Climate Change Essay: Environmental Issues In British Columbia

Climate change in the environment is a serious problem that everybody is aware of, but not as many people talk about the negative impacts of climate change on humans in the West Coast. Climate change has led to a suffering economy, poor physical health of citizens and an aching tourism industry. All of these issues are being pushed aside because people are only focusing on getting the physical land to get better, but are not worrying about what climate change is doing to their communities as a whole.To begin, the economy is suffering due to all the different problems that climate change is causing on some of the biggest industries in British Columbia.For example, “Between the early 1990s and 2017, the industry lost an estimated 752 million cubic meters of lodgepole pine to the beetle infestation.” (Cruickshank, 2020) This quote is very important because one of the industries British Columbia is known for is the forestry industry. Beetles thrive in warm temperatures, so when there is global warming they are more likely to infest trees. This happened throughout 27 years, so for 27 years they lost trees that they needed to help their industry. 752 million cubic meters of lodgepole pine is a significant amount of tree loss that could have been used to help their economy, but instead climate change pushed them back by taking away their resources. Secondly, due to all the changes in the atmosphere and people’s bodies not being able to adjust to them, people in British Columbia’s physical health is going down. The government of Canada stated issues that climate change has on our health, “Direct threats include increases in the number of injuries, illnesses and deaths related to poor air quality, natural hazards, extreme weather and heat.” ( Government of Canada, 2009) I chose this quote because it shows that the human impacts of climate change can cause people to die. Climate change brings water shortages, polluted air due to fires, and food being spoiled because of unhealthy crops. Clean water, safe breathable air, and nutritious food is a necessity for survival. When climate change is affecting our needs, people can get extremely sick and attract diseases. Finally, due to climate change, the tourism industry has suffered quite a bit. This is because their natural attractions are now starting to melt, burn, or it’s just not safe enough to visit.  An example of melting tourist attractions is the Alpine glaciers,“Projected rises in snowlines due to warming temperatures will impact ski operations across the province. For example, the retreat of alpine glaciers that support off-season skiing will affect mountain resorts such as Whistler-Blackcomb.” (Government of Canada, 2009) I included this quote because it shows that the Alpine Glaciers are melting, this is a popular attraction in BC. If global warming keeps going, this glacier can melt completely and then the tourist area for this spot would be nonexistent. If all natural tourist attractions get affected by climate change, there won’t be any places to go to if you come and visit. This affects jobs for people who work in tourism because once all the attractions are gone, they will be left jobless. In conclusion, judging from all the points I have made it is evident that climate change has had a negative impact on humans living on the West Coast. Economy, health, and tourism are just some examples of how climate change is affecting BC. Now anyone can see that climate change affects everyone and everything which is why we have to do anything we can to prevent this from creating any more damage.