On Monday, September 13th, 2010, The Globe and Mail released an article titled “Water resources declining in Southern Canada”. The article notified its audience that water levels have been declining during the last three decades. The claim was derived from a study completed and recorded in the publication Human Activity and the Environment: Freshwater Supply and Demand in Canada. The study was accessed via Statistics Canada. Both resources discuss the concern of declining water levels in Southern Canada. However, the general information included within each resource differentiates as the article withholds many important findings observed in the study report.
In The Globe and Mail article, the audience is told that “water yield in the southern part of the country, the area in which 98 percent of the population lives fell by an average of 3.5 cubic kilometres a year” (Crawley, 2010) for the past three decades. The article continues to emphasis the issue of declining water levels by providing the readers with multiple descriptions of the central issue. Phrases such as “equates the annual loss to 1.4 million Olympic-sized swimming pools” (Crawley, 2010) and “overall loss of 8.5 percent of the water yield in Southern Canada over 34 years” (Crawley, 2010) create a very dramatic and stressful mood within the article. Although the article does mention the fact that there is also an annual renewable freshwater supply (the water being returned to the area via precipitation and melting ice flow), it is a very minimal aspect in the overall information. There is also no mention of the impact human activity has caused on the water systems in Canada. The Globe and Mail would have purposely included and excluded these study results and statistics in order to appeal to the current public interest. By using only the information on the declining water supply and neglecting to discuss the renewable freshwater rates and human impacts, the newspaper company can benefit economically. Environmental concerns and dilemmas are a continuously growing and capturing the attention of individuals across Canada. By altering the information found in the study, the newspaper company can ensure that many readers purchase and follow their story on the country’s environmental wows. Basically, the newspaper’s main goal is to generate profit by using a provocative claim.
Meanwhile, the publication done by Human Activity and the Environment: Freshwater Supply and Demand in Canada and distributed by Statistics Canada gives its readers a more informative account of the declining water supply. Instead of simply telling the readers that the water supply in Southern Canada is declining, the publication also includes adequate information on renewable freshwater supply and the human activities involved with the issue being discussed. The first crucial bit of information the study provides, where the article is lacking, is the fact that there is a direct relationship between the decline in water levels and human activities that utilize water. For instance, “Canadians withdrew about 42 cubic kilometres of water from the environment, roughly 1.2 percent of the total average water yield” (Human Activity and the Environment, 2010) for industrial and agricultural purposes. The study also explores residential uses including “water supplied by drinking water plants to households, as well as the water withdrawn from private wells” (Human Activity and the Environment, 2010). In addition to the recognition of the water levels and human activity connection, the study also takes into consideration that the Canadian population has been increasing as time progresses. In the Prairies (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) the population “rose by 1.6 million between 1971 and 2006 to about 4.5 million” (Human Activity and the Environment, 2010). This key information provides readers with logical reasoning for the decreasing water levels. More people living in Canada means an increase in water resource usage. Lastly, the study done by Human Activity and the Environment: Freshwater Supply and Demand in Canada explains the patterning included in the supply and demand relationship. The study explains how the water yield is lowest in the summer months as the demand intensifies and the supply diminishes. By sharing this information with the audience, the study reveals that the water yield is not a fixed level and is not restricted to a specific value. It is perfectly normal for the water levels to fluctuate as time progresses. In short, unlike the news article, the study’s claim was made to simply inform and educate the audience about the environment. Refer to the graphic below to see a sample of the information shared by the study concerning water trends in Canada over time.
