Ontario is a province that is located at the central Canada and has largest population. It has been rated as the second largest after Quebec in total area of coverage. It borders Manitoba to the West, Quebec to the east and the US cities of Michigan, New York, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The capital of the province has been described as the largest capital in Canada. According other 2006 census data, it has population of more than 12,160,282 which has been shown to the 38.5% for the total population of the nation. The population of the province has increased year after year which has come with a lot of problems due to congestion and straining of facilities like the basic amenities. There has a problem of urban sprawling that has become a cause of major pollution in the capital. (Marianne, 2000)

Air pollution has been one of the major problems that have been affecting the city of Ontario for along time now. It has been a subject of study and research but there have been little that has been done in order to mitigate the situation. Air pollution in Ontario has been contributed by the rising urban sprawl in the area. Thus has come with a lot of problem with multiple effects on the health and general life of the people in the area.

Urban sprawl in Ontario

Urban sprawling has seen the gobbling up green space in the southern part of Ontario. This has been happening at an alarming rate which has come with a lot of environmental impacts in the area. According to the Neptis Foundation which has been monitoring the issue, there are addition 260,000 acres of rural land that is expected to the urbanized by 2030. This shows that it will be double the rate of the current size of the city of Toronto. This has been compounded by the fact that about 92% of the land in Ontario is best for farmland.

Urban sprawling in the areas has lead to a lot of effects. It has led to destruction of green space and farmlands which has affected the rate of food production in the area. There has been an effect of river pollution and pollution of other water ways and streams. The population has been forced to be over dependent on vehicles which has been having a lot of air pollution with the consequential problem of climate change. (Ontario Greenbelt alliance, 2008)

It has been shown that the Golden Horseshoe area on Ontario has been growing with more than 115,000 people coming in the area every year. In the coming 15 years, it is estimated that it will be the third largest urban region in the North America behind New York and Los Angles. This has been coming with a lot of problems and strains for the population living in the city. The Toronto area has also approved the development for 128,000 acres of land since 1989 which has been at a rate of 9,100 acres every year. The Toronto region conservation authority has shown that increased loss of biodiversity is having an effect on the natural resource. For example of the 180 animal species that are found in greater Toronto, 110 have been classified as having a risk of extinction due to encroachment of their land.

These are some of the problem that has led to the compounding problem of urban sprawling in the area. In this regard there have been many problems that have come with the increase in population and the consequent reclaiming of arable land for the purpose of settling the population. In comparison to other cities around the city of Toronto has been adversely affected by the problem of increasing population since the local authority had to deal with the problem of increasing access of basic services to the population. There are several problems that have come as a result of increase in the population of the province in general. (Bates, 1997)

Challenges of urban sprawling in Ontario

There have been several effects that have resulted from urban sprawling in Ontario. These have resulted from the increasing population pressure and decreasing land resources and amenities to accommodate the population. In specific there has been problem of environmental pollution that has been due to the challenges that have been posed by the waste disposal mechanism in Ontario. It is estimated that the rate of growth of population in Ontario in the last 10 years has doubled waste produced for the same period. This has posed a major challenge to the local council that has to deal with the problem. The other environmental problem that has resulted from the urban sprawling has been increased pollution of water. There has been a problem of accessing clean water in the city which has been due to water pollution as the problem of waste management bites.

But the major problem that has resulted from urban sprawling has been that of air pollution. The increased population has led to increased destruction of natural vegetation that previously occupied the land. Let us look closely at the problem of air pollution in the area.

Air pollution in Ontario

Air pollution has been one of the biting problems in Ontario. There have been many problems that affected the population as a result of air pollution. There are many factors that have been shown to be contributing to the problem of air pollution but the main problem has been the increased use of cars and trucks. Passenger car and truck account for more than half of the personal green house gas that is emitted in Ontario everyday. This has been shown that cars contributed to more that 40% of the pollutant which cause smog and emit carbon dioxide and other gases to the environment. According toe Neptis Foundation air pollution is one of the major challenges that Ontari is facing. (Ontario Ministry of Environment, 2008a)

The Toronto Board of Trade ahs estimated that the gridlock costs Toronto motor the $2 billion every year in traffic and other delays. In this regard the increased use of motor vehicles in the greater Ontario has been linked to increase traffic congestion. The rate of increase of road users has not been equal to the rate of expansion of the road facilities to support the transport system. This has shown to have a negative effect on the economy as passengers and cargo vehicles spend more time stuck in the traffic jam.

Projection studies have shows that by 2031, the number of hours that are wanted in traffic congestion in a typical weekday with have increased by 300%. This has acted as a wake up call for the authority to take an action in order to reduce the level of pollution and traffic congestion.

The Ontario medical association has estimated that 1,900 people die premature every year in Ontario due to complication associated with air pollution. A ground breaking research that was carried out by the Smart Growth American found that there is a correlation between obesity, chronic disease and urban sprawl. The study revealed that those who live in spread-out, car-dependent neighborhoods have little chances of walking. As a result they have been shown to have a higher weight, suffer from high blood pressure as compared to those how live in less sprawling areas. Therefore as expected sprawling in Ontario is expected to come with a lot of health problems. (Karen and Chen, 2003)

Dealing with the problem of air pollution in Toronto

There have been many efforts that have been taken in order to deal with the problem of urban sprawling and air pollution in Ontario. It has been shown that the rate of air pollution in Ontario has been decreasing with time as efforts are put in place to deal with the problem but smog from the increased use of vehicles has remained the single most problem that the city dwellers have to deal with every day. Increased use of vehicles and other machine that use fossil fuel has been shown as that single most challenge that has been faced by the efforts that have been put in place in order to deal with the problem. (Ontario Ministry of Environment, 2008b)

The Ministry environment has put in place continuous air quality data monitor in more than 40 monitoring sites across the province. The data which is collected from these sites is used to monitor the program that is being made and therefore make necessary changes in order to deal with the problem. This information collected is also used to create public awareness on the issue and encourage them to take an action.

In order to deal with the problem of air pollution in Ontario, there must be efforts which will be aimed at cutting the level of pollution mainly targeting vehicles which are the main polluter to the environment. In this regard there have to be measure that will be aimed at discouraging the use of motor vehicle. This can be through public sensitization in order to create public awareness of the need to use safe modes to transport that will lead to less pollution. Using other means like cycling, walking, and others is one of the most important way that can be used to deal with the problem as it will reduce the increased use of motor vehicles and also improve the health of the people. The authority can also implement other efforts like the introductions of electric train which is a fast means to transport and which is frowningly to the environment. (Ontario Environment Network, 2008)

References

Bates, D. (1997). Air pollution and hospital admission in Southern Ontario. Journal of Epidemiology and community health, Vol. 50(3)

Karen, F. & Chen, Y. (2003). Air pollution and sickness in Ontario. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 32(2)

Marianne, M. (2000). Ontario. Cambridge University Press

Ontario Environment Network, (2008). About us. Retrieved from http://oen.ca/index.php?page=about on 13th May 2008

Ontario Greenbelt alliance, (2008). Urban Sprawl. Retrieved from http://www.greenbelt.ca/greenbelt/factssprawl.htm on 13th May 2008

Ontario Ministry of Environment, (2004). Air Quality in Ontario 2003 Report. Queen Printer

Ontario Ministry of Environment, (2008a). Air Quality in Ontario. Retrieved from on 13th May 2008

Ontario Ministry of Environment, (2008b). The Air we breathe. Retrieved from http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/air/index.php on 13th May 2008

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