a provincial and regional basis (where a region refers to a combination of several provinces or territories). The three maps are as follows:

• GHG emissions by emission sources (sectoral break-down), with total GHG intensity included as a background map
• GHG emissions by gas types, with GHG emission per capita included as a background map
• Trends of total GHG emissions, with total GHG intensity projection included as a background map