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Welcome to the AirCare news release archive. The AirCare program regularly sends press releases to keep our stakeholders, the media and the public up-to-date on general AirCare information.
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Vehicles Biggest Greenhouse Gas Contributors
(Jun-25-2003)
Changing the world can be as simple as deciding to leave your vehicle at home and cycling or taking transit to work once a week.
According to the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s 2000 Emission Inventory, light duty vehicles – the cars and trucks we drive every day – are responsible for about 27 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the GVRD and Fraser Valley Regional District region as well as 54 per cent of common air contaminants. The Government of Canada places transportation’s total contribution to greenhouse gas emissions at 49 per cent.
“The bad news is vehicles are the top producer of the emissions which causes climate change,” says AirCare CEO Martin Lay. “The good news is because transportation is about moving individuals, individuals can make a difference.”
In its first 10 years of operation, the AirCare program has reduced vehicle emissions by 35 per cent. Provincial legislation requires all Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley drivers to have their vehicles tested by AirCare every one or two years, and ensure that repairs are made to excess emitting vehicles. AirCare repairs have contributed to a reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that is a significant factor in global warming.
AirCare is just one of thousands of ongoing efforts around this region and throughout Canada aimed at reducing the harmful effects of pollution on air quality, our health and climate change. From individuals deciding to cycle to work or keeping their vehicle maintained to huge corporations and governments curbing their impact on our health and the environment, it’s all making a difference.
So just what is climate change? A natural layer of heat-trapping gases including water vapour, CO2 and methane surrounds the earth and produces a greenhouse effect. These gases keep the earth warm enough to support life.
Burning large amounts of fossil fuels is dramatically increasing the concentration of these gases. Like the glass in a greenhouse, these gases collect in the atmosphere and act like a blanket to prevent the earth’s excess heat from escaping. As the blanket thickens, the earth’s temperature increases. The result is climate change, which brings with it higher temperatures, more extreme weather and more air pollution.
Climate change first became an issue to scientists in the 1980s when they started noticing unusual weather patterns. In 1988, the United Nations appointed more than 2,000 scientists from around the globe to examine whether climate change is real. This group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has released three reports finding the current rapid rise of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere is without precedent and is causing extreme weather patterns and warming.
The David Suzuki Foundation estimates Canadians currently produce 700 megatonnes of greenhouse gas every year, with personal vehicles contributing 107 megatonnes, freight transportation another 71 megatonnes.
“If we reduce the emissions that cause climate change, local air quality will improve,” says David Suzuki. “Vehicle inspection and maintenance, as well as taking the bus or riding a bike, are simple things we can all do to help make a difference.”
AirCare is working to educate Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley drivers about what they can do to reduce their contribution of vehicle emissions thanks to a $100,000 grant from Environment Canada and the Climate Change Action Fund.
Part of that effort, this seven-part series will delve into vehicles’ impact on climate change and air pollution, what climate change means, Canada’s obligations to meet international pollution reduction goals through the Kyoto Protocol, and pollution’s impact on our health and environment.
For more information, contact:
Rashpal Rai
Public Relations
Envirotest Canada, contractor for AirCare
Rashpal.Rai@bc.etest.com
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