Blog Post
by Harinika.S
Has Canada been using our natural resources sustainably?
I don't believe that Canada is using our natural resources
sustainably. We have five major industries in Canada: fishing, forestry, farming, mining and energy. All of these industries are based on natural resources. The forestry industry use trees to make forestry products but some of the practices we use are making the industry unsustainable. We use harmful pesticides to remove insects. The pesticides we use are not only toxic to the insects but also the people who live in the area. We can solve this by releasing natural predators into the forests. The next unsustainable industry is the fishing industry. The fishing industry in Canada is unsustainable because in Canada we have a problem withe over fishing. We a can fix this problem by having stricter regulations on fishing as well as having more people to reinforce them. The next industry is the farming or agricultural industry's he the main problem with the farming industry is the same as the forestry industry too many harmful pesticides. The solutions are developed in the farming industry. In my opinion the solution that works best is crop rotation. Crop rotation works by growing a different crop on the plot each year so the insects can't follow the crops. The soil also becomes more rich because of the different crops and their nutrients. The energy industry is unsustainable because of the emissions it causes. The fossil fuels we use are also non renewable as the take millions of years to replenish themselves. A solution for the industry would be to look into alternative energy sources, for example hydroelectricity. This method doesn't contaminate water used to make the electricity. These are some reasons Canada is not sustainable and some solutions to the major problems.
Canada is in stage 4 of the demographic transition model . In this stage the birth rate and the death rate are both low. There are less deaths occurring in our country due to medical advancements, and more treatments available for the citizens of Canada. We don't need to be concerned about the death rate. The birthrate however is declining as well. Many factors are contributing to the declining birthrate. The major factors are levels of education, healthcare job opportunities. Women are getting more education now, and having less children than they used to. women are also spending more time in work. Another reason people aren't having as many children is because most children will make it into adulthood. When the birth rate was higher people would have many children so even if a few children don't make it into adulthood some would and be able to care their parents and farms
Most women don't have the time to care for more than two children. Women, on average have 1.62 children. The population is growing very slowly and Canada is moving towards stage five of the demographic transition model. the birth and death rate remain stable so I don't think Canada needs to be concerned about its stage in the demographic transition model.