In The Globe and Mail article, the audience is told that “water yield in the southern part of the country, the area in which 98 percent of the population lives fell by an average of 3.5 cubic kilometres a year” (Crawley, 2010) for the past three decades. The article continues to emphasis the issue of declining water levels by providing the readers with multiple descriptions of the central issue. Phrases such as “equates the annual loss to 1.4 million Olympic-sized swimming pools” (Crawley, 2010) and “overall loss of 8.5 percent of the water yield in Southern Canada over 34 years” (Crawley, 2010) create a very dramatic and stressful mood within the article. Although the article does mention the fact that there is also an annual renewable freshwater supply (the water being returned to the area via precipitation and melting ice flow), it is a very minimal aspect in the overall information. There is also no mention of the impact human activity has caused on the water systems in Canada. The Globe and Mail would have purposely included and excluded these study results and statistics in order to appeal to the current public interest. By using only the information on the declining water supply and neglecting to discuss the renewable freshwater rates and human impacts, the newspaper company can benefit economically. Environmental concerns and dilemmas are a continuously growing and capturing the attention of individuals across Canada. By altering the information found in the study, the newspaper company can ensure that many readers purchase and follow their story on the country’s environmental wows. Basically, the newspaper’s main goal is to generate profit by using a provocative claim.
Meanwhile, the publication done by Human Activity and the Environment: Freshwater Supply and Demand in Canada and distributed by Statistics Canada gives its readers a more informative account of the declining water supply. Instead of simply telling the readers that the water supply in Southern Canada is declining, the publication also includes adequate information on renewable freshwater supply and the human activities involved with the issue being discussed. The first crucial bit of information the study provides, where the article is lacking, is the fact that there is a direct relationship between the decline in water levels and human activities that utilize water. For instance, “Canadians withdrew about 42 cubic kilometres of water from the environment, roughly 1.2 percent of the total average water yield” (Human Activity and the Environment, 2010) for industrial and agricultural purposes. The study also explores residential uses including “water supplied by drinking water plants to households, as well as the water withdrawn from private wells” (Human Activity and the Environment, 2010). In addition to the recognition of the water levels and human activity connection, the study also takes into consideration that the Canadian population has been increasing as time progresses. In the Prairies (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) the population “rose by 1.6 million between 1971 and 2006 to about 4.5 million” (Human Activity and the Environment, 2010). This key information provides readers with logical reasoning for the decreasing water levels. More people living in Canada means an increase in water resource usage. Lastly, the study done by Human Activity and the Environment: Freshwater Supply and Demand in Canada explains the patterning included in the supply and demand relationship. The study explains how the water yield is lowest in the summer months as the demand intensifies and the supply diminishes. By sharing this information with the audience, the study reveals that the water yield is not a fixed level and is not restricted to a specific value. It is perfectly normal for the water levels to fluctuate as time progresses. In short, unlike the news article, the study’s claim was made to simply inform and educate the audience about the environment. Refer to the graphic below to see a sample of the information shared by the study concerning water trends in Canada over time.
In conclusion, from reviewing and evaluating the content included in both the article from The Globe and Mail as well as the study provided by Human Activity and the Environment and Statistics Canada, numerous comparisons can be made. Firstly, it is apparent that the article has excluded very significant findings. This could be mainly for advertising purposes. A strongly one-sided or bias article is more likely to sell either because people agree with what is being said or because people are in disagreement. Either way the paper sells and the newspaper company gains profit. Also, the lack of information could be because the journalist is legitimately bias on the subject of water decline. In other words, the newspaper’s claim that the water supply is in decline is purely for the purpose of being thought-provoking and to create intrigue for the target audience.
The study has provide much more information to the readers because its aim is to be completely unbiased and purely scientific. The publisher(s) provide information for the purpose of advancing our knowledge of the environment and how to collaborate with its systems in a positive manner. The study gives us the causes, effects, and the breakdown of the water level decline. This suggests that the study was meant to begin an attempt at resolving the current environmental issue. The research is neither sugar-coated nor altered to please readers, and it is not meant to scold our modern lifestyle. It is merely giving us the opportunity to understand the problem and to choose whether or not to act upon learning the “facts” surrounding water level decline.
Bibliography:
Crawley, P. (Monday, September 13, 2010). Water resources declining in Southern Canada. The Globe and Mail.
Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/article1705092.ece
Human Activity and the Environment. (September, 2010). Study: Freshwater supply and demand in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100913/dq100913b-eng.htm
Leah deBortoli
Professor Jonathan Newman
ENVS 1020
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