Good Environmental News: learning from the past to protect the future

Good environmental news: learning from the past to protect the future Norman Yan York University, Dorset Environmental Science Centre and Friends of the Muskoka Watershed

Where is the world’s freshwater?

http://www.pewenvironment.org/uploadedImages/PEG/Publications/Other_Resource/Surface-Water-map-credit-Global-Forest-Watch-Canada-hi-res.jpg

The Moon River/Go Home Lake watershed: Muskoka with its 1628 lakes

We enjoy our lakes

And we value the biodiversity of Muskoka

But there are threats  Ongoing or Emerging – Development

 “Past” Threats

– Climate change

– Cultural eutrophication

– Road salt

– Acid rain

– Calcium decline

– Lead pollution

– Invaders

– DDT

– Pharmaceuticals

– Mercury

– Flame retardants

My objectives  To review some past environmental success stories – Eutrophication of Gravenhurst Bay

– Acidification of lakes in Muskoka – Lead pollution in Ontario – DDT in North America – The recent cosmetic pesticide ban

 To see what we can learn from these stories  To link the lessons to the work of the Muskoka Watershed Council

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it�* *George Santayana (1863-1952)

Good news story 1: cultural eutrophication Oligotrophic lake

Eutrophic lake

And elevated phosphorus is the main cause N + C added

N + C + P added

Will lowering P concentrations solve the problem?

Changes in TP in L. Washington

Smith and Shapiro (1981)

Eutrophication and Recovery of L. Washington

TP & chlorophyll in L. Washington

Gravenhurst Bay

But recovery is possible: TP levels in Gravenhurst Bay

*TP data from the District and various MOE programs and studies

We don’t want this: an algal bloom in China

But it can still happen in Canada: Lake Winnipeg

From pathslesstravelled.com

From Wikipedia

Can we deal with eutrophication – a local problem?  Detect the problem  Identify the cause(s)  Manage the cause(s)  See if the management worked

 Ensure it doesn’t happen again We have done this for Gravenhurst Bay

Good news story 2: Have we dealt with acid rain?

Acid Rain

Sudbury’s SO2 emissions have fallen dramatically

Data from J. Bailey, MOE

Canada’s S & N emissions have been reduced; US S emissions have fallen by 40%

Sulphate levels in Muskoka lakes are falling

*MOE DESC data

And acidity is also falling in Muskoka lakes 25% of lakes have recovered

No new acid lakes

*Palmer and Yan (2013)

And life (zooplankton) is responding*

*Palmer and Yan (2013)

Can we deal with acid rain – a regional problem?  Detect the problem  Identify the cause(s)

 Manage the cause, in this case internationally  Track if the management worked  Keep up the pressure to lower SO2 emissions, and acknowledge those that do (eg. recent VALE decision)

Good news story 3: lead pollution – an international problem

Reed Saxon / AP File

Rise & fall of US lead production

(Nriagu 1990)

Removal of Pb from gasoline and the air 1.4

180

140 1.0

120 100

0.8

80 0.6 60 40 74

76

78

80

82

0.4 84

3

1.2

Max. quarterly Pb in air (ug/m )

160

3

Pb consumed in gasoline (10 t/y)

gasPb

Blood lead levels of Ontarions reflect use of leaded gasoline (Thomas et al. 1999)

Toxic level

Mean Lead Concentrations (ppm) in Toronto Maple Tree Foliage 1971 - 2004 *D. McLaughlin, MOE 90

Lead Concentration (ppm)

80

78.2

70 60.5

60

56.4

55.2 50.0

50 40 30

24.4

24.3

22.3

21.8

20.2

20 10 3.2

1.0

1.7 0.9

1.3 1.3

1.3 0.7

1.6 0.9

0 0 to 5

5 to 10

10 to 15

15 to 20

Km from City Centre Pb 1971

Pb 1981

Pb 1991

Pb 2004

20 to 30

Can we recover from global lead pollution?

Yes

Florida State Archives

Good news story 4: What happened to DDT?

DDT’s use was banned in the USA in 1972

DDT in breast milk of N. American women*

*taken from 21 separate studies from Smith (1999)

Key features of data  DDT banned in 1972  Pre-ban, no pattern with time, & mean level of 5000 µg/kg  Post-ban, levels decline exponentially with time, from 4700 in 1973 to 420 µg/kg in 1989  The same recovery, i.e. health benefits, occurred for many other pesticides

* Watts et al. 2007 Status, Distribution and the future of bald eagles in the Chesapeake Bay Area. Waterbirds 30: 25-38

Can we recover from global pesticide pollution?

Yes and human and animal life benefit

And the recovery can be quick: eg. benefits of the ban on cosmetic use of pesticides in Ontario (Todd 2010)  Cosmetic use of several lawn pesticides banned in April of 2009 (the herbicides 2,4-D, dicamba, glyphosate and MCPP, and insecticide carbaryl)

 Sampled Jun-Oct in 2008 and 2009 in 10 urban streams

 2,4-D and MCPP levels dropped by 65% on average  Changes in runoff were not responsible

 But 33 pesticides were still detected >1 ppt level, with only permethrin exceeding WQG in 2009

So the news is promising for:  Cultural Eutrophication  Lake Acidification

 Lead pollution  DDT and other Chlorinated organic pesticides  Lawn herbicides

Two quotes “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (Santayana)

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in” (Greek proverb)

Restoring Sudbury’s landscape*

*photos from P. Beckett, LU, overlooking the Kingsway, east of downtown Sudbury

Conclusions  We created environmental problems, but  We know how to solve many large-scale environmental problems, i.e. assess status and trends, communicate the results to raise awareness, diagnose the cause, intervene, and re-assess effectiveness of the management intervention  We have used these techniques with success in the past, many times, on large and small environmental problems

Conclusions

(Continued)

 We have both continuing and emerging threats in Muskoka (eg. road salt, calcium decline, invading species, microcontaminants, climate change & development pressures)  We can use our proven methods both to continue managing our older problems, and begin to grapple with at least several of our newer ones  Supporting the Muskoka Watershed Council helps this cause

My last quote

“The cardinal human values are humility and hope�

(Richard Outram)

Acknowledgements  The MOE for their commitment to assessment and to the DESC  The District for supporting the Muskoka Watershed Council (MWC)  The work of MWC. Please add your support by joining the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed